What do we do when someone's vocal ministry offends us?

7 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.[a])

5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’[b]

8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

Mark 7:1-8New International Version (NIV)

I read this passage for my mid-day devotions right after having a conversation with an elder of my Quaker Meeting about vocal ministry, and it somehow seemed very pertinent. In unprogrammed Quaker worship, anyone can rise and give a message, and sometimes these spontaneous messages annoy some people. In my meeting, there is a lot of contention among Friends about what constitutes appropriate vocal ministry. For this reason, my friend Jean wanted to discuss with me a pamphlet I wrote called "Eldering and Vocal Ministry: Guidelines for the Vexed and Perplexed." Some Friends in our Meeting have very clear-cut ideas  about vocal ministry--it shouldn't be too long, or too preachy, it should come out of personal experience, etc. etc.--and when these expectations aren't met, they get vexed. Indeed, inappropriate vocal ministry vexes them to the point that they feel impelled to complain to ministry and counsel. And ministry and counsel feels obligated to do something about eldering those who violated our Quaker norms/rules and "disturb the peace." Some Friends have been deeply hurt by this eldering process. The question arises: Should we let Friends give ministry that other Friends find inappropriate, or should we silence them through "eldering"? Faced with this dilemma, what can we do?

This is a scenario that I am all too familiar with, having experienced it in virtually every Meeting I've attended. Sometimes I've been on the receiving end of eldering, and sometimes I have served on ministry and counsel and have been asked to elder those whose vocal ministry breaks what some Friends consider the norms or rules.

This story from Mark's gospel struck me as relevant to this eternal problem: how do we respond when our religious expectations aren't met, and when we are annoyed or angered by violations of our norms?

The Pharisees in this story aren't making an unreasonable request of Jesus' disciples: cleaning one's hands and food makes good sense. In light of their reasonableness, Jesus' response seems an overreaction. Why is he calling them hypocrites and invoking the prophet Isaiah? Why is Jesus so down on "human rules"?

I suspect that Jesus responded to the Pharisees because underlying their question was a lot of judmentalism, and anger. "Why do they eat with defiled hands?" ask the Pharisees, which is a loaded question.  "Defiled" is a strong word, implying a serious breach not just of etiquette, but of the Law, the Torah.

The Torah has a lot to say about cleanliness, but the "tradition of the elders" refers to rules that were added to Torah for those who wanted to be super-pious. These traditions about washing can be  found in the tractate calledYadayim or “Hands” (see Mishnah Yadayim 2:1). 

Although rules about cleanliness were important,  most Jews would agree that the "prime directive" of the Torah is "to love your neighbor and to love God." In responding as he did, Jesus may have wanted to shock the Pharisees into realizing that human rules and traditions can stand in the way of a direct relationship with God, and with one's fellow human beings, which is the purpose of Torah as well as of Jesus' ministry. 

Jesus also saw that the cleanliness of the Pharisees was a cover for a sense of spiritual superiority. Because the Pharisees were ritually clean, they also felt spiritually and socially superior.

Jesus wasn't interested to catering to those who felt religiously superior ("the righteous"), he deliberately sought for his disciples people who were uneducated, marginalized, and (as the saying goes) "unwashed." Fishermen, tax collectors, women, even prostitutes. He accepted and loved them just as they were (though from time to time he lovingly rebuked them, as good teachers sometimes do). 

What does this have to do with vocal ministry among Quakers? Most Friends tend to be middle class, and privileged. We are much closer to the Pharisees than we are to those that Jesus hung out with. We come to Meeting with a set of expectations that reflect our social values and beliefs. Generally speaking, middle class folk tend to value order, cleanliness, and "peace and quiet."  Therefore, we feel comfortable when everyone "follows the rules" or (to use Quakerspeak) observes "good order."

Steve Smith has written an excellent piece called "Weighty Friends and Quaker Pharisees" in which he talks about Friends who have been around the Quaker world a long time and think they know what "good order" among Quakers is all about. This can lead to judgmentalism, judging others harshly. "Valuing our own opinions," says Steve, "we may be quick to criticize what we regard as other Friends' missteps and failures" (Western Friend, March/April 2013, p. 16).

Underlying this sense of superiority, notes Steve, may be a deep sense of insecurity. As he notes,  "The more fragile our sense of self and the less satisfaction we feel in the rest of our lives, the more prone we are to judge."

When we feel insecure, we often react to others in ways that are harsh. Steve goes on to say "our responses to good order among Friends can be more hurtful among Friends than the lapses themselves."

Steve reminds us that truly "weighty Friends" don't "throw their weight around." They are usually light-hearted and buoyant people, like William Bacon Evans. They take their concerns seriously, but not themselves.

