Each town or village would have their healers, GP's if you will, they would stand as wise women or men on the edge of the community. Eccentric folk, a little odd and against the norm, searching for plants & herbs etc. on phases of the moon, seasons of the year or at the break of dawn/dusk.

Her or his life would be a giving one, welcoming all people that came their way, searching to aid ailments of the community and always ready to listen. A simple life living close to nature,…

I am a member of Purchase Monthly Meeting in New York. My wife Hiromi and I have been blessed to worship with Tokyo Monthly Meeting Friends three times in recent years during visits to Hiromi's family. Our family and friends are much affected by the tragic events in Japan. Hiromi called some Friends in Japan on Thursday morning, March 23.  Hiromi's report can be read below. We hope to keep Friends updated on conditions facing Japanese Friends.

 …

Life lessons

What would you … should you … do with the bully at work?

Remember his rotten childhood, his harsh father in the back country farm,

A mean So and So to his little boy, like his own Dad’s Dad’s Dad…

This family pattern of abuse has been going on right back to the Ark…

The boy’s sleep so often punctuated with drunken curses,

The kicked door, and the loud slap in the dark.

Next morning his Dad grimly filling a…

Well . . . the virus in Egypt has mutated and is now a full blown epidemic in Libya.  

And of course the hawks and eagles are now clobbering each other.  And guess what's going to happen.  

The Arab coalition is going to bow out.  

And look who will be standing around holding the bag when the smoke clears and everyone will be…

I was really pleased when I saw this Carnival posting, because I have been hungry for theological discourse for some time, and this feels just the right speed for my Friendly endeavors.…

The Office of National Statistics has awarded a £150 million contract to Lockheed Martin UK, a subsidiary of the world’s largest arms manufacturer, to run the data processing of the national census 2011.

As citizens, it is our duty and legal obligation to cooperate with the census. Yet cooperating will, in my view, amount to the tacit support of a process of legitimizing the arms trade.

I feel unable to do this, as it is in direct contradiction with my values…

The latest reports coming out the Jordan valley this week are about a crazy man that has the temple of God in an uproar.   It seems that a  young man  . . . that has not sat under a Rabbi has started teaching a new program about God . . . now get this . . . it does not involve the High Priest.  And yet people are flocking to the Jordan to get a look at this weirdo . . . who eats bugs. Yes he eats bugs . . . and he claims . . . now get this . . .  God told him to . .…

Over Anne's piano we have a large, intricate drawing by her grandmother. (Her brother's wife refused to have it in their house.) It depicts a woman in long robes, holding a mask up to her featureless head, a string of discarded masks trailing to the ground at her feet.

I've been thinking lately about gods and angels... and archetypes, and how this all connects. One influence was a friend's post about 'The Angel of a Meeting' (…

I had the privilege of meeting again with my best  seeker of God last week.  We got together at 8:30 in the evening and he began to talk about his walk with God that week.  

Sometime later I looked at my watch and much to my surprise it was midnight. Chuck was questioning me about an emergency that had occurred two days before, and in the middle of the event Chuck asked God for instructions.   And he said that . . .…

I attended the recent FWCC Section of the Americas gathering in Philadelphia and was pleasently surprised by the deep longing of pretty much everyone present for not having the Latin American representatives attend the Sessions. There just seems to not be money anymore to bring them to the USA for these meetings. FWCC explains this circumtance in several ways, to my understanding:

1. We are suffering the effects fo the economic crisis.

2. Latin American Friends have asked that…

Once upon a time many years ago I was a young married Catholic.  I was raised as a Catholic, attended catholic elementary and high schools and joined a Catholic fraternity when I went off to college.  I even graduated from a Catholic Law School.  In short my moral upbringing was based on Catholic teaching which in turn formed my conscience.    No matter what my personal behavior was at a particular time I was always aware of this conscience judging my conduct as right or wrong.

After…

Every religious person on the earth is driven by either fear of God or the love of God.  

Calvinists are driven by a fear of God's so called judgment of all mankind.  They declare that Gods major attribute is holiness and he can not stand to look at sin.  And God chooses who will be rejected and who will be received.  

Universalists know that God's plan for all his…

While on a mission trip to Peru last December,  our team of four were stressing the importance to the locals . . . to have a direct relationship with God, and not depend upon the pastors for all their spiritual information.   In the middle of the night . . . God came and asked me a question that I had never thought about?

"Why did't my son write a book while he was on the earth and settle this thing once and for…

I remember my summer at Pendle Hill vividly. I remember the beautiful scenery and the even more beautiful people. I remember when I first really felt in the Presence of G-d. It was a wonderful time in my spiritual life and I enjoyed every minute of it.

However, I have noticed that with every beautifully intense spiritual moment of growth I experience, I am also deeply deeply disturbed at the very core of my being. While I was at Pendle Hill, I was disturbed by the…

1Ki 22:21  And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.

Six years ago I left the holiness pentecostal movement.   I can now see and identify the traits of a denominational spirit at work.  It's job is to impersonate God.    I was  a third generation member…

I admit that I am new here to QQ.  I find it a tremendous blessing as I am isolated.  The many posts and articles and the library study which I have been enjoying is wonderful.

However, I have noticed a worrying trend. I have noticed that most posters…