Luray Friends Meeting

03/27/2026

“If we pray 'Our Father' we have a responsibility to treat everyone we meet as our siblings. Or, if we recognise the light, or 'that of God', in everyone, we have a common bond. And, as Quakers, we are encouraged to live our testimonies alongside other faiths and religions. While working with those of different beliefs, work gladly and be aware that our direction of travel is more important than the words we use to define our spiritual framework. While we use and relate to Christian terminology, we need to acknowledge this is not the only faith language, and, as Quakers, our direction of travel is more important than the words we use. That said, the words we use are important, and particularly in interfaith work, we need to ensure that we speak with the intent to be understood and listen with the purpose of understanding. If we notice historic Quaker language, we must feel free to translate it into any spiritual tradition or non-theist language, whatever speaks best to 'that of God'. As Friends, our gift to interchurch/faith work may be to help each other look for - the light - 'that of God' in everyone. We need to join others on our faith journey when we have a common direction of travel and be prepared to stand for our testimonies when we need to disagree. As Quakers, we have a light to shine into interfaith spaces that no other group has. We have no creed, so we can find common ground to share with others. This is a gift, and the QCCIR would encourage us to get involved and live our testimonies. That said, a powerful statement was made that the answer to bad theology is not no theology; it is good theology, and we are encouraged to get involved not just in living good theology but writing it." -The Quaker Committee for Christian and Interfaith Relations (QCCIR)

03/23/2026

“Well of course, God does not “come from” a bottle. If the divine spark is not present in a human being, no chemical will produce it. If, however, one accepts that every man has the capacity for a direct encounter with God, there should be nothing shocking about the observation that some conditions are more favorable than others for such an experience, and that the chemical state of the brain and nervous system may have a great deal to do with it… There are probably a large number of individuals for whom [psychoactive] dr*gs are the only means by which they are ever likely to experience a religious encounter. Traditional means may be closed to them, because their intellectual set is turned away from religion. The more drastic assault of the psychochemicals can break them out of this rut. Persons who are naturally mystical, or who have been brought up in a deeply religious home, and who therefore have no need of chemical aids, ought not to despise their use by others less gifted, but should help those struggling with new and little understood revelations which they have gained through dr*g experience.”

-Friend Lisa Bieberman (Kuenning)

03/22/2026

“… together we are the Body of Christ. And being the Body of Christ leads me to an understanding of advaita/non-duality/unity that is a core belief—expressed in myriad ways—of so many spiritual traditions: Everything is in God, and God is in everything.” - Friend Mary Linda McKinney

03/21/2026

“The Living Christ within us is the initiator and we are the responders. God the Lover, the accuser, the revealer of light and darkness presses within us. … The basic response of the soul to the Light is internal adoration and joy, thanksgiving and worship, self-surrender and listening.”
- Friend Thomas Kelly

03/20/2026

"So why do I remain a Quaker-Buddhist? What gifts does Quakerism bring to Buddhism? One thing is compassion. Yes, compassion is a fundamental concept of Buddhism, too. It follows directly from silence and equanimity... So in today's global world we see these two traditions drawn together and strengthened by each other. It is not only the obvious parallels — their rejection of divisive creeds and dogmas, their shared precepts and testimonies of peace, compassion, simplicity, right livelihood, and right speech. Quakers turning back to their own mystical roots have been drawn to Buddhism by the vitality of its practice and its direct link with living silence; Buddhists pulled from monasteries by the modern world have turned to Quakerism for its example of compassion in action and viable spiritual community." -Friend Rhoda Gilman

03/19/2026

"My desire after the Lord grew stronger, and zeal in the pure knowledge of God, and of Christ alone, without the help of any man, book, or writing. For though I read the Scriptures that spoke of Christ and of God, yet I knew Him not, but by revelation, as He who hath the key did open, and as the Father of Life drew me to His Son by His Spirit. Then the Lord gently led me along, and let me see His love, which was endless and eternal, surpassing all the knowledge that men have in the natural state, or can obtain from history or books; and that love let me see myself, as I was without Him...
I saw all the world could do me no good; if I had had a king’s diet, palace, and attendance, all would have been as nothing; for nothing gave me comfort but the Lord by His power. At another time I saw the great love of God, and was filled with admiration at the infiniteness of it."
-Friend George Fox

03/16/2026

"Christ is not divided; for if he be, he is no more Christ: but I witness that Christ in me who is God and man in measure."

James Nayler, early Quaker

03/15/2026

03/13/2026

What wisdom does Quakerism have to lend to the usage and development of artificial intelligence? Should Quakers use AI at all? Is there that of God in the algorithm?

03/12/2026

"Why do people use [psychoactives]?... For many reasons: the honest search for another reality, a higher reality - not an escape from "this" reality, but a reaching out, a looking, for what was once summed up by the word "God"... Does Quakerism have some sort of historic role to fulfill here? We believe in an Inner Light, and that men seeking together in this Light will find guidance and answers. Could we try the Quaker approach on the what and why of [psychoactives]? Could we go to young people - our own and others - with humility and love and ask them to share with us their insights, their criticisms, their unanswered needs? Could we show ourselves human and available to them so that we may reason together? Could Friends be the "mind-openers" of our day on this vitally important matter?"

-Friend Barbara Hinchcliffe

03/11/2026

“Many Quakers I know are not “birthright” Quakers (born into the faith), but “convinced” Quakers (joined from some other faith). And many of those come from Catholicism and Anglicanism in America (or Episcopalianism.) I myself have drifted back and forth between the two. My history is with the Episcopal church, but my heart is with the Quakers. At the moment the Quakers are still winning. I am, as another person told me he was, a Quakerpalian... Some of us Quakerpalians like the beautiful music and liturgy of the Episcopal church, but equally love the simplicity and meditation of the Quakers... I think it is a fallacy to believe we must choose one faith if two are calling us in the same way that you can eat chocolate cake and vanilla too. To be comfortable with religious ambivalence is not the easiest thing, and in time a person may decide to plant both feet firmly on one side of the fence or the other. In the meantime, as the Quakers say, both faith traditions may 'speak to thy condition.'"

- A Quakerpalian Friend in Virginia

03/10/2026

“Is religion subjective? Nay, its soul is in objectivity, in an Other whose Life is our true life, whose Love is our love, whose Joy is our joy, whose Peace is our peace, whose burdens are our burdens, whose Will is our will. Self is emptied into God, and God in-fills it.”

- Friend Thomas Kelly