C Wess Daniels - Gathering In Light

Gathering In Light

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C Wess Daniels

If You're Not Busy Being Born - Creating A Playlist of "Hymns" for Today

If You're Not Busy Being Born - Creating A Playlist of "Hymns" for Today

What is the role that music plays in the formation of our spiritual lives? Wess tells a little of his story of music and how it has shaped his life.

Silence can save us

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Silence can save us

If liturgies of empire lull us to sleep, silence is a practice of resistance that can wake us up. It can wake us up to the pain and suffering of our neighbors. Wake us up to our own pain, our own inaction, our bitterness, or call to act.

Building a Writing Studio

Building a Writing Studio

About two years ago, I moved out of my home office and handed it over to our oldest daughter so she could have her own room. Up to this point, the three kids shared rooms in all of the houses we’ve lived in. But in 2021, we moved into

Looking for Privacy Focused Blogging Platforms

Looking for Privacy Focused Blogging Platforms

My beloved WordPress is becoming more and more corporate and finding more and more ways to tie data-tracking and AI into their product. I’ve used the self-hosted WordPress install for most of my blog’s existence, but even this version of the platform is showing signs of data-mining, namely

On The Rebound

My son has recently gotten interested in basketball. This has had an unintended consequence. Up until now, he has not showed much interest in it but his friends at his new school invited him to join the 5-6th grade basketball team. One weekday evening in early February he let Emily

Riding Uhwarrie National Forest

Riding Uhwarrie National Forest

About 50 miles south of where we live is the Uhwarrie National Forest 51,000+ acres lying just West of Badin Lake. I have been down to Uhwarrie a couple times, once of my motorcycle, and once with the family for hiking. As I’ve been getting more into cycling,

An Update & Next Steps

Dear Friends, I wanted to offer a little update since you haven’t heard from me in awhile. I am doing well and enjoying my sabbatical (read more about that below). What I wanted to let you all know is I am moving towards publishing solely from my blog: gatheringinlight.

Q&A: A Quaker Perspective about the Issues of Empire and the US

Q&A: A Quaker Perspective about the Issues of Empire and the US

I received a question of email recently that prompted me to put together a response here: “I wonder if you would have one or two of your own articles or lectures that you could share with us, where you bring a Quaker perspective about the issues of Empire and the

New Garden Friends Meeting Pastoral Search

Hi all, I wanted to post this here in the hopes of helping spread the word about New Garden Friends pastoral search here in Greensboro, NC they are just about to undergo. Read through the description below and see if this resonates with you or someone you might know. Feel

Sharing: Hush – Songs for Christmas by Seth Patrick Martin

Sharing: Hush – Songs for Christmas by Seth Patrick Martin

If you’ve been around the site, or me much, you know I love the music – and friendship of Seth Patrick Martin. He’s just shared a new Christmas album with us that I wanted to link to here. He produced it with his friend, Joe Kim in Seoul. The

We’re Building a Scenius

We’re Building a Scenius

This is a message I shared on Guilford’s campus during our Community meeting worship time on 2023-12-05. Revelation 7:9 After this I looked, and behold, ba great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and

Review of Quaker World by Stephen Angell

Stephen Angell, Leatherock professor of Quaker studies at Earlham College, wrote a very positive review of our book, The Quaker World, for Quaker Studies Research Association. Here are two excerpts: “This lively, refreshing and innovative volume comes along in a very timely fashion to make a huge mark in Quaker

Sharing: What Pro-Democracy Activists Can Learn From Their Adversaries

I commend this article from Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis and Rahna Epting to you on how Pro-Democracy activists, and the religious communities supporting this movement, need to adjust our approach: “During climate emergencies, far-right parachurch organizations and paramilitary groups are often first on the scene with food and shelter. During

For Faculty, Boards, and Trustees of Quaker Schools

For Faculty, Boards, and Trustees of Quaker Schools

I wrote this list specifically for staff, faculty, and trustees of Quaker schools. I expect that more will be added to it overtime. We have a lot of learning and teaching to do if we are going to bring up a base level knowledge and appreciation of the principles and

Convergent Friends Conversation Coming Nov. 29

Photo by ShareGrid on Unsplash Hi Friends, On Wednesday, November 29th at 7:00 PM, Robin Mohr, General Secretary of Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas, and I will be hosting a conversation in partnership with Quaker Leadership Center at Earlham School of Religion. The conversation is

And In the End

The Love You Take Is Equal to the Love You Make Dear Friends, I’m writing to you after an unplanned hiatus. As many of you have heard by now, my father, Winfield Scott Daniels, passed away on August 24th. He was 68 years old. I have been telling you

A Reset Button

Good morning, Friends. I have a shorter-than-usual newsletter for you today. As I mentioned last week, we were moving offices (more like houses) this past Wednesday and while it has gone well, it is still very much going. I’m in my new office, but everything is still in boxes.

Give The Song A Little Space – Jeff Tweedy

I’ve been reading, and loving, Jeff Tweedy’s book, “How to Write One Song.” Here’s one gem from it: “Let me just say this: I believe we stop ourselves sometimes when we’re happy. We create conflict in our relationships sometimes because we’re feeling uncertain and needy.

A Check In

There’s No Rain in our Train (anymore) Dear Friends, Readers, Skimmers, and everyone in between, I hope you’re doing well this late July. I wanted to check in with folks and let you know what’s happening here (I hope you’ll drop a comment below or in

What Does The Eye See?

“Pay attention to what you pay attention to…” Friends, Things have been joyfully hectic in the Miller Daniels household. I’ve made more trips up to Ohio to visit Dad who continues to improve slowly and steadily. He is still in the ICU but has hopes of being in a

What Does the Eye See?

This is a message I shared with Jamestown Friends Meeting in Jamestown, NC on June 11, 2023. Matthew 9:9-13 “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

Clara Ione Cox – A Little Quaker Pastor Inspiration During Pride Month

This is a post I wrote as a part of series we’re working on at Friends Center to celebrate Pride by lifting up Quakers who were also part of the LGBTQIA+ family. I first met Clara when I visited the Quaker Archives at Guilford College shortly after my arrival

Announcing the Nurse Log Wiki Site

A Paid Feature of Nurse Log Notes Happy Monday, I hope that you all had a lovely weekend. One of the things I’ve had in the works for some time is my Wikipedia-like site with back information, specialized definitions, and theories I am drawn to. There are entries on