As for the "rules" about vocal ministry, I think that they can be very useful, when used to help us connect with Spirit. When we speak out of the silence, it is helpful to avoid sermonizing, editorializing, and excessive verbiage. But when Friends "break the rules," we need to remember that these expectations are just guidelines, created for a purpose. The purpose of these guidelines, and of our coming together in worship, is to help us to grow closer to God and to each other, to learn how to be more loving and compassionate.

Jesus spoke harshly to the Pharisee because they had made up rules and then expected others to live up to them. By being judgmental and assuming an air of superiority, they had distanced themselves from God and from love.

I don't suggest that we speak harshly as Jesus did to those in our Meeting who want others to follow "good order," but we nonetheless need to speak the truth in love.  The important question is not: did this Friend follow good order, but how do I learn to respond in love when I am annoyed or triggered?

Rather than casting blame on those who criticize others, it might be helpful to ask questions such as: "Why do you feel so strongly that such-and-such a message was inappropriate?" If we are willing to go deep and find out where these strong feelings of judgmentalism are coming from, we can begin to know ourselves better and to heal ourselves.

The early Christian contemplatives valued silent worship, but they understood the dangers of justmentalism masquerading as silence. The monk Poeman said, “If a man appears silent in speech but is condemning other people in his heart, his is really talking incessantly. Another man may seem to talk all day, but he is keeping silence since he always speaks in a way that is right with his heart.” (101)

We can sense the difference between the guarded silence of someone who is judging others, and the joyous silence of one who is at peace with himself and with God. As we seek to build a community based on love and truth, we need to help each other to experience the silence that brings us closer to God, to our true selves and to others. If we want to know God/Reality intimately, if we want to have a loving relationship with those in our meeting, we need to let go of judgmentalism and listen compassionately to what is in our own hearts and the hearts of others. We need to seek "that of God" especially in those  who annoy or even hurt us. This I know from experience since I have been guilty of judging those who are judgmental!

I also know from experience that if we want to be true Friends and create a loving community of Friends, our prime directive must not be  a set of human rules, but a deep spiritual law: "treat others as you wish to be treated."  This simple but sometimes difficult-to-follow rule is what frees us to be wholehearted and loving Friends.

"What will it take for the housing crisis to hit home?": Larry Wilson on "Granny Flats"

Larry Wilson, a columnist for the Pasadena Star News, has been promoting "granny flats" (second units) as a way to address the housing crisis. To make his case, he cites "Pasadena minister Jill Shook":

"My favorite fix for the housing crisis is one that is equally divisive among good folks: granny flats. These second units in single-family neighborhoods already exist in all of our cities, practically on every block. Some of them are separate buildings; some are within existing houses. Many or most of them are unpermitted, and there is the rub. While a state law, AB 1866, was passed in 2003 that ostensibly rezoned all single-family housing in California to allow for granny flats, the devil is in the details. Cities and counties still have final say on how zoning works. Citizens worried about parking and density in suburbia have prevented any real progress on second units. Most granny flats are still under the legal radar, inviting dangerous garage flats with no plumbing and dangerous space heaters and bad wiring.

"Pasadena minister Jill Shook tells in her wonderfully detailed book “Making Housing Happen: Faith-Based Affordable Housing Models” of having her activist heart broken when a citizen-based push to legalize granny flats in her city went south because of unreasonable restrictions written into the local ordinance at the last minute. Her group had drafted neighborhood-friendly guidelines that allowed for flexibility for the enormous socioeconomic differences within the city. The Planning Commission approved. At the City Council level, Shook and her allies packed the chambers with 21 local pastors, many of them African American. She acknowledged that this was just a piece of the housing puzzle, if an easy and important one. There seemed to be council support. At the last minute, after some council whispering, the ordinance was passed but radically changed: Only lots of over 15,000 square feet could get a granny flat. Few such lots exist. In the years since, two homeowners have applied. One has been built. What will it take for the realities of our housing crisis to really hit home?"

