Author Archives: ericmuhr

A Language for the Inward Landscape: Wisdom from the Quaker Tradition
by Brian Drayton and William P. Taber, Jr.

As Quakers expressed and reflected upon their experience of life under the guidance of the spirit of Christ, they developed a rich vocabulary to describe those experiences. This vocabulary played an important role in Quaker spiritual formation and community life from the beginning of the movement in 1650, and continues today as modern seekers wrestle with describing their experiences.

When Bill Taber died in 2005, he left behind notes on a project: “A language for the inward landscape.” Key phrases provide important insights into the nature of inward experience over time and can help people explore their spiritual experience with an enriched vocabulary. Brian Drayton compiled these notes and expanded them.

Readers (both Quaker and non-Quaker) may find this language conveys a distinctive “alternative Christianity” combining mystical and prophetic experiences with God and in community.

6 X 9 inch, 192 p. hard cover
ISBN: 9781943290086
Cost: $20.00

This book can be ordered directly through
1) The Tract Association of Friends, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia PA 19102-1403 or by e-mail
info@tractassociation.org
2) QuakerBooks@FGC (at Pendle Hill) 338 Plush Mill Road, Wallingford PA 19086; Phone: 1-800-966-4556 or +1-215-561-1700 x3044 (international) bookstore@fgcquaker.org

By Nancy L. Haines
Illustrated by Anne E. G. Nydam

How can children work cooperatively to make decisions? Approved! A Story About Quaker Meeting for Business tells of a group of children who want to donate the money they earned selling hot dogs at their Quaker meeting. The story uses simple, clear language and charming artwork to introduce Quaker process, highlighting
•The role of the clerk and recording clerk
•Reporting to meeting for business
•Participating in spiritual discernment
•Identifying the sense of the meeting
•Writing and approving minutes
•Working together as a community

Approved! includes additional tools for Quaker meetings, schools, and camps to help children learn the basics of Quaker process including queries, a glossary, and a brief overview of junior meeting for business at Wellesley Monthly Meeting in Massachusetts.

“Oh this is so exciting and wonderful! I am really, really excited—and grateful—about this. Thank you again and again! I can see this being used in lots of settings, including in Friends’ schools where most children and teachers have not had the experience of being part of a Quaker Meeting.”

Gretchen Baker-Smith, NEYM Junior Yearly Meeting Retreats Coordinator

Nancy L. Haines has served as clerk for Wellesley Meeting as well as numerous committees at her meeting, yearly meeting, and Friends General Conference. She and her husband offer leadership training workshops for high school and adult clerks.

Anne E. G. Nydam is the author and illustrator of books for children about adventure, creativity, and looking for the best in others and the world. She loves working with block prints and collage. She is also a member of Wellesley Meeting. See more of her work at http://www.nydamprints.com

Available from Amazon, Quaker Books of FGC, and from the author

by Marcelle Martin

Our Life is Love describes the transformational spiritual journey of the first Quakers, who turned to the Light of Christ within and allowed it to be their guide. Many Friends today use different language, but are still called to make the same journey. In our time people seeking deeper access to the profound teachings of Christianity want more than just beliefs, they want direct experience. Focusing on ten elements of the spiritual journey, this book is a guide to a Spirit-filled life that affects this world.

Quakers in the seventeenth century and today provide examples of people and communities living in the midst of the world whose radical understanding of Christ’s teachings led them to become powerful agents of social change. The book offers a simple, clear explanation of the spiritual journey that is suitable not only for Quakers, but for all Christians, and for seekers wanting to better understand our spiritual experience and the fullness of God’s call to us.

The book would make an excellent focus for study groups.

About the author

Marcelle Martin has led workshops at retreat centers and Quaker meetings across the United States. She served for four years as the resident Quaker Studies teacher at Pendle Hill and was a core teacher in the School of the Spirit program, The Way of Ministry. She is the author of the Pendle Hill pamphlets Invitation to a Deeper Communion and Holding One Another in the Light. In 2013 she was the Mullen Writing Fellow at Earlham School of Religion while working on this book.

• Inner Light Books
• 230 pp.: Hardcover, ISBN 978-0-9970604-0-9
• 230 pp.: Paperback, ISBN 978-0-9970604-1-6
• ebook: EPUB or Kindle format, ISBN 978-0-9970604-2-5

translated by Emma Condori Mamani
edited by: Angelina Conti, Cara Curtis, C. Wed Daniels, Harriet Hart, Sarah Katreen Hoggatt, Evelyn Jadin, John Epur Lomuria, Emma Condori Mamani, Katrina MQuail, and Rachel Ann Miller

Este libro celebra, critica, cuestiona, y refleja sobre la experiencia de la fe cuaquera. Esta coleccion de escritura y arte grafico fue creada por adolescentes y jovenes adultos cuaqueros de todo el mundo y de toda la amplia gama teologica y cultural de la Sociedad Religiosa de los Amigos. — This is the Spanish translation of “Spirit Rising: Young Quaker Voices,” an anthology of writing and art by Quaker teens and young adults worldwide.

