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. In the home of each Amish family are a Bible and a Martyrs Mirror, for example . The former supports a Christian identity, and the latter defines, by way of the suffering of earlier Anabaptists, the nonconformist role their ancestors played within that Christian community. I would be surprised if a majority of Quaker homes has an equivalent library of literature underscoring Friends’ particularity.
Are young (or even older!) Friends provided ways to gain a clear understanding of who we are in relation to the religious communities around us?
I would think that most Friends have a Faith and Practice, and suspect most also have Bibles (plus other faith texts). Instead of speculating, i thought i'd ask this community.
I'll share in the comments a bit about my Friendly books, and would welcome reading about yours. If you want to post a reflection on your personal library and how it supports your identity as a Friend in your own blog, please comment with a link. I find myself wondering where you keep your books, whether books should be owned or kept communally, whether having web access to a book, or a digital copy on your phone or computer is the same as "owning" a copy when it comes to identity, whether you think Max's comment about identity is not just about owning the texts but also about display....
Poll #1231875 What's on your Bookshelf
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 69
Do you identify as a Friend?
View Answers
| Yes |
   50 (73.5%) |
| No |
| 1 (1.5%) |
| I'm trying it on |
| 6 (8.8%) |
| Yes, except because of [reason] i don't feel i should/have the right to/it's completely accurate |
| 11 (16.2%) |
Do you own a copy of Faith & Practice (or equivalent) for your closest community?
Do you own a copy of the Christian Bible?
Do you own a copy of any of the early Quaker texts? (Barclay, Fox's journal, etc)
View Answers
| yes |
| 32 (46.4%) |
| no |
| 12 (17.4%) |
| i prefer on-line copies |
| 3 (4.3%) |
| i did, and then i passed it on |
| 1 (1.4%) |
| i borrow them from the library |
| 8 (11.6%) |
Do you own any Pendle Hill pamphlets?
View Answers
| yes |
| 25 (36.2%) |
| no |
| 23 (33.3%) |
| i prefer on-line copies |
| 3 (4.3%) |
| i did, and then i passed it on |
| 4 (5.8%) |
| i borrow them from the library |
| 6 (8.7%) |
Do you have a subscription to a Friends publication?
Does your Meeting have a library?
View Answers
| yes |
| 54 (79.4%) |
| no |
| 2 (2.9%) |
| I'm in a worship group/Meeting that doesn't have its own space |
| 4 (5.9%) |
| I'm a Friend without a Meeting near by |
| 7 (10.3%) |
July 29 2008, 22:58:02 UTC 3 years ago
I have "A Quaker Book of Wisdom" and I got a lot out of An American Quaker in Nazi Germany (title may not be exactly that).
I've had different Faith and Practices, and in NY, I didn't have the NYYM one.
June 26 2010, 03:55:35 UTC 1 year ago
June 26 2010, 12:55:42 UTC 1 year ago
July 29 2008, 23:03:05 UTC 3 years ago
We're so concerned about the individual, or the world community, it appears that we've lost the Quaker community. We don't want to get more members, for fear of offending individuals and people outside. We don't want to put any sort of standards on ourselves, for the same reason. (Except of course the standard of not putting standards out there, or a vague liberal-ess-ness of some sort.)
It seems we're hung up on equality and peace and other testimonies have gone out the window.
July 29 2008, 23:29:11 UTC 3 years ago
Your icon is wonderful, by the way. I have an absurd fondness for stick people.
July 29 2008, 23:40:08 UTC 3 years ago
This is the strip:
http://xkcd.com/442/
Which was inspired by this Discovery channel spot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5Bxymui
Which comes from an old camp song.
Anyways, the whole thing that gets me, if we don't spread the message, does that mean we don't believe in it? Isn't anything worth believing in worth talking about? Sure we'll go and protest against the war and work to raise consciousness about race and gender an other issues, maybe poverty, but the thread that runs through it we hide. We don't shine any light on it. Why?
July 30 2008, 02:41:57 UTC 3 years ago
If there's enough interest in that email, I can put it in an lj-cut.
I've been wanting to put together information and a book for young Friends to sort of be a primer for Quaker education. However, the editor I worked for has retired, so I don't know if the offer to be published still stands (it was informal).
But I do find it very important for young Friends -- and new Friends -- to know a basic history to understand our foundations.
And while part of me wishes I could get some sort of discount or extra scholarship for being a Friend (which I think there are some Friends scholarships.. maybe, you'd have to check with each school, but I think ESR had a couple)... but at the same time, I feel that we should all have an equal chance at getting those funds... it's a hard issue. One we will all have to consider as new generations of Friends are raised without* a knowledge of their religious heritage.
