It seems appropriate that I first met Donna on Mother’s Day, three weeks after I met Jill at the Palm Sunday Peace Parade in Pasadena fourteen years ago. Donna was for me like a second mother, and this is a role she played for many others. She was one of the most loving, supportive, and fun people I’ve ever met.  I’ll never forget our first lunch in Costa Mesa. It lasted for several hours. Donna, Jana, Jill and I talked, laughed and had a blast together. It was a foretaste of many fun lunches and dinners I had over the years with Donna and her family.  Jill and I usually spent ..read more

We’re late in getting out our annual Christmas letter because the last month has been super hectic—with two major events, our Annual MHCH Celebration and the unveiling of the N. Fair Oaks mural—Jill’s foot surgery (removal of a neuroma that was causing intense pain), car issues (both our vehicles have been in the shop) and the death of Jill’s beloved mother at age 94 after a long bout with Alzheimer’s’. Jill’s mom passed peacefully on Dec. 13 at 4:15 am. “I was unable to be present because my foot surgery took place that same day,” recalls Jill,  “but my sister Jana was with Mom at t ..read more

  Please join us online ICUJP Friday Forum September 6th, 7:30-9:30 am Pacific   Naming Suffering Instead of Denying Its Existence: Finding Our Way Through As Faith Communities CLICK BELOW TO JOIN ZOOM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85416229154 Call in by phone: +1 669 900 6833*  Meeting ID: 854 1622 9154 PASSCODE: 453788*Meeting controls for call-in attendees: To mute/unmute yourself: *6 To raise hand: *9 Event Description:  Do you find yourself doing a great deal in a time of urgency and feel like you are not getting very far? Join this program to ..read more

  (This reflection was shared today at Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace.) The sabbatical that Jill and I have been on since May 1 is coming to an end. On Monday, we’ll be back in the saddle, working on housing justice with our nonprofit, Making Housing and Community Happen. While we were on sabbatical, the conservative justices on the Supreme Court made a deplorable decision in response to a lawsuit against the city of Grants Pass, Oregon.  Grants Pass fines and arrests unhoused people for being homeless, even though the city doesn’t provide a shelter or any oth ..read more

  Please join us online ICUJP Friday Forum August 30th, 7:30-9:30 am Pacific   AFSC Warns of Worsening Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza CLICK BELOW TO JOIN ZOOM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84897111028 Call in by phone: +1 669 900 6833*  Meeting ID: 848 9711 1028 PASSCODE: 806647*Meeting controls for call-in attendees: To mute/unmute yourself: *6 To raise hand: *9 Event Description:  The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has a long history in Gaza, starting refugee camps in 1948 for about two years, before th ..read more

  Vigil in downtown Whittier during PacYM annual session Do Minutes of Concern Matter? I left Pacific Yearly Meeting’s annual session this summer with a feeling of joy that I haven’t felt for many years. What made my heart leap for joy was that we approved a minute of concern on Israel/Palestine calling for: 1.      A permanent ceasefire. 2.      End[ing] complicity in human rights violations and war crimes by the United States and other countries, and impos[ing] a universal arms embargo. 3.      Release of Isr ..read more

  Protesting in front of Rep. Judy Chu's office in Pasadena: Anthony Manousos, Hedab Tarifi (a Muslim leader of our vigil who lost 150+ family members in Gaza since Oct. 8) and Bert Newton, Mennonite pastor and organizer of this vigil. If you are troubled, heart-broken and/or outraged by the genocidal acts taking place in Gaza and the West Bank and you want to take action at our Pacific Yearly Meeting annual session, please contact me at interfaithquaker@aol.com. I’d like to meet with you for lunch on Saturday, July 20, at Whittier College to discuss what we can do, such as having an af ..read more

  What you can do to support ACA 8, the measure that would end involuntary servitude (slavery) for prison inmates in California. ACA 8 has the strong support of the Quaker lobby in Sacramento, Friends Committee on Legislation of California. History of Slavery in California  The legacy of slavery and forced labor runs deep in  California’s history, from the exploitation of Indigenous  people in Spanish missions to Black people who were  enslaved and forced to mine for gold. This legacy goes as  far back as the first iteration of the California State  Constitu ..read more

  Today at ICUJP we heard a presentation Helen Jaccard , a crew member and project manager for the Veterans for Peace Golden Rule Project. I was deeply impressed by how this peace ship has traveled to the Hawaii islands, the East Coast from Florida to the Hudson, and all along the West Coast. This summer the Golden Rule will be heading to the Pacific Northwest.  I am including a chapter from my book "Transformative Friends" describing how the Golden Rule got started.  From its first voyage in 1958, and its recommission from 2015 on, the Golden Rule has been a li ..read more

The Gaza crisis is now an epic tragedy   A growing number of monthly meetings in Pacific Yearly Meeting have now approved minutes of concern. They include Claremont, Orange Grove, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica and Strawberry Creek.  Their minutes urge ceasefire in Israel/Palestine, release of Israeli and Palestinian  prisoners, expedited humanitarian aid, and a diplomatic solution to this long-standing conflict. But much more needs doing. Over  35,000 people have been killed. Most hospitals, schools, places of worship and homes o lie in ruins. Fa ..read more