Hello Friends!!! We are a Quaker fellowship located in Fancy Gap,VA in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is a picture of us at a recent gathering. And no, it's not a church picnic, its a regular worship service. We meet at someone's house or public place like a park because a church is not a building, its people who are committed to loving God and loving one another. Someone asked Jesus once what the greatest commandment was, and this was his answer, " love God and love your fellow man. If we could all learn to do that, most of the problems in the world today would be solved. Again, welcome. Wander around as much as you like. We hope that you find something here that brightens your day or brings you a little closer to the loving Father who created us all. Shalom.
Food For Thought...
Where I’m Coming From
I was holding the door open at Jam’s Deli in Greensboro waiting for my daughter Ruth who had gotten us refills to go on our drinks when I became aware of Judy Collins’ sweet, clear voice singing one of my all time favorite songs.
"But now my friends are acting strange, They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed, But something’s lost and something’s gained, In living every day"I chuckled to myself as I was driving away at the irony of hearing that old song when earlier that day I had received an e-mail from a good friend (Friend) who said he no longer felt like he understood where I was coming from. Funny how some songs can just seem to come to life in your own experience. Suddenly I had this flash back to our Wednesday night fellowship group where we are reading and discussing Brent Bill’s book The Sacred Compass, and I heard myself saying that one of the ways that God speaks to us might be a song we hear on the radio. That’s what the man said. That’s what I said. Be open to the possibility that God may be speaking to you anytime, anywhere, even through a song on the radio. Having been ever so gently smacked up side the head, I began to ponder this (actually I was just sort of thinking about it, but ponder sounds a lot deeper and heavier).
Yes, I have changed, or to phrase it more accurately I am being changed, and as result I am coming from a different place these days. I’m a little scared to name it because it sounds way too weighty and spiritual for somebody like me. So what I need to say is that it’s a place I’m hopefully moving toward, or on a journey to, and not some place I’ve taken up residence yet. The particular address is the center, that place where God’s love flows freely in all directions and to all. I heard a story a couple of years ago about some college kids in a city up North where a debate about gay rights was raging in the state legislature in the dead of winter. The snowy streets were filled with demonstrators both for and against the issue. Braving the icy cold, these college folks set up booth in the middle of the crowd and served hot coffee and donuts to all. Continuously asked why they were there and who they were supporting, they replied, “we’re here representing Jesus. He loves people regardless of which side they are on.” To me, that’s what coming from the center means.
It’s not an easy place to be. People on both sides are often disappointed or angry or no longer even consider you a friend because they perceive you are not in total agreement with them, or don’t understand why you have to look at issues from more than one side. It’s not an easy place to be because it demands that you act and speak from a place of love. This is how I know that I am being changed rather than changing myself, because I couldn’t do this in a million years. Some folks who know me well still raise their eyebrows or look at me a little funny when I talk about coming from a place of love because they know I am often insensitive, irritable, arrogant and stubborn (as one TV character used to say to another, “and those are your good points.”) This week I’m sure I raised some people’s hackles because I didn’t think everyone’s voice was being given equal weight in a committee decision.
But the good news is that God can and does break through all that from time to time, hopefully more often these days, and helps me see how much people need and want to be loved regardless of where they’re coming from or what their particular issues might be. And nobody does that like Jesus - Samaritan prostitutes, crooked tax collectors, convicted felons, and yes, even me. Early Quakers understood that principle which is how the phrase “let us see what love can do” became a part of our phraseology. If only it could be a part of our reality. For an organization that claims peace as one of its basic beliefs, we Quakers seem to have done an inordinate amount of fighting and splitting up among ourselves.
This morning I was reading the story of a paralyzed man Jesus healed and then told to take up his bed and walk. It happened to be on the Sabbath so the religious authorities rather than rejoicing because the man had been healed, were angry because one of their rules had been broken. They might not have ever even known about it had not Jesus told the man to carry his bedroll, so we might wonder why Jesus seemed to purposely attract their attention to what he had done, knowing it was going to create controversy. Maybe it was to remind them it was he who created the Sabbath in the first place, or maybe it was to show them that love and love alone was at the very center of God’s nature and that He always acts in love whether or not it was within the framework of their ideas of religion.
And there it is, the place I’m talking about, the place I want to take up residency, a place where everything is seen through the incredible lens of the love of God rather than the human constructs of religion. It’s a strange journey this one, to a place that I’m both coming from and moving toward all at the same time, which is impossible to do anywhere but in the all encompassing love of God.
Tony Lowe
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Thoughts on Recent Election |Following Jesus from a Young Person's Perspective|Good News According to George Fox|What Is Church?|
The Good News According to George Fox. There has been quite a bit of discussion in Friends’ circles over the past few years regarding our identity. The question of who we as Quakers are today has surfaced among many different groups of Friends including North Carolina Yearly Meeting (FUM) of which we are a part. As we have worked together on determining who we as Quakers are today, we have been reminded again that The Religious Society of Friends came into being because George Fox had a message that he believed the world needed desperately to hear...Click Here For More Information.. |
Absolutely nothing, We condemn war as the greatest violation of the sacredness of human life and reaffirm our faith that all war is absolutely contradictory to the plain precepts of Christ, and the whole spirit of His Gospel. We hold that no argument of necessity or policy, however urgent or peculiar can avail to release individuals or nations from obedience to the teachings of Him who said, “Love your enemies.” |
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Quakers believe that there is “that of God” in very person, therefore all people of every race and national origin are God’s own children, and are equal in his sight, and we are called by God to work for equality and fair treatment for all. In the words of Quaker John Woolman, “Friends believe that to labor for the perfect redemption from the spirit of oppression is the great business of the whole family of Jesus Christ in this world.
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We believe that all of creation is the sacred work of God and that it is our duty and responsibility to nurture and protect all of life as a precious gift from our loving Creator and to live in harmony and community with all of creation. . |
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What we do is seek to make the world a place where “God’s kingdom comes and his will is done, on earth as it is in heaven. |
It’s pretty simple really. Jesus said “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” And that’s what we do - we gather at someone’s house or in a park or some other place and allow him time and space to speak to us as we spend time in worship together. |
The Good news According to George Fox.... 