*or a limited one
3 years ago
3 years ago
July 30 2008, 04:09:22 UTC 3 years ago
But, i'm not convinced there is a lack of Quaker identity and community. I may be very fortunate in my Meeting, but ministry reaches spiritual depths as well as into the concerns about international ministries, local service, and political change.
I have mentioned this in the past, but one of the most significant distinctive practices for Friends is the collective search for Truth, which one practices monthly in Meeting for Business. You've challenged me about what one does when that practice isn't available. I don't have an answer for you. I do wonder though, when Friends complain about lack of community and lack of Identity while not being involved in Meeting for Business. That is where the Meeting community defines itself, its priorities, its practices.
It know to some Friends it may seem that the practice in Meeting for Business is overly trivial in some cases (How many Quakers does it take to change a lightbulb?) , but that is the practicing part of practice. My Meeting certainly doesn't have problems with new members, and works to care for visitors, but is also balancing that with caring for current members. I do wonder about the consistency possible if we call for new members when our community isn't strong. Friends' practice, because it is different , takes longer to learn. Nurturing new members takes a great deal of commitment.
July 30 2008, 04:25:46 UTC 3 years ago
Here, I have no transportation for it, (or childcare, but I don't expect that, we're just a worship group). And for the 'main' Meeting? That's 90 minutes away. I've stuck around when I can, though, and like their process. It's very down to earth.
I feel closer with my 'little group' here, though, because class-wise, I feel on more even footing. Even those that are better off, practice simplicity. They shop in thrift shops and extol the virtues of doing so. They farm, and we have potlucks (didn't have that in Brooklyn) and are very open to ideas. They print notes/flyers/mail on the back of stuff that was printed on already.
It's more of a community. But that's to be expected in a small town of this size. I guess groups/Meetings very much reflect their local communities. Obvious, I suppose.
July 30 2008, 04:29:42 UTC 3 years ago
I MAY have the opportunity to worship more frequently. Where we meet (too far away to walk, and we have no public transportation on Sunday -- and I won't call for a ride last minute, Ted is a factor that I have to take week by week) will be closing down. They are TRYING to get something that would be closer to me (only because I am centrally located). In bad weather, it would be no more than a $10 ride (I can usually get a ride home). Now? Minimum $20. I don't always have that (for example, Dan was out of work what, 5 weeks this summer). If I can become more involved, I will. Now I at least keep close to them through other means. (Including one teaching at my school, one working in one son's school, one working in my daughter's school, and so on. VERY close community.)
June 26 2010, 08:53:48 UTC 1 year ago
July 30 2008, 02:53:06 UTC 3 years ago
Barclay's Apology (Quaker Heritage Press's edition)
George Fox's Journal (edited by Rufus Jones)
A Living Faith (Wilmer Cooper)
The Celebration of Discipline (Richard Foster)
Streams of Living Water (Richard Foster)
EFC-ER YM's Faith and Practice
The Quaker Reader (edited by Jessamyn West)
Why Friends are Friends (Jack Willcuts)
The Rich Heritage of Quakerism (Walter R. Williams)
All of these are on a bookshelf in my living room. I also have a copy of Keys to the Prison somewhere... I think at my parents' house.
Lately, I've been finding myself developing more appreciation for the more liturgical expressions of Christianity, so I'm not as certain about calling myself a "Friend" as I was a few years ago.
As far as not instilling Quakerism in others, I agree that we really don't, at least in my experience. Part of it, I think is an over-emphasis on the freedom of conscience. Freedom of conscience is a good thing, and a firm part of the Quaker tradition. However, there is something of a tendency to take it to such an extreme that, rather than just letting people act a way that we disagree with, we affirm them in whatever decision they make. This is certainly not part of the early Quaker tradition. If George Fox is our example, Quaker tradition is that we disagree so vocally that we are imprisoned by those we disagree with. George Fox and Robert Barclay seem to declare people "reprobate" all the time. I imagine very few modern Quakers would do so... except maybe toward Pres. GW Bush...
I think that we've blurred the line between freedom of conscience and moral relativism, and as a result, Truth gets fuzzy, and taking a stand for it is pure arrogance. We don't want to be arrogant, so we don't stand for Truth.
Just my thoughts.
July 30 2008, 02:59:30 UTC 3 years ago
July 30 2008, 04:07:41 UTC 3 years ago
OH! Two important books on my shelf that I forgot to mention. Thomas Kelly's "Testament of Devotion" (How could I forget that???) and D. Elton Trueblood's "The Trustworthiness of Religious Experience", that last one is one of the best little pieces that I've read. It does a great job defending religion to a scientific age.