The contributors in this volume challenge and inspire, as they witness to and celebrate Quakerism as it has been, as it is, and as it could yet be. The voices here come together in a symphony, cacophonous but also deeply resonant. Listen and you will hear that their Spirit – here called by many names – is undeniably rising.

Quakers Uniting in Publications 2014

by Jacqueline Houtman, Walter Naegle, Michael Long

A new biography for middle school ages and up…
“We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers” — Bayard Rustin

To many, the civil rights movement brings to mind protests, marches, boycotts, and freedom rides. They often think of people like Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosa Parks. They seldom think of Bayard Rustin.

Raised by his Quaker grandmother to believe in the value of every human being, Bayard made trouble wherever he saw injustice. As a teenager, he was arrested for sitting in the whites only section of a theater. More arrests followed, for protesting against segregation, discrimination, and war. His belief in nonviolent action as a means for social change gave him a guiding vision for the civil rights movement, which he used to mentor the young Martin Luther King, Jr. When A. Philip Randolph needed the best organizer on the planet, he turned to Bayard Rustin to bring 250,000 people to the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Illustrated with over sixty photos, this book is the product of a unique collaboration between three authors: Bayard’s partner of ten years, a professor of religious studies, and a children’s book author. Though he is largely ignored in history books, Bayard’s ideas and actions will inspire today’s young (and not-so-young) readers to be angelic troublemakers.

QuakerPress 2014
Paperback
166pp
ISBN:
978-1-937768-58-4

by Jennifer Kavanagh

What if the facts on which we base our lives are shown to be unreliable? What if our expectations are confounded?

What if we let go of those assumptions and expectations?
What if we let go of our familiar, habitual ways of thinking?
What if we let go of the very need to know?

Unknowing is at the centre of spiritual life. It is only by creating a space in which anything can happen that we allow God to speak; only by stepping back that we allow space for that unpredictable Spirit that brings us gifts beyond any of our imaginings.. “God dwells only where man steps back to give him room.”

Christian Alternatives (John Holt Publishing)
73 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-78279-808-8

Endorsements

This little book of unknowing is hugely powerful in its scope, beauty and profound articulation of complex aspects of the spiritual journey of unknowing. The integration of Jennifer’s own experiences with her deep noetic knowing of unknowing threaded through spiritual wisdom from well known spiritual teachers is exquisite. I highly recommend this work to both experienced seekers and beginners – both can learn and grow from such a well of wisdom. Rev Dr Lynne Sedgmore, OBE, ordained Interfaith Minister, Spiritual Director and retreat leader.

An ancient approach to spiritual exploration, rediscovered for the modern age. An important book that will help many people. Rev Simon Small; Chaplain, Abbey House Retreat Centre, Glastonbury,

Such a special, helpful and very much needed book for this uncertain time. Lucinda M. Vardey, editor of The Twelve Degrees of Silence.

by Jennifer Kavanagh

This is Quaker Jennifer Kavanagh’s first novel. B is not a child of his time. As an outsider, he hides his secrets well. Freedom is all he dreams of. But when it comes at last, it is in the most unexpected way – and at a considerable cost.

Roundfire Books, an imprint of John Hunt Publishing 2015
149 pp.
ISBN: 978-1782798842

Endorsements

“I think the book is wonderful. Vivid and absorbing and thought-provoking. Nor did I find B unsympathetic. Far from it – he is an odd character, yes,

but I found myself really caring what became of him.” (Tony Peake, author of A Summer Tide, Son to the Father, Seduction and a biography of Derek Jarman)

“A hymn to mindfulness and a moving meditation on our conflicting ideas of home in a novel that explores one solitary man’s efforts to find sanctuary in the most unlikely of places.” (Paul Wilson, author of The Visiting Angel)

“I finished the book over the weekend, and was completely hooked all the way through. You are a marvellous writer, observer, and guide. You said the narrative would reveal itself slowly, which it did, but to have kept the reader’s attention when sometimes we were witnessing quite humdrum events in quite ordinary lives, is a tribute to your skill. You simply had to turn the page! … Your descriptions of the nuances of childhood and family dissonance are absolutely spot on. I think the book is both haunting and memorable and I salute you for it.” (Laura Morris, literary agent)

by Eileen Flanagan

At age forty-nine, Eileen Flanagan had an aching feeling that she wasn’t living up to her potential—or her youthful ideals. A former Peace Corps volunteer who’d once loved the simplicity of living in a mud hut in Botswana, she now had too many e-mails in her inbox and a basement full of stuff she didn’t need. Increasingly worried about her children’s future on a warming planet, she felt unable to make a difference—until she joined a band of singing Quaker activists who helped her find her voice and her power.

