How do you know when to speak up and “call shenanigans” if something seems not quite right, say, with our government? On this point, Quakers can be truly helpful. Our meetings for worship are silent … until someone speaks. Many good folks have expounded on when to speak in meeting, who is actually speaking, and how long to go on. But the most helpful information for today is how do you know when to speak up, or in this case, call shenanigans? Read more
From Faith and Practice for the Intermountain Yearly Meeting, this three-in-one query asks that each of us reflect on how we encourage equality in our society and what we do to end discrimination. These seem more than timely to me as we enter an era with leaders who are utterly disinterested in these questions. Read more
And then came Christmas. That is when I learned that previous Quakers had not celebrated it – or any holiday. They believed that every day is as holy as the next, and no single day is to be held out as special. In fact, Quakers didn’t make a fuss about any event. I struggled. I like Christmas – a lot. Read more
Integrity, as these queries come at it, requires that we go deeply into our natures to consider more subtle aspects of honesty. The question isn't just "Do we pay our debts?" but "Do we pay our debts promptly?" Read more
Do you live in the life and power which takes away the occasion of all wars? Read more
This week's query gets to the matter of handling conflicts in our communities. Might be useful before everyone is sitting at the holiday table. Read more
I am grateful that my military-aged son is a thorough-going pacifist who has already made clear that he would be a conscientious objector. Our country has been at war nonstop since my son was born in 1995, so he has thought about his belief system in light of a possible military draft. Read more
If Quakers have a point of dogma, it is that there is that of God in everyone. The query below speaks to that point, and I think is a good one for those of us in the United States trying to make any sense of our divisive election season. Read more
Brad Lyttle has run for president four times on the platform that we must deactivate all nuclear weapons. Talk about single issue candidates! Read more
My ancestors were slave holders in northern Maryland at Hance Point where the North East River joins the Chesapeake Bay. I know this because when I visited the family graveyard there with my grandmother in the early 70s, one headstone read “Jake – A Slave.” Some of my family members have commented that the slave’s grave in the family plot was a proof that our ancestors treated their slaves pretty well. I was just dead inside. So for all these years, I... Read more
Molly Wingate, Plain Speaking
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In