For the rest of the articles, see:

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/opinion/20160205/what-will-it-take-for-california-housing-crisis-to-really-hit-home-larry-wilson 

Table talk and addressing the climate crisis: reflections on the FWCC World Gathering of Quakers

Jill and I just had an amazing experience at  the FWCCC World Quaker gathering in Peru and were pleased that our reflections on this conference were published in the FWCC newsletter. I'm reprinting it on my blog. Please feel free to share it with your friends.   Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

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Section of the Americas January 29, 2016 In This Issue The time has come for serious action to address the climate crisis Table Fellowship at FWCC The time has come for serious action to address the climate crisisby Anthony Manousos For me, one of the most exciting and encouraging events at the 2016 FWCC World Plenary was the consultation on the environment, facilitated by Charlotte Gordon (Aoteora New Zealand YM), Jonathan Woolley (director at QUNO in Geneva) and Rachel  Madenyika (QUNO representative in New York). Of 350 attending the gathering, over 60 Friends from around the world showed up for this remarkable consultation. Only FWCC has the convening power to bring together Quaker leaders from North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, all of whom are affected by the climate crisis and are committed to addressing it. During the 2012 Friends World Conference in Kabarak, Kenya, FWCC produced a powerful statement calling for "peace and eco-justice." This statement emerged from a deeply felt sense that Spirit is calling us to recognize the urgency of the climate crisis. "We must change, we must become careful stewards of all life," insists this statement. It evokes biblical language as well as Quaker tradition to remind us "we are called to be patterns and examples of peace and eco-justice, as difficult and decisive as the 18th and 19th century drive to abolish slavery." Powerful as this call is, it lacks specific advice on how Friends can become the change we so urgently need. Since the 2012 consultation, there has been a growing sense that FWCC needs to offer concrete recommendations on what Friends can do to make a difference. During our 2016 gathering in the Sacred Valley of Peru, the spiritual heart of the Inca civilization, we became aware that local rivers are polluted, insecticides and pesticides are poisoning the farmland, and indigenous people are protesting the mining that is desecrating their sacred mountains. I was told that some of the spiritual leaders of the local indigenous community have placed their hands to the ground and feel the sadness of mother Earth. Feeling this deep pain in the midst of a breathtakingly beautiful Andean landscape, we wrote: "Our hearts are crying out for our beloved mother Earth, who is sick and in need of our care." As a starting point, we came up with 27 specific actions that individuals, monthly meetings and yearly meetings can take to foster sustainability. They range from "grow your own food and plant trees" to "support Quakers in politics and international work." FWCC calls for every Yearly Meeting to: 1. initiate at least two concrete actions on sustainability within the next twelve months. 2. support individuals and groups in their meetings who feel called to take action on sustainability. 3. support the work done by Quaker organizations such as Quaker UN Office and Quaker Council for European Affairs to insure that international agreements and their implementation support sustainability. In addition to advising others what to do, FWCC has committed to "invest ethically" (meaning it is divesting from fossil fuels and supporting green energy); share Quaker experiences with other faith groups; bring Quakers together from around the world in a sustainable way; and encourage Quaker pastors, teachers, and leaders to become more environmentally conscious. In future issues of the FWCC newsletter and on the FWCC webpage, a full report will be published along with more details. I would like to conclude by saying what written reports usually fail to convey: the deep sense of urgency felt by those present; the moving stories told by Friends from the global south, where crops are failing, farmers can no longer make a living and other disastrous effects of the climate crisis are already being felt; and also the stories of hope and resistance told by Friends who are making a difference in their home countries. Only at a world Quaker gathering like this could we feelingly sense the "big picture" of how the climate crisis is affecting all of us, and how we can work together as a Quaker family  to "redouble our efforts right now." As our minute states, "We must move beyond our individual and collective comfort zones and involve the worldwide Quaker community."  I hope that Friends will take to heart this advice as well as the report's call to look more deeply: "The environmental crisis is only a symptom of a wider crisis in our political and economic system. Our loving and well-informed environmental actions as Friends must therefore work to transform these systems."   Table Fellowship at FWCC: Ireland, Bolivia, Peru and Central America find common ground in Pisac, Peru by Jill Shook        "De donde eres?" I ask as we sit down for lunch at the Royal Inka Hotel, the site of our world conference. "De Bolivia," replies the man in Spanish, who tells me he's the director of a private Christian school. Then I ask the man across the table, "Where are you from?"  "I am Irish, from a long line of Quakers. My father visited the first political prisoners to die in a hunger strike, among those in prison standing for fair treatment of prisoners."  "Why were there political prisoners in Ireland?" asks the Bolivian in Spanish after I translate for him. The Irishman summarizes the long history of a violent division between Catholics in the south and Protestants in the north in his country, rooted in unequal rights, such as Catholics not being given the right to vote or own a home. I ask the Bolivian if similar divisions exist in his country. "Yes, there has been a long history of tension and division between the Aymara and Quechua Indians, like a seam down the center of our Cordillera Mountains, with one group trying to take the land of the other. And at times it becomes violent." The Irishman tells us about the beginnings of the Quaker House in Ireland, strategically placed in the geographic center of the conflict between the north and south. And how over the years, peace teams from around the world have gone to Quaker House to participate in trainings on non-violence and conflict resolution. They also made a public witness - standing in the gap like Jesus, reconciling us to God and to each other. As we eat our Peruvian potatoes, a Latina American Friends Service Committee worker in Guatemala, who was sitting next to us, turns from her conversation to join ours.  She tells us that Guatemala is the thirteenth most violent country in the world, Honduras is number one, and El Salvador is number two. She explains how she works with youth, helping them form a network of support and a collective voice to deal with the violence in a peaceful way. She says they are beginning similar work in Honduras and El Salvador. She asks me how I learned Spanish, and where I am from. I explain that I live in Pasadena, CA, in the United States, and attend the Orange Grove Meeting with my husband Anthony Manousos.  I learned Spanish while living in Mexico, coordinating work teams from across the USA to serve alongside villagers to do community and economic development projects. As a silent listener next to us tops off our glasses of purified water, the Irishman concludes by telling us about his Catholic and Protestant neighbors who are now friends, and that the residue of this historical conflict today mostly exists in their memories. As we drink down our last drops of water, our tummies and hearts and minds are full, feeling hope, and a growing appetite to learn from each other, to keep our hearts open to new friendships and understanding between programmed and un-programmed Friends.             After finishing our lunch I stand and look through the glass walls of the Royal Inka dining hall, to the ancient Inca Ventanayoc Mountain lifting its praise to God. Then I peer across the room at conversations similar to ours taking place among the 350 attendees packed around the 45 tables. My heart sings as I see worshippers seeing "that of God" in each other and feel the buzz of hearts and minds uniting around table fellowship.  Quick Links  Read Previous Newsletters More About Us ¿Quieres recibir el boletín en español?

