In recent weeks, I have been sharing reflections about the recent FUM-sponsored pastoral care trip to Ramallah Friends School. During our week there, we had the privilege of visiting classrooms, engaging with teachers, and connecting with the students. Amidst the ongoing conflict and its inherent stresses, our students are a ray of light. Their brilliance and kindness, in my opinion, truly represent the world's hope for a more peaceful and stable Middle East and beyond. It's inspiring to note that nearly all Ramallah Friends School graduates—an impressive 98%—go on to pursue higher education, both within Palestine and at universities across Europe, Canada, and the United States.
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Have you heard or read this quote from Howard Thurman? “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Thurman’s quote came to mind on a recent Wednesday evening, listening to Colin Saxton deliver his message for the Perkins Family Lecture hosted by Earlham School of Religion. Colin repeatedly invited us to think about the question George Fox raised: Friends all everywhere, in the life and power of God live and dwell, and spread the truth abroad. Quench not the spirit, but live in love and unity one with another; that with the wisdom of God ye may all be ordered to God's glory... And live all as the family of God in love, in life, in truth, in power…George Fox, Epistle 150 Saxton wrote in his essay: “Do I live in the Life and Power? Do you? Do we, as the Religious Society of Friends? I want this reality to become radically true in my experience. Even more, I long to belong to a community that hungers and thirsts for this same reality, as we proclaim and demonstrate the peaceable kingdom.”
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Pastors, their spouses, and children, from New Association of Friends, Wilmington, Western, and New York Yearly Meetings, met for food, fun, and fellowship April 22-24 at Hueston Woods State Park in Ohio. This marked the second visit, as a group, to this particular location, and the fourth joint pastors’ retreat. In a world which is often marked by hustle and bustle, these retreats are an invitation for pastors to rest and relax, serving as an important reminder to the pastors that they aren’t machines. Whatever we are doing and wherever we are, it can be tempting to feel as if we are isolated and alone in our cares and concerns. Gatherings like these provide a timely reminder of the shared call and purpose in ministry.
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Many caregivers, healers, and pastors have given sacrificially of themselves, their hearts, their energy, their time, and their bodies. These people carry so much of their community with them. Even when given a respite and not responsible for all aspects of the worship, hands are still so full we are often unable to receive the blessing laid out before us.
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God is calling everyone to continually seek him through prayer. Some people pray expecting answers immediately, while others have lost the desire to pray due to unanswered prayer, lack of faith, or failure to understand their relationship with God. But this is not God’s will for us.
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Throughout our history, the people known as Friends (or Quakers) keep rediscovering an essential and enduring truth: There is one who speaks to our most basic needs and most significant hopes—Christ Jesus the Lord. Both individually and communally, we are learning to know and follow the Voice that guides us in the way we should go. Together, we seek to understand and obey that truth which sets us free. As a people, we share in the experience of that powerful life which makes all things new. Maybe you are searching for an authentic and transforming faith and community to call home—if so, come in and join us as we seek to know and follow Christ.
Friends United Meeting commits itself to energize and equip Friends through the power of the Holy Spirit to gather people into fellowships where Jesus Christ is known, loved, and obeyed as Teacher and Lord.
