By Mary Linda McKinney: I think a lot about the faithfulness of the earliest generation or two of Friends. They were arrested and imprisoned for their beliefs on the regular. Their homes, farms, and businesses were taken by the authorities to pay their fines because they didn’t doff their hats or they preached in public […] The post Ocean of Light appeared first on School of the Spirit Ministry ..read more

by Mary Linda McKinney: School of the Spirit held the online one-day retreat Listening to the Sacred recently. Our four programs were represented during sessions by a teacher from each. Scott Wagoner, as the clerk of our Contemplative Retreats committee, encouraged us to consider contemplative spiritual practices. Interesting questions arose during Scott’s session: One Friend […] The post Centering Up appeared first on School of the Spirit Ministry ..read more

by Joann Neuroth: I almost didn’t apply for the Spiritual Nurturer class that was so transformational for me – I pictured the School of the Spirit as very Christocentric, and I was still smarting from encounters with a judgmental and narrowly prescriptive childhood version of Christianity that excluded me.  I hadn’t been successful, though, in […] The post God Language appeared first on School of the Spirit Ministry ..read more

by Joann Neuroth: In 1846, Michigan lawmakers enacted this provision into law: “the preceding provisions of this chapter [on marriage] shall not affect marriages among the people called Friends or Quakers, nor of any other particular denomination, having any peculiar mode of solemnizing marriages.” Until a recent modernization of the marriage license form made Quaker […] The post Are We a Peculiar People? appeared first on School of the Spirit Ministry ..read more

by Mary Linda McKinney You know the Bible verse in the first chapter of Luke when Elizabeth, pregnant with John, greets her cousin Mary? Elizabeth doesn’t seem to know yet that Mary is with child. The Common English Bible says this, “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was […] The post Answering That of God appeared first on School of the Spirit Ministry ..read more

by Adria Gulizia Have you ever been to FGC Gathering? It’s a lot. It’s a lot of Friends gathered together – over a thousand, as a matter of fact. It’s a lot of sensory stimulation – just finding a table at mealtimes can be an exhaustingadventure in color and sound. It’s a lot of opportunity. […] The post Taking Time for Eternity at FGC Gathering appeared first on School of the Spirit Ministry ..read more

by Joann Neuroth Carolyn and I just returned from a glorious bucket-list trip to Alaska, where among other indelible memories, we learned to mush a four-sled-dog team. The excitement of the dogs was palpable – they’re race dogs after all, who were dragging their handlers toward the harness in order to getunderway. Carolyn had clear […] The post Pacing for Distance appeared first on School of the Spirit Ministry ..read more

by Adria Gulizia My name is Adria Gulizia, and I’m addicted to love. Well, not to love, exactly, but to thinking about love and reading about love and talking about love compulsively. It’s an actual struggle, as I get sidetracked from necessary tasks by Internet rabbit holes and algorithmically perfected YouTube playlists.  But while I […] The post A Few Thoughts About Love appeared first on School of the Spirit Ministry ..read more

by Joann Neuroth Asked once whether a non-theist could be a Quaker, my friend Lloyd Lee Wilson memorably replied, “Well, Quakers have pretty much bet the farm on the Inner Teacher. We leave belief to be built by experience. So, all are welcome. The tent is large and there’s no card-check at the entrance.” My mother […] The post Step by Step appeared first on School of the Spirit Ministry ..read more

Emily Provance has done it again: stretched, challenged and rewarded me. If you haven’t met her yet, she is a Quaker thinker, blogger and teacher who is currently hosting a series of structured on-line conversations (read about them here). In them, she identifies pre-conditions observed globally that warn of likely election violence, documents that they […] The post Expanding the “We” appeared first on School of the Spirit Ministry ..read more