Walking Cheerfully Over the Earth

Avena en Nicaragua (Oats in Nicaragua)

On Tuesday, I was trying to talk with my Spanish teacher about something or other and my reply to one of her questions identified that I went to church. She asked me if I was Christian and I replied yes, but not Catholic. To that answer, she inquired to what …

Imperfect Integrity

Over the past few weeks, away from our students and program, the school where I work has been obsessed with the annual Secret Freak phenomenon. Its like Secret Santa where we drew names and each person has one other person on staff to gift with little presents throughout the week. …

Your Elevator Speech?

In response to my questions back in August, a dear friend of mine wrote me an email sharing that she was about to speak to her yearly meeting about what it meant for her to be Quaker today. She referenced a part of New England Yearly Meeting’s new Faith and …

What makes you Quaker?

Back in August, I posed the question “What makes you Quaker?” Facebook comments filtered back with many different replies. I posted some of these answers in poll format below. Many thanks to Simon Grey, Kathy Dyer, Chuck Fager, Brad Laird, Jeanmarie Simpson, John Price, Michael Alberto, Diana Hedrick, and Scott …

Stop being such a Quaker!

Sometime in September, I had two students in my office. I don’t remember what the ailment was or for what I was having them wait- maybe a twisted ankle or a headache that needed ice. Anyways, the two students were chatting while I was working on paperwork. I wasn’t paying …

Writing Questions

For the past few years, I’ve written prodigiously for a few months and then become absent for a few months. Settled now in California, the universe has begun to speak to me again; urging me to write. The fall semester is coming to a close. Currently, I’m finishing up a …

The Culture of Home

Last week I attended a workshop by the People’s Institute on institutional and internalized racism. The workshop was rich, emotional, and challenging. I know that I will be processing my experience for a while now. During the workshop, there was a section where we worked at defining “White Culture.” This working …

Troubled Waters

Step into the troubled waters the angel left for you– the trembling unknown, the unchartered depth. The body descending blurs in the refraction of sacred Light. “Bethsaida” by Nancy Compton Williams Source: The Penwood Review via Holy Ordinary: Musings and Photography from a Quaker Perspective: Step into the …

Nature Awareness: Urban Awareness

In response to one of my entries earlier in the week, a dear friend of mine emailed me with the question “Have you read this book by Anthony deMello called Awareness? I love it! You should check it out.” So, in light of my words about accountability and community, I walked over …

The Moment of Awakening

“Waking up is a significant moment for getting in touch with what we’re feeling, what we’re thinking, and how we’re doing. It’s a significant moment in which to check in. But often we don’t. The alarm goes off, we’ve got to get up, and we’ve got all these things to …

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