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All Creation is yearning for us to become truly human, truly children of God

"All creation is anxiously waiting for the uncovering/the revealing of the children of God." (Romans 8: 18).

This biblical passage seems very appropriate as the theme of the global gathering of Quakers in Peru during the last two weeks of January. What makes this passage especially relevant is that Paul sees the redemption of Christ as cosmic, not just personal. Paul tells us that the whole creation is in bondage because of human sin and is yearning to be free. Christ came to liberate not just humans, but plants, animals, trees, every living creature. What wonderful news!

In this chapter Paul is describing a cosmic war between Spirit and flesh that begins inwardly--flesh yearning to satisfy its own selfish desires, and Spirit seeking to do God's will and to bring God's blessed community/kingdom down to earth.

What does that mean today? I am aware that many read this passage as if Paul is saying that Christ came simply to liberate us from death and prepare us for eternity in heaven. This is, I believe, a valid interpretation. Jesus did come to free us from our sins and prepare us for everlasting life. He let himself be crucified to show the liberating power of self-sacrificial love. His humiliating death was not the end, but the beginning of the Jesus movement. No longer would animals be sacrificed to appease an angry God; the death and resurrection of Jesus demonstrated that God is love, and made such sacrifices unnecessary. Through his ultimate act of love Jesus transformed the hearts of his disciples, freed them from sin, and ushered in a new age.

This is a valid, but I feel incomplete reading of the text. Paul isn't talking just about human beings. He is talking about all creation being redeemed. Let me give what I think it a more comprehensive reading of this text.

Paul's assertion that the "wages of sin is death" applies not only on a personal, but also on global level. We see clearly that human sin (alienation from God and God's purpose) is destroying the earth and threatening all life. Scripture teaches us that all creation is sacred and belongs to God ("The earth is the Lord's, and the profits therefrom," Psalm 24:1),  yet we treat the earth as a possession, a commodity to be exploited for our own personal gain. The commodification of God's creation is sin, specifically, the sin of greed. And our insatiable desire for more and more material things is dooming countless species (including own own) to extinction.

That's why it is important to realize that Christ came to liberate all creation from this un-Godly way of life. To understand this passage, I'd like to  reflect on three themes:

• The yearning of creation
• The uncovering of God's children
• Becoming children of God

The yearning of Creation

Paul presents God's Creation as a living entity with a desire for liberation. He compares nature to a woman in labor, about to give birth to a new being, a divine reality. This view of nature as a living creature with emotions and a divine purpose is in stark contrast to the modern view that sees nature as a mechanism or as a resource to be exploited for human purposes.

Paul's vitalistic and spiritual view of nature is in keeping with the philosophy/theology of the Quaker theologian Howard Brinton. Brinton drew a distinction between the mechanistic view of nature/religion/God (associated with Cartesian dualism) and the organic view of nature/religion/God espoused by Quakers. According to Brinton, Quakers understood not only biblically but experientially that we are all interconnected. As John's Gospel puts it, God/Christ is the vine and we are the branches.

