Quaker.html
© Copyright 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 K. Weston,
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Index to most of my personal
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LadyZ's Art - You Can Do It
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I Am A Quaker
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Mesa AZ Valentine Luncheon 2001 and Fritzie's
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Two
Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one; whereby in them ye may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you; then to the Lord God you will be a sweet savour, and a blessing.... (from an epistle from George Fox, founder of The Society of Friends, an exhortation to early Friends)
HELP NEEDED! F/friend Tony Baldwin of the New London Friends Meeting in Waterford, Connecticut, has mounted an effort to save and repair a piece of history — the New London Friends Meetinghouse. You can see a photo of the Meetinghouse at that link. This is a very small, unprogrammed meeting with limited resources and the Meetinghouse needs over $60,000 worth of repairs. It would be a great loss to Quakers and to history in general to lose this wonderful structure. Tony is an artist and has made some nice things that are being sold to raise funds. For a very reasonable price, starting at $5, you can get something nice for yourself and/or other f/Friends and help the Meeting at the same time. Please click on the banner below to see what nice things are offered there.
And please share his site with everyone you know! Peace is important. This building is important. History is important. And so is loving and helping our f/Friends.
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At the urging of my dear f/Friend, Jean Cary, I am finally making my Quaker page... because I am a Quaker and that has an effect on how I live my life and how I try to deal with everyday life and the people with whom I come into contact, both on and offline.
Like the founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers), George Fox, I am a believer in Christ and in the unerring Truth in the Bible. Because of the nature of the Society of Friends, many meetings for worship (congregations, churches) have other views. This is a difficult concept for many non-Quakers, and not even many Quakers understand the many differences. I know that I don't. Our heritage as Quakers gives us beliefs common to all Friends, however. Among these are a concern for social justice, a commitment to peace and nonviolence, and a belief in the equality of all people. The Statement of Faith, at George Fox University, best defines my personal beliefs.
Right down in my bones, right at the center of my being, I am a Quaker. That means that I am a member of the Religious Society of Friends, specifically an Evangelical Quaker, but it also means a great deal more. It has to do with who I am, what I believe, and how I relate to God and my fellow human beings, rather than where, in what kind of building, or how often I attend, how much I donate, or who I think I'm better or worse than (HINT: no one.)
I worked a long time on this. I wrote a big, long, incredibly boring dissertation on a bunch of it... with some history, some quotes, some of my personal feelings about "things" ...and then I deleted it... because I could not get Clearness. I am surely not qualified to define Quakers for the world at large. Then I realized that people far more knowledgeable than I have already done a HEAP of work in this regard and put it on the net for you to look at if you are so inclined. You will find links and a web ring below for that purpose. There is also a simple history and explanation here: Facts About Friends.
I am a Quaker by convincement, not a birthright Quaker. I became a Quaker many years ago quite by accident and it convinces me that God knows us even when we don't know Him so very well. If you know me personally or online, then you know that I make every effort to live my life in such a way as to be as kind, helpful, and loving as I can, to be as much of an example as I can. I don't mean as to holiness; I mean as to kindness and consideration. I make every effort not to preach, judge, or to use my personal beliefs or the Bible as blunt instruments with which to pound on people. I want to let God's light shine out through me, to love and affirm my fellow sojourners, and to try to encourage the light within each of them by how I am rather than by what I say.
I would like to explain that Quakers and Shakers are not one and the same. The Shaker sect died out many years ago. Quakers and Amish also are not the same. The Amish are a branch of the Mennonites and they have remained plain, while the Quakers, an intellectual bunch, have evolved with the times. Quakers once dressed "plain" to indicate that everyone is equal — their dress was similar to or the same as that of the common person of that time. While we do believe in simplicity, to be plain (like the man on the cereal box) in these times might appear to be setting ourselves above others, as in "plainer, therefore holier, than thou."
If you would like to know about Quaker (Friends) history, beliefs, practices, education, thoughts, and so on, go to this page... The Religious Society of Friends. From there, you can learn just about anything you would like to know. If you have specific questions you would like to ask me, please feel free to send me an email.
You will find a link to the Quaker Web Ring below. You can surf around the ring and meet all the wonderful people who belong to it and find out many, many things about The Society of Friends. I have surfed it myself and have found some really wonderful sites, information, and people.
I wish you PEACE!
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Very Special Places
(Page added 09-20-97)