“I should like to change the name ‘seekers’ to ‘explorers.’ There is a considerable difference there: we do not ‘seek’ the Atlantic we explore it. The whole field of religious exploration has to be explored and has to be described in a language understandable to modern men and women.”~Ole Olden, 1955When I think about it seeking seems to mean that I’m looking for something, that I haven’t yet encountered what it is I’m searching for, but I’m on my way to encountering it. If I’m seeking Lake…See More

I had a conversation the other day with a good friend of mine about Quakers. One of the problems he had that we discussed was the peace testimony and pacifism. I was quite understanding as I’ve had problems and confusion with the peace testimony at times myself, but the main confusion with my friend was the difference between pacifism and just being passive. Etymologically they have different roots, pacifism coming from the latin word pacificus literally meaning “peacemaking” whereas passive…See More

One of the things I’ve been struggling with as a Quaker is my need to do, that often outweighs my need to just be. Thinking about our early Friends as being among the English dissenters makes me think “Are we dissenters no more? Do we have anything left to dissent?” Sometimes I feel like Friends have become somewhat sleepy, like we’re nearing our age of retirement so we just want to give up and relax. I suppose that this comes partly from me being a “young” Friend, my energy sometimes oversteps…See More