“Registering for Peace.”

by Tobin Jacobrown
(YES!) August 6 - On Wednesday, the 29th of July, I filed a lawsuit against the federal government declaring that, because of my religious beliefs, I should not be required to register for the draft unless it could be officially recognized that I claim to object to all war. 
I grew up believing not only [...]

“Dance Party Erupts During Quaker Meeting for Worship.”

Probably NOT my Meeting this morning, but wev…

(H/t Stasa.)

“Quakers make the right decision.”

by Rosemary Hartill
(The Guardian/UK) August 3 – Following the decision by the Religious Society of Friends on Friday to become the first historic church to say “yes” to same-sex marriages, Saturday’s Guardian ran an editorial entitled In Praise of .. the Quakers. It highlighted the long history of Quaker trail-blazing – in the reform of [...]

“Selective Service Is Sued by Quaker.”

(Washington Post) July 30 – A Washington state Quaker filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the U.S. government is discriminating against him because it will not recognize his status as a conscientious objector on military draft forms.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit on behalf of Tobin D. Jacobrown, 21, in the District’s [...]

Here we go again…

Good grief.
Obama’s military spying on U.S. peace groups
by Amy Goodman
(TruthDig) July 28 - Anti-war activists in Olympia, Wash., have exposed Army spying and infiltration of their groups, as well as intelligence gathering by the Air Force, the federal Capitol Police and the Coast Guard.
The infiltration appears to be in direct violation of the Posse Comitatus [...]

Retreating again.

Later today, I’m off again to the New Jersey Pine Barrens, for the second and final retreat part of the ongoing journey that has been my Spiritual Formation Group these past nine months.  I am looking forward to it, of course, and the weather forecast is looking good for a fine couple of days, but part [...]

On silence.

I’m for it, by the way. 
Mostly.
Silence, Prayer, and Other Activities by Christopher Brauchli
(CommonDreams) May 2 -

“All I want out of you is silence, and damn little of that.”
— A Whaler’s captain addressing a crew member. Zephaniah W. Pease, The History of New Bedford
It is time for an update on silence. It’s back. A quiet [...]

Yes, I’m a bad Quaker.

I was recently visiting the blog of one of my favorite Quaker authors, J. Brent Bill, and I found a post that started out like this:

“So you’re a Quaker?” I get that question a lot since I travel a good bit schlepping my books. People always seem a bit intrigued — as if surprised any [...]

Shameless shilling.

About a year ago, I reviewed the young adult novel Quaking by Kathy Erskine, a book I greatly enjoyed.  Kathy is now a buddy of mine via Facebook, and she sent along this very cool video “book trailer.”   Check it out.
Kathy’s web site is here.  Her new book is due out [...]

Footprints, v. 2.0.

One night, a man had a dream.  
He dreamed he was walking along the beach with God.
(It might have been a beach in the Virgin Islands or Bermuda, but more than likely, it was at the Jersey shore.   We’ll go with that.)
Across the sky flashed the scenes that made up the man’s life. For [...]

Another f/Friend lost.

Pardon me if I sound like I’ve been punched in the stomach.  Yesterday was a rough day.
After a two-week absence, I went to Meeting yesterday, arriving much earlier than usual to help set up for our monthly covered dish, which was to be accompanied by the annual book sale sponsored by the Meeting’s library committee, [...]

Rest in peace, Friend.

An amazing Quaker activist and local hero, Lillian Willoughby, has died.
Philadelphia, PA (Daily News) January 26 – Lillian Willoughby had a vision of a world at peace.

She and her husband, George, dedicated Quakers, chased this impossible dream all over the world, conducting nonviolent protests against war and preparations for war for nearly 70 years.
They [...]

Revising and extending my remarks…

… from Meeting for Worship yesterday. 
Really extending.
[Today] my students and colleagues and I all get a day off from school to celebrate the commemoration of the anniversary of the birth of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  On Tuesday, by administrative edict, all school work will come to a close at around 11:30 am [...]

What I almost said at Meeting the other day.

Things have been pretty quiet at Meeting for Worship the last couple weeks.  Not too much in the way of vocal ministry.  That’s okay:  for many of us, the opportunity to simply sit in quiet, corporate worship with the gathered Friends is enough.  I know it is for me.  Whether there are many messages or none [...]

Retreating, and advancing.

During the last couple days, I was thinking about how I might post about the Quaker retreat (entitled “Spiritual Formation”) I went on this past weekend. 
I was trying to figure out how I might explain to you about what took place, the intriquing and very “deep” exercises we did, the wonderful and stimulating readings [...]

Guess who’s coming to dinner?

Oh, the Corporate Radio Gasbags are gonna have a field day with this.
Quakers, Mennonites to dine with Iranian president
(Winton-Salem Journal) September 20 – Keepers of Protestantism’s pacifist traditions will showcase just how far they’ve come from their humble roots in Europe’s persecuted peasantry when they share an intimate dinner in New York on Thursday with [...]

No more.

As in, there probably won’t be any more posting about this presidential campaign on this blog until the day after the November election.
There’s a real simple reason for this choice.  I can’t reconcile being a partisan when it comes to my politics and being a practicing Quaker who is trying really hard to live his beliefs.  [...]

“What Obama might have seen in Ramallah.”

By Max L. Carter
GREENSBORO, NC (News-Record) August 16 – Recently, Barack Obama spent several days in the Middle East on a fact-finding trip, including a little more than a day in Israel and an hour in Ramallah, the governmental seat of the Palestinian National Authority. His visit to that West Bank city coincided with our annual [...]

For Flora.

One of our Meeting’s weighty Friends, Flora, passed away this past week. She was in her early ninties and had been in declining health for many months, but she still managed to get out to Meeting for Worship most First Days, with the help of her devoted husband, Howard.  Her death was not unexpected, but [...]

“Eyes Wide Open,” Medford, New Jersey.

The New Jersey state exhibit of the American Friends Service Committee’s “Eyes Wide Open” visited Medford Friends Meeting this past weekend.  As Medford is just down the road from me, I visited there yesterday for Meeting for Worship and to see the memorial.
(Please excuse my lack of skills as a photographer.  My “work” here doesn’t do [...]