Messages

  • Can a Quaker child play laser tag?

    “It can be scary to trust children with independence. But kids are better problem-solvers than some people might think. When my son, at age 10, asked me if he could play laser tag with friends, I asked him how he could avoid pulling a trigger (in deference to the Quaker value of pacifism). He decided to serve as referee. I was proud of him for exercising “discernment,” [a] Quaker value, all on his own, for listening to his “still, small voice within” and letting it guide him to a solution that satisfied his need for belonging.”

  • The child will be shown, not told

    “Denying the power of one man to determine the religious life of another, it also denies to a parent the power to determine the religious life of his child, and asserts in its place the duty of a parent to awaken his child’s own response to reality. There is thus a need for instruction and nurture, but with the emphasis laid on understanding and not on passive acceptance. The child will be shown, not told.”

  • Just as children need healthy food, they need spirituality

    “Children have an inherent capacity for spiritual insight and experience, which is sometimes extraordinarily vivid and powerful. Many adults can recall powerful experiences of deep spiritual perception in early childhood, which sometimes leave a life-long impression. This is not primarily a matter of children’s ‘beliefs’, but of their capacity for spiritual experience that can be either nourished or neglected.”

  • I can’t wait until next Sunday

    When I go to church I always sit in the same pew. / I sit in front of Mandy and Linda and a couple of other people too. / We sing and take time to praise the Lord, / and when Jack starts talking I get a little bored. / Sometimes I get upset and I start to cry. / Everyone cares so they turn and ask why.

  • Inspiration for motherhood from early Quakers

    “What I really want my sons to see is their dad and me caring about people, spending time working for justice for the oppressed and building relationships with people regardless of their economic or any other status. Oftentimes, this is what really gets to me about being a mom: I don’t have time to go out and do amazing social justice work. I’m consoled by looking at historical Quaker women, most of whom had numerous children, and yet managed to make a difference.”

  • Meeting is different every time

    “I’ve been to quite a few discussions about how different people spend their time in meeting for worship, been given suggestions and things to try, but those ten minutes I have twice a month are different every time. I listen to and reflect on the readings and ministry. I breathe deeply. I admire the beautiful world out the window. I give thanks for the people who are present and think of those who are not. I try to clear my mind of daily worries. I try to focus on my feelings. Sometimes I just stare at the ticking clock waiting for it to be over. I’ve felt enlightened, relaxed, happy. I’ve made resolutions. I’ve come to feel a sense of peace. But I wouldn’t claim to ever have cleared my mind completely or to have heard the Inner Voice.”

  • The impressions we give to children

    “There should be the greatest care imaginable, what impressions are given to children; that method which earliest awakens their understandings to love, duty, sobriety, just and honourable things, is to be preferred.”

  • What to say when children worry

    “Accompaniment on a journey can make an extraordinary difference, whether the journey is physical or spiritual. The times we’re living in may feel like a disorienting new path, or like a familiar road walked too often. Beyond politics, children (and people of all ages) are living with deep concerns, worries for the future, and uncertainty about what all this means for them, their neighbors, friends, and family….”

  • The time you were born was a time of trouble

    “The time when you were born and came into the world, was a time of deep exercise and trouble with me— not from the Lord, who always spoke peace unto me, and did sustain me—but by reason of the adversary of mankind, who always seeks to devour the good in all, and is the sower of discord and mischief in the hearts of those who fear not the Lord, neither abide in His counsel. Into these he enters, as any place is given unto his temptations, and there he corrupts the mind.”

  • Let’s talk about how we love our children

    “We’re hungry for a chance to talk about our children — and there’s lots to say. The complaints, the dilemmas, the near disasters come first. They’re what’s on top, and we need to talk about them. But the hard times are not the whole story, and, somehow, it’s harder to tell of our love. We’re embarrassed, we’re ambivalent, we’re protective, we’re shy. But our love for our children is so good, so deep, so central to our hopes for a better world. The more of it that can be made visible, the better off all of us will be.”

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