July 30 2008, 05:15:28 UTC 3 years ago
I read this and think of how my Meeting just struggled recently through a minute regarding the California constitutional requirement that any state employee (including teachers) affirm their willingness to defend the state constitution from enemies foreign or domestic (or some such wording.)
Now, it's a constitution that needs defending, as during almost every election when there is the possibility of some group of people adding an amendment through voter initiative. But what does this affirmation *mean*?
Some Friends are able to make the affirmation in clear conscience as they do see their work as defending. Recently, however, some Friends have wanted to ensure that it was understood that they were not committing to the violent defense, bringing this practice to visibility. Politically, it's a good time to make a change.
During our Meeting's discussion about the action the Meeting would take, it was difficult and Friends were required to be tender with one another. One who was not present might say "we affirmed whatever decision" Friends choose with respect to how they handle this state constitutional requirement. For those of us in that discernment, struggling to listen to the greater Truth, to listen to what action the Light asks of us, it was a deep practice of letting the Love move among us leading us to Truth. I do think out meeting chose to stand for Truth that day, but we did it with great humility.
I certainly can name Friends in my Quarter who have been thrown in jail and who have put their lives on their line for Truth. I've read the Epistles between Yearly Meetings where Friends are firm with Friends about Truth, and Friends continue to travel amongst each other witnessing to how God's love moves among their communities, and listening to those who deny it.
In the continuing revelation we as a body have received and witnessed, we have learned that it is often not effective to witness by shouting out "reprobate," but it is often very powerful to listen. While listening Friends do not stop standing for Truth.
I hope that you hear what i have witnessed in my Meeting and larger community as with celebration. I hope you are able to find a community where you can experience it too.
July 30 2008, 08:30:13 UTC 3 years ago
Quaker Faith & Practice, the Bible
George Fox's Journal and assorted biographies of other Friends
Copies of the Swarthmore Lectures (approx 15)
Epistles and Testimonies for the last few years
Lots of other books about Quakers/lifestyle etc
and then there's also the Quaker fiction bookshelf:
copies of Daisy Newman's novels
as many Elfrida Vipont's as I've been able to collect
Ann Turnbull's 2 novels about early Quaker times
other assorted books from different ages
and Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nichols - although not a Quaker book, she was brought up as a Quaker and it's a mind blowing book about an 11 year old boy who has terminal leukemia
Most of these are children/young adults books - but that is what I collect and enjoy reading
August 2 2008, 14:37:03 UTC 3 years ago
I'm on the library committee for Palo Alto Friends Meeting and was rather intrigued to see this list. If you were to write up a brief guide for some YA Quaker Fiction, i think my committee would be delighted to buy the books and run your notes in our Meeting's newsletter.
I'm *slowly* starting a Quaker Fiction (maybe Science Fiction) list at http://www.worldcat.org/profiles/judiela
August 3 2008, 17:50:05 UTC 3 years ago
August 3 2008, 21:42:08 UTC 3 years ago
Ann Turnbulls novels are quite recent and are both available on US Amazon (Forged in the Fire & No Shame No Fear) - and AUS mazon is saying that Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls will be out in pb in september. I Take Thee Serenity by Daisy Newman (Amaerican Quaker) is also available on Us Amazon and there is one other book listed by her.
Sorry not to be of more use - you could maybe contact the Bookshop at Friends House in London http://www.quaker.org.uk/Templates/Inte
3 years ago
August 4 2008, 04:24:26 UTC 3 years ago
My Favorite Quaker Books
I don't read many Quaker books, in part because some Quaker writing is (or was...) inaccessible to me, and in part because I find just as much if not more Light in other places.I have two favorites, though:
If Grace is True by Philip Gulley and James Mullholland
Essays on the Quaker Vision of the Gospel Order by Lloyd Lee Wilson
I've read them both several times.
And what, exactly, would make "Quaker fiction?"
I've read very good fiction by a Quaker (A Door Into Ocean) and it reflected Quaker values. But I'm not sure I'd call a piece of fiction "Quaker." Something about the importance of truth and integrity...
(Which of course, gets to a question I posted on my blog).
August 6 2008, 22:58:02 UTC 3 years ago
August 6 2008, 23:34:18 UTC 3 years ago
August 6 2008, 23:44:51 UTC 3 years ago
A member of our Discipline Committee, who's also a member of Mexico City MM is working on 'cleaning' up any translation errors in the latest edition, after which it will likely be posted to the PYM website. (We were just working on these details at PYM's gathering that just ended this past weekend.) Our English language edition is posted there, with searchable headings courtesy of our webmaster. The Spanish language version will likely be similarly searchable.
February 7 2012, 08:18:33 UTC 3 months ago
February 19 2012, 13:13:48 UTC 3 months ago