Spiritual Growth

My Journey among Friends

I found the Religious Society of Friends when I was in middle school. An unpopular, misunderstood, "sensitive" child, I didn’t…

Violence and Light

Halloween Night, 2007: Detroit It is Halloween, and we are at the Detroit Zoo. I am walking past brightly painted…

Be Still and Cool: Quakerism and the Passionate Life

Summer solstice. Miles above the Arctic Circle, on the calm Norwegian Sea, I leaned over the ship’s rail. Sunlight flared…

A Practice of Such Gentle Collective Ecstasy

I have come early to Friends meeting this morning. I sit alone in a room that is sparse and welcoming,…

Naming Our Own Radical Faith

In the Gospel of Matthew, in the record of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches his disciples, saying, "Blessed…

Joy of the Spirit

Monastic Longings: On Laziness, Discipline, and Devotion

“You would make a wonderful nun." Katherine said this to me with a grin, and I acted insulted because I…

Twenty-One Tips on Personal Peacemaking

I think we as Quakers spend a lot of time thinking about and discussing peacemaking, but when it comes to…

Unobstructed Love

The problem with unobstructed love is that it’s rarely understood. Maybe that’s because it does not appear like any other…

One Bad Apple: A Meditation on Organic Applesauce

I spent the week before Labor Day at my family farm in Michigan making applesauce. This has been a custom…

Understanding Pacifism: Reconciling Religion with Philosophy

I have been brought up a Quaker, and pacifism is the harmony to which the melody of my meager 20…

How I Became a Pacifist: An Interview with Lee Thomas

FJ: How did you feel about the war effort? Were people at that time okay with it? Lee: Well, sure.…
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