Paul's view corresponds to my own experience of the natural world. I feel fully alive when I am in a natural environment--walking in the mountains, tending my garden, smelling the flowers and the earth. When I am in the natural world, I feel a deep connection with living creatures and I know we all come from the same Source. We all have similar yearnings to be free.

When I see the damage caused by fracking, mining, and clear cutting, or animals pent up to be slaughtered, my heart breaks for my fellow creatures in the natural world. It is heart-rending to see how our Mother Earth, God's special Creation, is being polluted and destroyed for the sake of human greed.

I feel as if the Earth is crying out, asking for us to listen to what we know in our hearts is the right thing to do. We need to live in harmony with Creation. We need to live sustainably. God gave us a mind and heart that enables us to live in a way that brings peace and joy to the world.

I am glad that over 40 Quaker organizations around the world have endorsed a statement called "The Challenge of Climate Change." But we need to move beyond mere words and engage in meaningful, prophetic action. We need to become changed people so we can change others. My wife and I have taken steps to reduce our carbon footprint and water use. We have reduced our water use by 50% by installing a gray water system and our electricity use by 100% by installing solar panels. We drive a Chevy Volt that gets 80 miles per gallon. We harvest fruits and vegetables from our garden. We share our abundance with friends and neighbors. We also use our home as a model of green living so others can follow our example.

But this is just the beginning. We need deep changes in policy. We need to change our system so it rewards good stewardship instead of greed and waste. We need to do our part to fulfill the divine plan to bring God's kingdom down to earth. I believe this is the work that God is calling us to do in our age.

Uncovering our true nature: the "apocalypse" of God's children

How do we become "children of God" and part of God's liberation movement? I believe we already are children of God, created in God's image. Each of us can connect directly with God through the Inward Light (Logos), but many of us don't know it or don't act as if this were true. We have assumed other identities that alienate us from our true identity. For example, we imagine that we are first and foremost Americans or Russians or Israelis. This nationalistic identity sometimes stands in the way of our realizing that we are part of a human family and that everyone in that family is equally important. This human family was created by God, for God's purpose of creating God's blessed community here on earth as it is in heaven. We need to realize this basic truth in order to become fully human. Furthermore, as Paul implies, we are part of a family that includes all living creatures. We  need to uncover our true nature as children of God to realize this truth about our relationship to creation.

Paul uses the word "apocalysis" (uncovering) in this passage, which implies that we are uncovering what already exists within in. This essence is what Quakers called "the Seed." Within each of us the "Seed" is yearning to grow and bear fruit in acts of kindness and love.

I know from experience what it means to be a child of God. In meeting for worship, I experience my interconnection with everyone in Meeting. I feel I can let go of my personal agendas, personal thoughts, and listen to what Spirit is saying to me and to each of us present. In the deep silence I feel a deep connection with those around me, a sense of peace. Not the peace of the world, but the peace that passes understanding.

Sometimes I don't feel peace, however, I feel inner conflict when my life is not in harmony with God's will. I feel uncomfortable. My thoughts are scattered. I can't focus. So I wait until I feel God's presence and wisdom guiding me either just to "be still and know that I am God" or to take action to bring back my life into harmony with God's desires. I reflect daily on the passage: "Lord, you will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are fixed on you. For in returning and rest will be our salvation. In quietness and trust will be our strength (Isaiah 26:3; 30:15)." Returning one's attention to God can a long and painful process. but it is also necessary for us to grow emotionally and spiritually.

In this process, I feel that I am being more and more aware of how I am part of the human family that God created for God's purpose. I am not an isolated individual. I am part of this Creation that is anxiously yearning to be free.

I look forward to connecting with Friends from around the world--from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. We are all part of the Quaker family, but more importantly, we are part of God's family. I am really excited to explore how we manifest our true identity as children of God!

"If you love one another, you are my friends": becoming true Friends through FWCC

Jill and I in Mexico, where we attended an FWCC gathering
and also took part in a field trip to Vicente Guerrero
sponsored by Casa de los Amigos

On January 16, Jill and I are going to Cuzco, Peru, to attend a gathering of around 350 Quakers organized by the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). We are excited by this opportunity to visit this beautiful country with its intriguing history and to get to know Friends from around the world. 

