If you feel moved to support the work I do in the world, discussions, workshops consultations focused on liberation psychologies, community building, dream and death work all offered by donation so no one is excluded from support this is an excellent way to offer patronage 2 essays a month

Quiet Piggy!

Creative Tension 3 – Quietist and Charismatic There was a creative tension in the early Quaker movement between a quietist and contemplative spiritual practice, and a charismatic and emotionally expressive response. The Quaker Faith: Friends of Love and Truth, pp.28-29

Reminds me of this advertisement for Quaker worship 🕊️

Read more about Howard Thurman, the mystic and activist whom Rufus Jones mentored. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdjL...

"On Tyranny" author Timothy Snyder on the hopeful lessons history can teach us in this moment.

Howard Thurman: "...all my life I have been seeking to validate, beyond all ambivalences & frustrations, the integrity of the inner life. I have sensed the urgency to find a way to act & react responsibly out of my own center." Mysticism and the Experience of Love, #PendleHillPamphlet #115 #Sunday

The cactus on my window sill usually blooms around Election Day but this year I thought it decided to skip its bloom. Not true. The blooms were facing out. I turned the plant around—lo and behold—there are the buds… Question: Is this past election week a turn around too?

Thank you, Nancy, for your unflagging devotion to a democratic agenda for the USA. Thank you for retiring now, when we have clearly seen that Americans want younger leadership. Keep your wise counsel available for the CA democrat taking your place in Washington. Thank you for your service, madam.

This is completely irresponsible, unacceptable and downright embarrassing…

A major shift in where L.A. gets water: The city will double the size of a project to transform wastewater into purified drinking water, producing enough for 500,000 people. The recycled water will allow L.A. to stop taking water from creeks that feed Mono Lake. www.latimes.com/environment/...

'We need #myths that will help us to identify with...our fellow-beings, not simply with those who belong to our...national or ideological tribe. We need myths that help us to realize the importance of #compassion, which is not always regarded as...productive...[in our] world' (Karen Armstrong) 💜

We have the power to elect Gun Sense Candidates who will fight for stronger laws, safer communities, and a future free from the devastating impact of gun violence. Every vote matters—especially when lives are on the line. Find your polling place now and vote on 11/4: gunsensevoter.org/polling-place

The word [Quaker] can often invoke images of a quaint and peculiar people from the past, with men in distinctive hats and women wearing bonnets. Today, however, a Quaker is more likely to be a young African Evangelical Christian, or a middle-aged American humanist who practices Buddhist meditation.

This Día de los Muertos, survivors with Moms Demand Action San Antonio came together at MuertosFest to build a beautiful altar — an ofrenda filled with photos, candles, and memories of loved ones taken by gun violence in the city. 🧵

At my meeting house doing some filming for my Lectio Divina project! @barbarabirch.bsky.social

Quakers in the news apnews.com/article/quak...

'Who is better able to know God than I myself, since He resides in my heart and is the very essence of my being? Such should be the attitude of one who is seeking' (Paramananda, from The Upanishads) 🕉

For one thing, it explains why I love my Facebook memories. When I see the pictures, I remember the event.

Reading this week's The New Yorker...there's an article about #aphantasia. I think I am on that spectrum. I form very few mental images. This explains a lot. aphantasia.com/what-is-apha...

✨Join us for online meeting for worship! ✨ UK times shown, Friends welcome from around the world! Find out more information on our website: www.woodbrooke.org.uk/worship

"Hope Is Not Optimism; Hope Is Defiance." If you're one of the many people feeling overwhelmed or burnt out right now, this candid and timely reflection by Marion Sarkisian Ramón Pareja may help you find some rejuvenating, empowering perspective for this moment.

Here's a really interesting video about outreach in the UK--how relevant is it to the US today? Might be an interesting discussion at my Meeting. Thanks Quake It Up

I do think Quakers can learn a lot from PR and marketing, particularly when it comes to “brand” awareness. In general as a group we undervalue and under resource comms compared to others. Have a watch if you’re interested in what I mean by all that and why we shouldn’t be squeamish about it!

California Moms Demand Action and @studentsdemand.bsky.social volunteers fought tirelessly to pass legislation that would take on deadly DIY machine guns in their state—and Governor Gavin Newsom answered their call by signing AB 1127 into law! @governor.ca.gov

The fight for a future free from gun violence begins at the ballot box. Find and share important resources that will help you be an informed Gun Sense Voter. ⬇️

The Redwood Circle at Ben Lomond Quaker Center. A place of quiet ceremony & worship. Forest bathing Quaker style. The sun dapples the breeze & scents the air

The huge redwood trees at Ben Lomond Quaker Center are babies. This hill was clear cut 100 years ago. But the trees came back and will be here after we’ve vanished. I am pleased to think of that in worship there

This is the center of the #labyrinth at Ben Lomond #Quaker Center. Leaves, rocks, pine needles in a circle like a wreath It’s at the center of the redwood forest. I leave a leaf & a dead banana slug as my gift

Several dozen people reported to the Stockton office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Saturday afternoon after being summoned, immigrant advocates said.

Resisting #authoritarianism with love and power at Ben Lomond Quaker Center. Eileen Flanagan speaks truth to western #Friends. Oh and a #labyrinth too

It is not from your own goods that you give to the beggar; it is a portion of his own that you are restoring to him. The earth belongs to all. So you are paying back a debt and think you are making a gift to which you are not bound. St. Ambrose

I was recently interviewed by Prospect about theological diversity among British Quakers. You can read the full article here.

Look at Ben Wood all over the media! I will do a video on this for sure!

This explains a lot about people who support the orange menace, even when it's against their own interests. Thank you, Fran Leibowitz.

BREAKING: Letitia James has announced a Government portal for Videos and images of ICE Agents who may have committed crimes. Please Use it and SHARE! ag.ny.gov/federal-acti...

It's important for me to stay focused, with one eye on the eternal reality (& the other eye on the finite world of daily destruction & fear) Wall-eyed exotropic but surviving possibly Join me for some Spirit in January 2026 quakercenter.org/the-great-in...

UN experts see clearly - these strikes are killing people without due process and violating international law

Adelita Grijalva: "There is so much that cannot be done until I'm sworn in. So every moment that passes that I'm not able to provide constituent services or be a voice for Arizona, I cannot bring the issues forward that they send me here to do."

Destruction of the White House East Wing began today. Here it is in better times with better residents.

A classic Antifa manual #Quakers #SpeakTruthtoPower Download it here. afsc.org/archive/spea...

Today, Californians joined millions nationwide to say loud and clear: NO to authoritarianism. NO to assaulting our democracy. NO to censorship and fear. NO to hate and division. NO to corruption and cruelty. NO to kings. YES to a government by and for the people. time.com/7326801/no-k...

Here is a map showing the exact spot a CHP vehicle was struck by shrapnel after a shell detonated over I-5 during the Trump-Vance missile firings at Camp Pendleton:

We love our Marines and owe a debt of gratitude to Camp Pendleton, but next time, the Vice President and the White House shouldn’t be so reckless with people’s lives for their vanity projects. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/u...

Organizers said some 2,600 protests were planned in the U.S. on Saturday. The protests were largely peaceful, as demonstrators united in their stated aim to safeguard the country's democratic values.

How can Quaker communities move beyond racial harm toward racial justice—naming patterns like conflict avoidance, denial, and performativity? A new resource co-authored by FCNL's Lauren Brownlee: buff.ly/ulD29A9

Received my $1,000 check from ANTIFA for ‘No Kings’ yesterday; it was signed by General Eisenhower y’all! 😂🤑🥹