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As 2024 winds down it is important to reflect on the year that is passing. Friends United Meeting has invited a variety of Friends to share their thoughts on gratitude. As David Steindl-Rast the Catholic theologian said “It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful,” so we too shall take time to be grateful. This week's reflection is from Margaret Fraser, who served as executive secretary of Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas. She now lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland. On a Saturday in mid-November, eighteen Quakers from Frederick Street Meeting in Belfast took the cross-border Enterprise train to Connolly Station, Dublin, two hours away. At Connolly we were greeted by two members of Eustace Street Meeting and guided on the light rail and on foot to the Eustace Street meetinghouse in Dublin.
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The Friends Church Tanzania (FCT) Annual Conference officially began on October 23 under the theme “Rebuilding the Broken Walls,” inspired by Isaiah 58:12, “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” Over 300 delegates attended, many of whom were participating in a Quaker conference in southern Tanzania for the very first time. The excitement was contagious as delegates arrived from across Tanzania—from Mwanza, Kahama, Manyara, Iringa, Morogoro, Tabora, Sumbawanga, Kyela, Dar es Salaam, and even from neighboring Malawi and Zambia. The joy of these new connections and friendships filled the air.
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The Fall 2019 issue of Quaker Life, on justice, is in the mail and on shelves now. In the Bible, justice has to do with land and labor and family structures; with ownership and employment; with widows, orphans, and immigrants; with food and water and housing; with access to God at the Temple—with everything, material or spiritual, that is required for a human being to thrive. God cares for ALL of what God has created, and therefore shows a special regard for the weak and the marginalized for whom society cares less. And since God shows a special regard for the weak and the poor, a corresponding quality is required of God’s people. God’s people must also be especially concerned with equity and fairness in society and economy, with guaranteeing every creature’s access to the necessities of life: to water, food, health, respect, attention, kindness, helpful community, and the opportunity to draw near to God. As a foundation for life together, justice is a vast and widening gyre, and our authors in this issue explore the theme from many angles.
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“What is this community worth to you?” By “community,” I mean the spiritual family that sustains, nurtures and inspires us in our faith. It includes those mentors, teachers, and examples who spur us on toward love and godliness. I am referencing the faith laboratory in which we get to practice (often with great regularity!) the essential disciplines...
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Throughout our history, the people known as Friends (or Quakers) keep rediscovering an essential and enduring truth: There is one who speaks to our most basic needs and most significant hopes—Christ Jesus the Lord. Both individually and communally, we are learning to know and follow the Voice that guides us in the way we should go. Together, we seek to understand and obey that truth which sets us free. As a people, we share in the experience of that powerful life which makes all things new. Maybe you are searching for an authentic and transforming faith and community to call home—if so, come in and join us as we seek to know and follow Christ.
Friends United Meeting commits itself to energize and equip Friends through the power of the Holy Spirit to gather people into fellowships where Jesus Christ is known, loved, and obeyed as Teacher and Lord.
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