To prepare for this trip intellectually, and to bone up on my Spanish, I have been reading Los Ultimos Dias de Los Incas by Kim MacQuarrie. I have been both fascinated and appalled by the story of how a small, ruthless band of illiterate conquistadores overcame the Inca empire, devastating the indigenous culture with almost unimaginable cruelty. Sadly, they committed their unspeakable atrocities in the name of Christianity, with the blessing of the Church. I wonder: what are Christians doing today to share the true gospel, not the love of power, but the power of love? 

As Jill and I prepared spiritually for this trip, we have been inspired by the mission statement of FWCC:

Created out of vision and hope almost a century ago, Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) today is a broad association of Quaker Yearly Meetings stretching across all branches of Friends— an interweaving of relationships, histories, and concerns. The Section of the Americas (SoA), one of four regional groupings in this association, extends from the Arctic to the Andes. A long term goal has been to achieve full participation from the wide diversity of Friends in the work of the Section. Broader participation by younger Friends, evangelical Friends, Friends of color, and Latin American Friends, as well as unaffiliated Friends, is a priority for the Section.  

I became involved with FWCC around six or so years ago because I felt a leading to reach out to Evangelical Friends. Ever since 9/11, I have felt led to reach out to people of other faiths, especially Muslims, because I am deeply committed to our Quaker Peace Testimony. I  agree with the Catholic theologian Han Kung who said: "[There can be] no peace among the nations without peace among the religions, no peace among religions without dialogue."

After 9/11 there has been a huge increase in violence around the world  perpetrated by religious extremists. That's why I dedicated much of my life to interfaith peacemaking, attended interfaith conferences both locally, nationally and  internationally, and even wrote a book on this subject, "Quakers and the Interfaith Movement." I'm still convinced it's crucially important for Quakers to work with people of other faiths to promote justice and peace.

Let me be clear. Even though I call myself an "interfaith Quaker," I still consider myself a follower of Christ.

Rick Warren, an Evangelical pastor known for his best-selling book "The Purpose-Driven Life," illustrates how being a follower of Christ requires us to love those of other faiths. Ten years ago he had the audacity to agree to be keynote speaker at the annual convention of  the Muslim Public Affairs Council (even though some "Christians" picketed the gathering with hateful signs condemning Muslims and Islam). Warren began his address with words I will never forget:

"I love Muslims. I love Jews. I love gays. I love straights. I love Republicans. And I love Democrats." He paused dramatically and added, "I love because Jesus COMMANDED me to love."

As a Quaker Christian, I resonate with Rick Warren's words. I love because God created me to love and because Jesus called us to reach out in love to everyone, especially those who are considered "enemies," whoever the latest "enemy" happens to be. 

Jesus reached out in love to Romans, Samaritans, and those who were marginalized and rejected. I'm sure that today Jesus would want us to reach out to Muslims since they belong to what Quaker novelist James Michener called "the world's most misunderstood religion." .

My interfaith journey led to many beautiful friendships with Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists and others. Befriending those of different faiths didn't weaken or water down my faith as a Christian and as a Quaker. In fact, I feel that I am a better Quaker and a better Christian because of these friendships.

In 2007 I went to a national Quaker gathering called Friends General Conference and attended a workshop led by the theologian Marcus Borg. I asked him about the challenges of interfaith dialogue and he responded, "The biggest challenge is not interfaith dialogue but intrafaith dialogue." This comment challenged me to think more deeply. I realized that I felt more comfortable hanging out with Muslims and Buddhists than hanging out with Evangelical Quakers, and there was something not quite right about that picture!

For those who aren't Quaker, let me explain that American Quakerism split into several branches in the 19th century, and these splits were very painful. Some Quakers stuck to traditional Quaker beliefs and practices (unprogrammed worship, unpaid ministers, etc) while others adopted many of the beliefs and practices of traditional Protestantism.They organized Bible studies, hired pastors, and traveled around the world as missionaries. Friends in each branch considered themselves "true Quakers" and were often not on speaking terms,

Today there are four main branches of Quakers: "unprogrammed" Friends (mostly connected with Friends General Conference), "pastoral Friends" (Friends United Meeting), Evangelical Friends, and Conservative Friends.

Fortunately,  mostly thanks to FWCC, Friends in these different branches are learning how to get along, and to act like friends, even though they have differences in theology and worship style. FWCC organizes gatherings and intervisitation among Friends  that have helped to dispel stereotypes, open hearts and minds, and build friendships.

I feel that my leading to reach out to Evangelical Friends was confirmed when I met and married my wife Jill, who is an Evangelical Christian. Before she met me, she knew little about Quakerism, but today she attends unprogrammed Quaker meetings for worship part of each month and has given presentations at numerous Quaker gatherings. She feels at home among unprogammed as well as Evangelical Friends, and is deeply respected and loved in Quaker circles wherever she goes. I should add that Jill is a very loving as well as lovable person!

