People follow leaders.  They followed Jesus.  They followed Moses.  Mother Theresa didn't seem to have any trouble finding helpers.  They follow leaders because something about the leaders, their personality, their ideas, their actions, resonate with them.  There is an innate sense within that moves us to follow, to head south or north, east or west and not only so moves us but tells us that we are going in the right direction.  Whether it's a Horace Greeley telling us to go West young man,…

The bible speaks of the mind of Christ.  In 1Co_2:16 we read "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."   And again in Rom_7:25 Paul writes "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." where he tells us it is with this "mind" that we follow the law of God.  Slowly but surely I am coming to believe there is a new…

It’s sad but it’s true, his life ended with tears

life’s celebration postponed, because of lost years

his heart was too tender to live with love’s pain

and failed him before he could savor pain’s gain

For like grapes from a vine, that are crushed by a press

our hearts must be squeezed to surrender their best

but too often we run from conflict and pain

and miss the rewards that love’s battles can gain.

For to live is to…

I love the Man of La Mancha score.  I drove my family crazy playing the album over and over.  It's probably ahead of Jesus Christ Superstar and my BJ Thomas christian albums.  My spirit soars as I hear "to fight the unbeatable foe, to strive with your last ounce of courage, to dream the impossible dream!"  I guess you have to be mad to live that kind of life but isn't that what disciples of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, should be doing?  Shouldn't we live and die as lovers, forgiving those…

I love the book "What would Jesus Do".    I love the bracelets.  We need more of them, but the title of this blog is not meant to stand for What would Jesus Do? but What would Jimmy Do?  In this case I'm not asking what would Jesus Christ do but what would Jimmy Carter do if he were president and Dennis Rodman came back from North Korea and said pick up the phone and call your enemy.  Based on his post- presidential record I think he would pick up more than a phone.  He would pick up Dennis,…

Instead of not seeing the forest for the trees, I have recently come to realize, that the we are in danger of not seeing the trees for the forest.  Concerns for the state of the Religous Socienty of Friends overshadows concern for the individual souls of its members and of those who enter its doors.  Discussions over what is a Quaker miss the point entirely.  When Jesus told his listeners to love their neighbor he was asked who is my neighbor.  He then told the parable of the good…

Here on LI, a man who killed a police officer when he lost control of his car was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and avoid jail.  The Police Officer left a widow and three children and they suffered a painful loss that they have to live with for the rest of their lives.  It is assumed that the driver was falling asleep at the wheel and that led to his loss of control.  There is a public outcry that the law should be changed so that the next time this happens any driver involved…

Growing up Catholic in the '50s, attending Catholic Elementary School under the aegis of the Sisters of St. Joseph, I would occasionally hear that there was a "Mystical Body of Christ" to which all believers who ever lived belonged.  Well recently, as will happen on occasion, words from the past got attached to a mental image that hopefully sprung from my soul.  As I was allowing my mind to freely navigate through thoughts of relationships appeared a maze not of walls but of electrical…

Once upon a time there was a breed of chicken called an Araucana.  The Araucanas bore good fruit, in this case a blue egg, and were generally quiet, friendly birds.  However, it had some genetic problems resulting in doa chicks, making it a rare bird.  Eventually, the Araucana found its way to the US where a few people decided they could improve on it and solve its genetic problem and they developed the Ameraucana.  The Ameraucana didn’t have the genetic problems and was…

In an article dated Nov. 15, 2011 I found the following: Unicef said on Tuesday that 24 children were killed in conflict in Somalia in October, nearly double the confirmed child killings in every other month of  2011.

In praying about the recent slaughter of young children in Ct., my heart spoke to me about all the young children that get slaughtered regularly, especially in the less developed…

After reading the Penn Charter article questioning whether they should be more Quaker and mulling it over in my spirit for a few days, I came to the realization that too many people, Quakers included, base their charity on intellectualizing the need for such instead of letting charity flow from their heart.  At a local Long Island gathering for Christ Centered Quakers, the spirit spoke to my heart that those of us gathered were wounded lovers, just as Jesus was, and that we were being sent…

When I was much younger I bought a motorcycle.  A small underpowered two cycle motorcycle without an oil injection system.  Not having an oil injection system meant that spark plug fouling was part of my life.  I used the motorcycle for a round trip commute of 100 miles on a daily basis.  Because of the fouling I had to carry extra spark plugs and on average once a week the bike would die and I'd be on the side of a road changing spark plugs.  Not an ideal situation but one I lived with for…

If the story at this link is true - http://now.msn.com/man-says-pills-to-stop-hair-loss-made-him-a-woman - it creates an interesting point on the whole homosexual, transgender question and even if it's not true it is probably time to look at the alternative life styles in the light of hormonal imbalance, which I for one am completely unqualified to do.

When I was young Bill Cosby was…

I was reading Friend Mark's blog - Community, build it or break it.  It's dangerous reading Quaker blogs after meeting for worship when you have let down your guard and opened yourself up to God's will.  He raises a point I have heard in my own meeting and that is that our meeting houses are in affluent areas.  This is raised as an answer to the question of why don't we minister to the poor as much as the early Quakers did.  So as a suicidal act that will make me personna non grata at my…

The coach of a college basketball team at Baylor, Scott Drew, is being chastised for his holier than thou personna while breaking NCAA rules on recruiting.  He is being compared to teleevangelists in his hyprocracy because while recruiting high school basketball players in violation of the NCAA rules he would pray and sing hymns.  I guess only Holy people can pray and sing Hymns. 

A problem facing members of today's church is that they are held to a higher standard then those with…

Let me start by saying I really enjoy Micah Bales blog posts.  I admire that he is trying to walk the talk.  However I can't get on the "occupy" bandwagon.  At least not yet.

When it started I read the complaints of the occupiers and recognized the legitimacy of the complaints against the present economic powers, both government and corporate.  However, I also recognized that a lot of the complaints were the result of their own poor judgment.  They borrowed money to pursue interests…

There is a question boiling to the top of my consciousness.  Is the presence of God in my life measured by my senses or my perception?  Is God more present in my life in those moments when I sense His presence or in those moments when I understand that He is in me and with me 24/7?  This question grew from a blog of a fellow friend on communion and is being watered by life's daily needs for his help.  When Philip approached Jesus at the request of the Greeks He knew that it was only by His…

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…

There's a song that says everyone has to walk that lonesome valley, they have to walk it by themselves.  It's easy to disagree with that but there is truth in it.  No one can possibly share the leadings they get; no one can logically explain why they are following this path rather than that one.  Our friends, loved ones and brothers and sisters in the Lord can support our attempts to follow God's path for our lives by affirming us, by holding us in the light and sometimes by…

I was driving along when I heard an all too familiar noise.  Pulling off the road as soon as I could I checked my tires and sure enough I had a flat.  This has become a regular part of my life now that I no longer lease cars every two years and it was only a few months ago I missed a meeting because I got a flat on the infamous LIE.  When I was younger I didn't have much trouble changing flats but as I get closer to the end of my earthly journey I am clearly overmatched.  No cell phone, no…