Monday, November 16, 2020
This week at Barclay Press, we are putting the final touches on the winter quarter of Fruit of the Vine before getting started on the first round of edits for the next quarter of Illuminate. We had nearly two inches of rain here last week. The last of the autumn leaves are coming down. It’s going to be a cold, damp winter. I hope each of you is staying warm and finding ways to keep in touch with the people you love. —Eric Muhr
“True freedom is not the freedom to do as we like, but to honor God with our lives out of gratitude rather than fear of judgment, becoming inwardly more like Jesus, leading to Christ-like behavior. No longer measured by keeping the outward law, we live by the law of love in grateful surrender to Jesus – the source of love that can transform both ourselves and our world.” —from the archives (1961), excerpted from Fruit of the Vine
“In biblical accounts, sin isn’t reduced to simply a lack of piety; instead, sin is systems and powers that oppress the poor and the most vulnerable. None of us are without sin (and to claim otherwise means we are deceived [1 John 1:8–10]). Waking up to the plight of the most vulnerable, making it our business to work alongside the poor, marginalized, and oppressed– this is the work of the Light, and it has been the work of the Light since Jesus, and before. To turn our backs on those God has always spoken up for is to turn our backs on God. May we declare with our words and the way we live the good news: God, through all of us, is bringing liberation to the poor.” —C. Wess Daniels, excerpted from the Illuminate study of 1 John 1:1–10.
50
To master life and death,
put your life in Spirit’s hands.
Live moment to moment,
not clinging
but letting go.
Let your actions flow
from your inner soul’s rhythm.
Live fully.
Anxiety can’t hamper you.
Anger can’t entangle you.
Fear can’t disable you.
You’ll be ready to live
and to die, as
death will come like rest
at the end of a busy day.
—Jim Teeters, Because of This
Our focus at Barclay Press in the coming year is to build more creative collaborations with other Friends “publishers of truth” in our work to support the work of Friends everywhere. To support and sustain this work, we need your help to raise $28,000 between now and the end of this year. In addition, our goal for this next year is for forty supporters to make recurring monthly donations of $25 or more each month. Click here (or on the DONATE button below) to show your support.
Eric Muhr
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