Jill at the housing justice workshop she gave at the FWCC gathering in Mexico City

Last spring Jill and I traveled together to Mexico City to take part in a gathering sponsored by FWCC, Section of the Americas. Jill has lived and done missionary work in Latin America, is fluent in Spanish, and quickly made friends with Latin American Quakers. She also gave a workshop on her book, "Making Housing Happen: Faith-Based Affordable Housing Models," parts of which have been translated into Spanish with the title "Vivienda y justicia: una perspectiva biblica" We not only built bridges of understanding, we also had a blast! When Jill is among Latinos, she becomes truly herself, and fully alive!

I will treasure the friendships I made during my first trip to Mexico City--kindred spirits I met who care deeply about refugees and fair trade and the environment. At the FWCC gathering, and at the Casa de los Amigos (the Quaker center in Mexico City), I felt I was truly among friends.   

When we go to Peru, Jill will be giving a workshop on the biblical basis of housing justice, and I will be leading a home group. What excites me about Jill's work is that she has helped me (and many others) gain a deeper understanding of the prophetic message of the Bible--the liberating gospel of justice and peace.

I am sure that we will have wonderful opportunities to meet with and learn from the rich diversity of Quakers who will be attending this gathering. I am eager to discover what challenges our friends in South America and other parts of the world are facing, and how we can work together to practice the gospel of love.

From my experiences at the World Conference of Friends in Kenya in 2012, I know that Friends around the world worship very differently and have very different ideas about what it means to be a Quaker. Differences can be perplexing and disturbing, but they can also be delightful and enriching. During our four and half years of marriage, Jill and I have learned an important lesson: you don't have to agree theologically to love each other. Jill and I share core values--we both love Jesus, and justice, and admire people like Jim Wallis and Amy Goodman--but we often interpret the Bible and the world in different ways. And that's a very good thing. As the French say, "Vive la difference." May we as Friends celebrate our diversity as we discover our unity in the One who created and sustains us.

Attenders at FWCC gathering in Mexico City at a mural by Diego Rivera

Members of the FWCC Communication Commmittee

A Muslim take on Christmas that brought tears to my eyes

I was deeply moved by this Christmas reflection by Dr. Hassan Hathout (December 1924 to April 2009). Dr. Hathout was a spiritual leader in the Muslim community who helped found the Muslim Public Affairs Council and wrote a book, "Reading the Muslim Mind," that opened my mind and heart to Islam. I knew him during his final years, when he was dying of cancer. He often moved me to tears when he spoke of God's love with such depth of feeling I felt he was in touch with God's heart. 






Dr. Hathout was an internationally known leader in the Muslim community. According to his website, Dr. Hathout was a "multi-cultural physician, ethicist, and poet. He grew up in surroundings where love of God and country, and call of duty, were pivotal. With much talent, learning, discipline, and meditation, he was able to combine a highly successful career in academic medicine, ethics, and theology." For more about this remarkable man, I recommend checking out his website:  http://drhassanhathout.org"

God is what happens to us when we’re waiting for spiritual direction

“Before you cross the street take my hand.
Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”—John Lennon, “Darling Boy” (dedicated to his son Sean)

I usually arrive either just on time or a little late for my spiritual direction session every month because I lead a very busy, activist life. Way too busy, sometimes. That’s why I am seeing my spiritual director, so I will give myself permission to take more time for contemplation and for things that nourish my soul. This month, which happens to be Advent, I arrived fifteen minutes early and was very glad I did so. I didn’t feel rushed or anxious, and I had time to go for a meditative walk. My spiritual director, Brother Dennis Gibbs, has his office at the Church of our Savior, a beautiful (and very wealthy) Episcopal church in posh San Marino. The campus is gorgeous, full of old pepper trees and bare white eucalyptus that dramatically set off the mission-style white adobe chapel. I was looking forward to exploring this beautiful site, which is a very different world from Northwest Pasadena, the culturally and racially mixed neighborhood where I live.

As soon as I stepped into the central plaza, I heard a piano playing so exquisitely I thought it must be a recording. Then I realized it was coming from a chapel that has large glass windows. I peered inside and saw a young man playing. He had long hair and a back pack next to his piano bench. He seemed like a high school senior. Poised over the piano, in semi-darkness, he played intently and with amazing grace. His fingers flew over the keys, paused, caressed the notes, and then boldly banged out arpeggios that rocked the chapel. I was in awe of this young man and the music he embodied so perfectly.  Was it Liszt, Chopin? I wasn’t sure. The image of this young man in the semi-dark chapel deeply touched my soul. I thought: God must be having a blast listening to this young man.