Renewable: One Woman’s Search for Simplicity, Faithfulness, and Hope is the story of a spiritual writer and mother of two who, while trying to change the world, unexpectedly finds the courage to change her life. With wit and wisdom, Eileen Flanagan shares the engaging journey that brings her from midlife spiritual crisis to fulfillment and hope—and, briefly, to jail.

She Writes Press
Paper
200 pp.
ISBN: 978-1631529689

by Douglas Gwyn

A well-known Quaker historian explores the qualities of Quaker faith and practice that contribute to living sustainably in the world today. He explores such paradoxes as equality and community, unity and differentiation, integrity and personal discernment, and other aspects of life that Quakers have worked to bring into balance through their 350-year history. How have Quakers learned to create the kind of individual and community life that can prepare us to live fully and responsibly into a time of social and planetary change?

QuakerPress of FGC 2014
Paperback
210 pp
ISBN:1-937768-55-4

A short excerpt

The Covenant of Light

by Douglas Gwyn

Living more consistently attuned to the light/seed, we become more faithful to a presence that abides faithfully with us. We are befriending God, who is ready to help us and heal our lives, but who respects our freedom and must be actively invited into our lives. This is the beginning of life in the covenant, a very open-ended set of relationships that play out in three dimensions.

First, an open-ended relationship with God. Quaker faith and practice is rooted in a living experience and deep understanding of Christ. But the light we understand as Christ abides in people everywhere. Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, pagans, non-theists, atheists—all have access to this transforming, enlightening, saving presence. They will name it with whatever terms are available and meaningful to them. Creeds are counter-productive, even to Christian faith. They turn participation in the life of God into propositions about God. Not only do creeds rule out people who don’t have the “right answers,” they also invite hypocrisy when Christians mouth beliefs they don’t understand or secretly doubt. So an open-ended relationship with God is participation in a reality we cannot fully understand or set boundaries on.

Second, an open-ended relationship with others. The more attuned we become to the light within ourselves, the more we recognize it in widening varieties of people. Our belief that the same light enlightens all kinds of people invites new friendships, mutual respect and cooperation between women and men, different races, classes, and cultures. It prohibits us from resorting to violence – physical, verbal, emotional – to solve our conflicts. We seek to befriend the stranger, even the enemy, in the search for a peaceful life together. Friendship is a polymorphous form of relationship that bridges social boundaries and subverts hierarchies of all kinds. Friendship is patient listening, waiting for the truth of the situation to emerge through dialogue. We live the covenant of light by extending friendship toward others. Widening experiences of friendship naturally lead us into community action and political advocacy to ensure the full rights and privileges of all members of society, to promote alternatives to violence, to oppose war.

Third, an open-ended relationship with the earth. Befriending God within ourselves and “that of God in every one” is an embodied life. It is spiritual practice that locates the divine presence in our bodies. It is also material practice that leads us to live peacefully and equitably with others – and to live more simply on the earth. Quaker spiritual practice is primarily non-verbal. When we suspend language and quiet our minds, we not only become more centered in our bodies. We also feel more distinctly our relationship with the earth and its species of life. We become better stewards of God’s creation, befriending the earth and its creatures. We become less “territorial” – physically, emotionally, economically, culturally and religiously.

by Ann Trueblood Raper

A Quaker Courtship is an intimate, endearing story of love and a tantalizing glimpse of the life, key leaders and organizations among Quakers in 1922, revealed in letters, photographs and telegrams exchanged almost daily by Paul Furnas and Betty Walter as they met, courted and planned to marry.

Paul and Betty were Quakers from different branches of Friends: the Furnases were Orthodox and the Walters were Hicksite. Their own courtship coincided with an effort among young adult Friends to unite these disparate branches and revive the Religious Society of Friends in the United States. As leaders of this movement much was made of their own union.

A Quaker Courtship was written and edited by Ann Trueblood Raper, who discovered their letters and became immersed in their world. It is an annotated memoir of the love of Paul and Betty, largely in their own words.

Paperback: 262 pages
Publisher: Ann Trueblood Raper (September 4, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0692254900
ISBN-13: 978-0692254905