What do these times require of us—specifically this election cycle? What these times ask of us is what is always asked of us. But these times—this election season—somehow feels more challenging. I suggest that what these times require of us is our imagination, that we know our convictions, that we act with humbleness, that we hope without attachment to outcome, and that we love.
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Classes for the 2024–2025 school year began on August 29 at Ramallah Friends School in Ramallah, Palestine. On social media they wrote: “As we welcome students back today for the new school year, we’re thinking of the 625,000 students in Gaza who won’t be returning to their schools soon. Amid the challenges facing our society, Ramallah Friends School begins its 155th academic year with a renewed determination to build the next generation of Palestinian leaders.”
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At Western Yearly Meeting’s 2024 Annual Sessions, we spent Saturday afternoon in a time of discussion and discernment about a unified mission opportunity centering around mental health.We discussed the experiences of our Meetings and individuals with mental health struggles in their communities and different ways that Monthly Meetings could support those struggling with mental health.Our mission around mental health will take three forms:
Read MoreStrange red loops began dotting my social media timeline. They were accompanied by miles, time lapsed, and a caption about fitness goals. Usually an upcoming marathon still months out.This coincided with political memes, fervently supporting a particular candidate and jokes in which the punchline was that anyone who didn’t agree was undoubtedly an idiot. Circular arguments with few compelling encouragements.And then the annoying red letters, “Bless your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”That sure flies in the face of easy quips and cutdowns. Especially when our fear is sparked about an abhorrent future and we feel betrayed by those whom we thought were friends. (Or even family.)
Read MoreWith the Quaker Peace Testimony, delivered by Margaret Fell to King Charles II in 1660, a new political possibility was introduced to Western political philosophy. In contrast to the prevailing idea of the divine-right of kings, Quakers asserted that governors could be disagreed with without risking a capital offense.While “theocracy” has been associated with autocratic rule, a democratic system of governance, where the people (the demos) determine their own rule, can also be seen as a distributed form of theocracy: God’s rule.The Quaker point is this: no single person has sole access to God’s will, and no one is devoid of such access. Rather, the Divine Will can be ascertained more faithfully by a plurality of discerning persons—if seeking the truth, goodness, and justice are of prime concern.
Read MoreWith the Quaker Peace Testimony, delivered by Margaret Fell to King Charles II in 1660, a new political possibility was introduced to Western political philosophy. In contrast to the prevailing idea of the divine-right of kings, Quakers asserted that governors could be disagreed with without risking a capital offense.
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