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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 urban environment of the San Francisco Bay region is unlike any that I’ve ever lived in, in that while it has plenty of pollution and concrete and population density, it is yet very close to some of the most beautiful natural areas in Northern California.
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This Sunday’s lectionary texts surprise us with a vision of peace that breaks in, disrupting business as usual. Isaiah’s rousing vision of nations streaming to God’s mountain is jolting with its graphic images of the ways in which the ancient war machine will be decisively overcome. God’s enactment of justice will catch us unawares.
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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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