I had a lot of trouble getting the font even through these postings. Sorry!

Deuteronomy 19 - The land is to be divided into three regions and each region is to have a city of refuge so “that every [non-malicious or accidental] homicide will be able to find a refuge” (19:4). In the event the territory given is expanded, three…

Deuteronomy 17 – Sacrificial animals must be without “serious defect.” Death is to be the penalty for idolatry, but only on the testimony of more than one witness.  The witnesses must be among those who stone the perpetrator—the first to cast the stone (17: 7) [Here is where Jesus gets his saying when he saves the woman accused of adultery—perhaps they had gotten away from this rule] Complicated cases should go to the assigned judge or levitical priests in office. This is a…

Deuteronomy 15 – Every seven years the people shall have a “relaxation of debts” for kinsmen.” The NAB notes that we are not sure if this meant a suspension of interest or of payments on debt, or release from the full amount of any debt.  There should be no one of you in need.”  Kinsmen who sell themselves for debt shall be freed every 7^th year.  They are also to watch that they do not get resentful when the year of “release” approaches (15:9). You…

Deuteronomy 13 – Moses warns the people not to add to or take from the command he gives them. If “a prophet or dreamer” performs signs, don’t let that lead you to worship strange gods.  Yahweh tests us to see if we love him. “. . .his voice you shall obey, him shall you serve, to him shall you cling. . .”  (13:5). And if someone tries to turn you to away from the Lord, that person should be “put to death” (13:5). We tend to forget that God’s chosen in our long tradition once held to…

We're participating in Northwest Yearly Meeting's Peace Month this month. The theme is "SPICE: the Friends Testimonies," and this week was on integrity.

The Challenge of Integrity, by Paul Bock

The expression, “Keep it simple, stupid” does not fit with the Quaker testimony of simplicity. Simplicity is not arrived at by taking the path of least resistance. Nor is simplicity a matter of ignoring what is inconvenient or avoiding a careful analysis of the different aspects that make up a situation. We don’t start from simplicity, simplicity is what we arrive at, or at least get closer to, after going…

Deuteronomy 12 – The editor of the Schocken Bible  (1997) notes that Deuteronomy as a whole is similar to other Near Eastern “covenant” or “treaty” models, Assyrian and earlier Hittite texts. It presents an historical overview and exhortation (chapters 1 through 11) followed by the “terms of the covenant” (chapters 12 through 28) and a concluding exhortation (chapters 29 through 34).

Chapters 12 to 28 is the heart of Deuteronomy – it represents the terms of the covenant…

Deuteronomy 11 – The people must remember that these memories are theirs - the knowledge of the Lord’s “discipline” (Schocken 11:2 – what he did to the sons of Reuben during the rebellion of Korah) is theirs, not their children’s). I will add more about this rebellion, which for early Quakers, especially George Fox, had an importance that many do not understand.  So this is the challenge to the Jewish people is how to pass down the memory of what happened in the exodus and the…

Last Friday I had one of those too rare moments when I got something right.  I made the right decision and became less of me and more of God.  Not only that but God showed me that as a vessel what I had done had allowed him to scrape yet another thin layer of flesh from the inside of this vessel that I am and fill that newly created space with more of Him.  Something that has been going on in one way or another for my whole life but more evident, to me at least, over the past 40 years.  I…

Deuteronomy 10 –Moses recounts how God told him to bring two new stone tablets and an ark of wood to place them in.  Aaron dies in Moserah and his son Eleazar succeeds him.  The tribe of Levi is set aside to carry the ark, to stand in God’s presence and serve him.  They give up their share of the inheritance of land (10:12-13). Moses passed forty days on the mountain doing all this, convincing the Lord not to destroy them.

So now, what does the Lord ask of His people…

Listen to this post: http://www.turtleboxstories.com/audio/synchronicityof.mp3

As I was grabbing a few things to pack for this retreat, I uncovered the Journal of [Quaker] John Woolman and decided to leave it behind as I…

Five men holding cardboard signs huddled together, urging passersby to join them in protest against financial institutions. A month earlier, they had been among hundreds of others camped out in New York City’s Zuccotti Park.  But on this biting cold post-Christmas day, they were the only ones who had ventured through the maze of metal fencing and past security guards to continue a vigil against corporate greed and social inequality. The sight of the barricade snaking around the park’s…

Deuteronomy 8 – The people are told that they must remember – always remember – all that the Lord has done for them. God led you in the wilderness to humble you, to test you, to know your inmost heart. “He made you go hungry, and then he gave you manna to eat, food that you and your ancestors had never eaten before. He did this to teach you that you must not depend on bread alone to sustain you, but on everything that the Lord says (8:3).  These words are very…

Things that are bothering me, let me put them. I feel bad being so self absorbed, but I need to look into myself. Maybe I am relying too much on myself and not God. But, I can only give my problems to God by reciting them to myself and to God.



I am alone and I have felt that it is unacceptable to say it. I should rather make close friends and just "suck it up" and not be lonely, right? But it doesn't help that I have a lisp and have Aspergers symptoms (I spoke to a therapist before…

Deuteronomy 7 - Seven nations will fall before Israel.  They must all be placed “under the ban” – for they will turn your sons away from God.  Their altars must be torn down, the sacred pillars smashed, their idols destroyed. They are to be a people set apart.  “If Yahweh set his heart on you and chose you, it was not because you outnumber other peoples: you were the least of all peoples.  It was for love of you and to keep the oath he swore to your…

I broke a little inside when I saw one of my professor's sketchbooks and saw that he let his daughter draw in it.



I don't know what to do. Actually, I do know what to do, I am just uncomfortable in the transitional moment of breaking free from the Stockholm's syndrome. I am not happy, but I am comfortable.  Soon, I want to be a uncomfortable, but then happy and comfortable once I heal.

I wonder, what does God have in store for me? Does God protect the sparrows?…

Getting to the intent of Quaker Process forms