One of these days I'll be compassionate enough to hear something like "I can't believe I'll never be a runner again" and not immediately think "At least she knows what it feels like to have been a runner". Or at least to not respond with "I'm sorry to hear that, but I've never been a runner and never will be."

But I'm not there yet.

In February, a Friend at Meeting came to me for help with reading the Bible. Since my driving is limited and she's half an hour away, this is what I came up with: Each week, we'd read a part of the Bible from Monday to Wednesday and then discuss it online, via email, from Thursday to Saturday, and meet once a month in person. Apparently, the other ( Read more... )

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It's a good thing Rumi's not alive today, or I think Rob would have some serious competition. It's been a long time since I've read something that resonates with me as strongly as Rumi's poetry does, or on so many levels. Reading his poetry (or the translation of it, at least) is becoming a sacred experience for me. I'll be moving it into my " ( Read more... )

Today's Tibetan Buddhist lojong slogan was so appropriate and so pertinent to my struggles with my faith and life in general that I taped it to my monitor, so I have it staring at me at the time.

Don't expect applause.

Let's see if seeing it regularly will help me learn it.

I'm sending two unusual Christmas cards this year. The first idea came to me when I was signing a letter to George W. written for me by Amnesty International. I scrawled on the top: "Merry Christmas! May the Christian values of love, forgivenesss, and peace guide your actions in your final year as President." I thought, "Well, why not send him a ( Read more... )

I just opened my poetry book to find this, which I'm a bit surprised at. I don't remember writing this, but here it is ( Read more... )

So, I've decided that if I feel the need to add an adjective to Quaker when defining myself religiously, I'll say I'm a Christ-inspired or Christ-centered Quaker. I think that explains it pretty well.

From our days in Sunday school, many of us are familiar with the Gospel story where Jesus healed the servant of a Roman centurion. This story is recorded in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10. In Matthew, we are told that the centurion came to Jesus to plead for the healing of his servant. Jesus said he was willing to come to the centurion’s house, but ( Read more... )

As a Quaker, I believe that Jesus is born, crucified, and resurrected every day; that every day is holy; and that Jesus has already come again: that He is alive in each and every one of us. This makes me, frankly, very uncomfortable at Easter church services, which I attend every year with Rob (and Christmas services, which I attend every year with ( Read more... )