After listening intently for a while, I went on my walk, paid my respect to the noble trees, and came back to the glass chapel. This time I heard him carefully replaying a passage that was especially difficult. He was, after all, practicing. He was doing hard, faithful work so that his playing would seem effortless.

I thought of the young people who perform on Chris O’Reilly’s radio show "From the Top"—those gifted, quirky prodigies that O’Reilly loves to tease as well as praise. I wondered what this young man with the back pack was like. Did he dream of becoming a professional musician? Did he have any idea that his playing could give an elder like me a glimpse of heaven? It didn’t matter, of course. What mattered is that he, like the birds singing and chattering these venerable old trees, was doing exactly what his heart called him to do. And I was doing what I was called to do: listening with rapt attention, moved to tears, grateful beyond words.

I then walked over to the church office and went upstairs to meet with my spiritual director. My meeting was scheduled for 3:45 and I was still five minutes early. His door was closed, however. When I peered through a glass panel next to the door, I could see that he was engaged with another directee. I didn’t mind. I was enjoying this utterly free time.

As I walked down the stairs, I noted a picture on the wall I hadn’t noticed before. It was a “mappa mundi,” a medieval map of the world. I love maps so I paused to inspect it. It was very strange view of the world, written in Latin and German in tiny script almost impossible to decipher. I struggled to make sense of this unfamiliar world view. This round map mostly showed land, and hardly any water. In the center of the map was the city I was able to identify as Jerusalem. Below it was what seemed like a large river labeled Mare Mediterraneum, the Mediterranean Sea. Surrounding the land mass was a strip of water dotted with islands. Rivers coursed through the land like blood vessels in which fish swam. There were pictures of castles signifying cities and land animals, some of them fantastical.

I wanted to know more about this map and the man who made it. Was he a monk, like Dennis, drawing this map in holy solitude in a monastery somewhere? Did he feel blessed to be able to spend his days illuminating manuscripts, or was this just a chore he had to do? Did he go on pilgrimages, like the characters in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Or did he just dream of going to the places he drew with such painstaking care on this mappa mundi?

As I pondered this intriguing map, a young Chinese woman with a clerical collar greeted me.

“Can I help you?” she asked politely.

“I’m just curious about this map,” I said.

“Hmm,” she replied. “I really don’t know anything about it, I’m afraid.”

Like me, she had probably passed it hundreds of times without looking at it. It was just something old and artistic and sacred, evoking the medieval world of Christendom. Just the thing to grace the walls of an Episcopal high church office.

I took time to study this map because, well, I was waiting for my spiritual director. And I have always been fascinated by how people viewed the world in times gone by. In the “old days,” when I was growing up as a precocious Greek immigrant’s kid in Princeton, I would have gone to Firestone Library and researched this mappa mundi in a carel, like a medieval monk.  But now I live in a totally different world, a world of instantaneous information, so I just googled on my iphone and found all kinds of fascinating tidbits of knowledge.

In medieval maps, the top portion of a map was east, not north (hence the expression, “to orient”—to find out where the east lies). Medieval mapmakers showed the known world as Asia (top), Europe (left), and Africa (right). The maps were flat, but medieval map makers knew the earth was rounded, perhaps spherical. But the purpose of the medieval map was not to portray the physical world or to aid in navigation, but to show the “harmonious order of God’s creation.” That’s why Jerusalem was in the center, and everything else emanated from this holy city. The medieval mappae mundi were maps of the soul.

Our maps also reflect our world view, and our souls. When I grew up, the United States was always in the center of maps, and Asia was split in two for the sake of America’s centrality. Sometime in the 1970s mapmakers began to place the United States on the far left, so Asia could be viewed intact. Even though our maps have changed, many Americans still have an America-centric worldview.

One of the maps I love best shows the world with south on top and north on the bottom. This map is especially popular with topsy-turvy Quakers and can be found on the walls of William Penn House in Washington, DC, and on t-shirts from the Casa de los Amigos in Mexico City. It is especially important to see the world from the perspective of the global south since they will be hardest hit by the effects of climate change. This, as the Pope reminds us, is how Jesus would probably see the world.

As I was contemplating the upside down world of Quakers, and of Christ, Dennis appeared at the top of the stairs. He smiled and said calmly:

“Sorry if I kept you waiting.”

“No problem,” I replied, also calmly.

During our session I realized that this precious time of just being is what my soul had been waiting and yearning for. Time to reflect, time just to be with the world around me and to appreciate the wonders that we often too busy to notice. Time to redraw the map of my soul.