Monday, November 23, 2020
Here in Oregon, we entered a two-week “freeze” last Wednesday that closed venues and severely restricted the size and makeup of social and faith-based gatherings. It’s been a long year already, and now as Thanksgiving approaches, so many of us will be going without traditional family gatherings. I’m learning how important it is for my health, for my sense of stability, and for my faith to know that I’m not alone. What about you? Are you finding new ways to connect with friends, with family, and with your faith community? —Eric Muhr
“The book of Proverbs helped me fall in love with the Bible as God’s Word. This happened when I was just a youngster because Proverbs seemed so accessible and understandable. In my home and family life, I needed help from God’s Word to make sense of life.
“We all need advice and wisdom to help us meet everyday challenges. That’s what God’s wisdom is: advice for skillful living. Proverbs are probabilities more than promises, building skills in you for the benefit of all around.” —Bruce Butler, excerpted from Fruit of the Vine
“Similar to early Christians, early Friends also faced issues of solidarity with the way of Christ, often in tension with the ways of the world. The theme of walking in the light was a central theme for George Fox, who admonished Friends in his Epistle 46: ‘To all Friends who are in the unity, which is in the light; walk in the light (1 John 1:7). It is one light that doth convince you all; and one Christ, that doth call all to repentance, up to himself the one head, which is Christ (Ephesians 4:15).’ And, as a result of walking in the Light, believers will be taught ‘all the good manners and pure communication, and [to] condemn all corrupt manners and corrupt communication; and so to have the heart and mind cleansed from all such things’ (Epistles 48).” —Paul Anderson, excerpted from the Illuminate study of 1 John 2:7–29.
Slowly I’ll Take the Rest of My Life
Slowly I’ll take the rest of my life
to love you well.
On the days I am impatient,
I will remember the waiting
birds on nests.
When I am sad,
I will sit down.
To love you well takes all
of my time.
The past, present like a limb,
always part of me.
The present, the whole of me at it
like skin, and the future
whistling away,
the pan pipes of maybe.
Slowly I learn this:
nothing more is needed,
keep learning,
love you well,
then say farewell.
—Peg Edera, Love Is Deeper Than Distance
As a not-for-profit Friends publishing house, Barclay Press has always faced an uphill climb. Resources are tight, and we serve a special, specific, and extremely small slice of the Christian community. But somehow, our part-time staff have managed to produce more than six decades of Quaker curriculum while also publishing more than a hundred titles (and counting)! To support and sustain this work, we need your help to raise $27,000 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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