As Friends, we are not always “special day” celebratory. We celebrate God at work in this world, in our hearts, and in our lives. Pentecost is one of those Biblical moments Friends may celebrate regularly—God’s presence manifest in the lives of the gathered community. Whether or not our celebration is overt, we highlight, uplift and encourage the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We acknowledge the presence of the Divine in one another.
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In this season, Friends United Meeting is focused on one consistent message, Encourage One Another in Love. That message is being threaded into the fabric of FUM’s work with intentionality.
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This year’s Stoking the Fire theme, “Rediscovering the Basics”, is about reclaiming the fundamentals of our spiritual fire—getting us to a place where we can empower the core strength of our faith. We will be exploring questions about the space between ideal and real. What do we consider fire? Does everyone’s fire need to be identical? How do we show up for ourselves and one another when all we have is a small spark? What does it look like to stoke the flames of spiritual fire when it is raining and damp and the kindling is wet?
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With no employees allowed on the Ramallah Friends School campus for a month, no one will be there to do the heavy landscaping work until at least April, after I leave. I won't be able to participate in the installation of the Circle. My disappointment is pretty intense—so much design happens when you actually install. Besides the landscaping, the connections I have been developing with people here are not going to have this last month to deepen.
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I served as a pastoral minister among Friends for most of my adult life. In preparation for a recent move, I sorted through twenty-three years of sermon files, notes, and manuscripts. This revealed a lot about me and the kind of messages I like to preach—and the kind of messages I avoid.
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The Fall 2019 issue of Quaker Life, on justice, is in the mail and on shelves now. In the Bible, justice has to do with land and labor and family structures; with ownership and employment; with widows, orphans, and immigrants; with food and water and housing; with access to God at the Temple—with everything, material or spiritual, that is required for a human being to thrive. God cares for ALL of what God has created, and therefore shows a special regard for the weak and the marginalized for whom society cares less. And since God shows a special regard for the weak and the poor, a corresponding quality is required of God’s people. God’s people must also be especially concerned with equity and fairness in society and economy, with guaranteeing every creature’s access to the necessities of life: to water, food, health, respect, attention, kindness, helpful community, and the opportunity to draw near to God. As a foundation for life together, justice is a vast and widening gyre, and our authors in this issue explore the theme from many angles.
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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.
