“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” [Galatians 3:26-28]
“Keep to the equal measure and just weight in all things, both inwardly and outwardly, that you may answer equity, answer truth in the oppressed, and the spirit, and grace, and light in all people. And so, being kept in righteousness, and equity, and truth, and holiness, that preserves you over the inequality, injustice, and the false measure, and weight, and balance in all things, both inward and outward. And this keeps your eye open, keeps you in a feeling sense, keeps you in understanding, and true wisdom, and true knowledge, what you are to answer to all men in righteousness, and truth, and equity, both inward and outward.”
—George Fox, Epistle 272
Quaker Life is a periodical that seeks to capture a mosaic of spiritual experiences expressed by members of the FUM community. Each edition highlights a specific theme of spiritual life. Quaker Life, vol. 9 no. 3, will be focused on equality. Please consider sharing with the community of Quaker Life readers your stories about practicing equality. Write specifically for Quaker Life, or, if you have sermons or blog posts that you’ve already presented on this theme, send them on to us.
If you need help thinking about equality, here are some questions that might get you started—but if you have thoughts about equality that have nothing to do with these questions, we are equally happy to receive them:
• How would you define equality, when it’s clear in a practical sense that human beings have varying strengths and giftedness?
• In what ways has an orientation toward equality determined how you respond to other human beings—and perhaps to other parts of creation?
• In what ways does your Friends Meeting or Church practice and embody equality?
• Do you recognize a difference between equality and equity? Is it a difference that guides your actions?
What we are looking for in a submission is an account of your own experience with equality—personally, or within your family or work place or neighborhood, or in the life of your faith community.
We are also eager to accept visual art: concrete or abstract images about equality, accompanied by a brief description of the piece’s meaning, or the process of creation, or both. We have no word limits for textual submissions, but, as a useful guide, most of our essays run between 175 to 1800 words. Images should be digital files between 1–10 MBs in size, in jpg, tiff, or png format. We are not able to accept handwritten submissions. If your visual images are not digitized, please send us an inquiry about submission.
To submit your work (text or image), or for more information, please email danielk@fum.org. Also include with your submission a short biography of yourself, including the Meeting or church where you worship.
Submissions for Quaker Life vol. 9, no. 3, should reach us by 11/6/24.
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