"The place God calls you to is where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." — Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, 1973 So it's about two weeks into my big move from New York City to the Bay Area, which has been really wonderful so far. Mole and I are mostly…
Category: The Spirit
Strawberry Creek Meeting: Sun-drenched Silence in Downtown Berkeley
Today I continued my Tour of Bay Area Quaker Meetings by visiting the Strawberry Creek Meeting in Berkeley. I arrived at the location a few minutes late, where I found a dozen or so people sitting in on folding chairs in the middle of a school courtyard. "I guess this is the Meeting," I thought…
Worshipping with Quakers in Palo Alto : Red Means Ministry!
This morning I continued my "spiritual tourism" of the Bay Area, visiting the lovely Palo Alto Quaker Meeting. A number of Friends recommended this community to me, knowing of my plans to relocate to the Bay. While it's probably too far to be my main Quaker home here, I thought it was still worth a…
Who Am I Not to be Brilliant?
I’ve probably shared this quote before, but I’m really feeling it today: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually,…
Visiting the San Jose Friend’s Meeting… and an Unexpected Memorial
The problem with memorial services is that the person being honored is not able to appreciate all the nice things that people are saying about her or him. At least, that' usually the way it goes. Today I visited the San Jose Friend's Meeting, a Quaker community that meets in the oldest Meetinghouse in California,…
Some Peeps I’m Thankful For
A few of the many folks I’m thankful are part of my life, on this day of thanksgiving: My boss Barry: When you offered me a job at Global Kids more than three years ago, you must have seen something in me that I didn’t see. Under your astute, mindful, and sensitive leadership I’ve grown…
Quaking Aspen, Common Roots and Immortality
Rachel Sussman is a photographer who has spent years traveling the globe documenting the oldest living organisms on the planet. Ms. Sussman talk about her fascinating project in a recent TED Talk, that you watch in full on the official site. Watching this TED Talk on the train the other day, I have to say…
Awesome recipe for “Preserving Children” in the Powell House Cookbook
I love this recipe for "preserving children" that you can find in the Powell House cookbook (now out of print). Tom Rothchild brought this gem to my attention. The recipe is as follows: Take one large grassy field, half a dozen children, three small dogs, and walk along a narrow strip of brook, pebbly if…
Resting and Recharging with the Brooklyn Quakers
This weekend I got to enjoy the company of 40-some Quakers in upstate New York for the 2010 Brooklyn Quaker Meeting Retreat, which I helped organize. It was one of those times that reaffirm everything that I love about Quakers as a community. The locale was the historic and quaint retreat center called Powell House…
A Fantastic Weekend with the Brooklyn Quakers up at Powell House
I'm sure I will have more coherent comments about the past three days once I've had some more sleep and time to think about it. For the moment, let me just say that this weekend totally rocked. I was up in the beautiful retreat center run by the Quakers called Powell House along with about…