Gathering In Light (Page 2)

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.

Jeff Tweedy

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.

Featured

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

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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

Creativity

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.

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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

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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

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What About Time?

Chronos, Kairos, and Time as Money Hi Everyone, I’ve been swirling around the topic of time recently. A couple months back, I mentioned reading Jenny Odell’s book, How to Do Nothing, for my silence class. One of the big takeaways I got from the book was the importance

Quotations

Change and Trust

Dr. Mandy Cohen, the former N.C. Secretary of Health and Human Services, was the honorary degree recipient this year at Guilford College’s graduation. This is one piece of her remarks that has stuck with me. “Trust is the foundation of all relationships, both personal and professional. I truly

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A Doorway Into Life

On Change, Trust, and Patience Dear Friends, Life has been humming along here in Greensboro. This past Saturday we celebrated commencement which is always a glorious occasion at Guilford (I will tell you a little more of that below). An update on my dad: he is still making progress and

Announcements

Quakers, Colonization, and Decolonization Conference in Philly June 12-15

Hi all, I wanted to share this upcoming conference with all of you from Friends Association for Higher Education. I hope to attend myself and would love to see you there. Here is the press release: 44th Annual Meeting of the Friends Association for Higher Education Quakers, Colonization, and Decolonization

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A Short Update

Hi all, I wanted to send a short note to thank you all for your notes, thoughts, and prayers for my dad and our family. I mentioned last week that he had a massive heart attack last Thursday. He is still in ICU and not out of the woods yet,

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Some Thoughts on Friendship

Friendship is a Spiritual Practice Hey all – it’s been a cold and rainy week here in the American South. I’ve worn my wool socks, boots, and gloves several times. I’m trying to accept it as it comes. Speaking of accepting things as they come, my wife, Emily,

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Friendship as a Spiritual Practice

This is a sermon on Friendship I shared with First Friends meeting on 2023-04-23. This text is based on the story known as the “Walk to Emmaus” in Luke 24:13-35. Why Did We Choose Loneliness? In a recent episode of The Ezra Klein Show titled “The ‘Quiet Catastrophe’ Brewing

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Write What You See

Friends, As I mentioned in the weekly chat, it’s been quiet here because the family and I took a little vacation to our favorite beach here in NC, and then I took a trip to Philadelphia this past weekend. There’s not much to report from the vacation, just

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Write What You See: Standing In The Great Traditions of Resistance (Revelation 1)

I want to share the sermon I preached on April 15, 2023, for the American Friends Service Committee’s annual gathering in Philadelphia. Each year AFSC gathers for business, workshops, and community building. During this time, they have a programmed worship service as a part of their time together. This

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Transgressing the Boundaries of Empire

Three Palm-Sunday Processionals That Show the Way Hello Friends, I hope that you found rest and restoration with the past weekend and are finding hope amidst so many tragedies, from the natural ones to the human-made ones. Particularly on my mind are the transgender bans running rampant across the country,

Blog Entries

A Hat Trick For Supporting Curiosity and Growth

I have a little trick, it’s kind of silly, but it helps me when I’m in trouble. I do it whenever my attitude isn’t great or I feel resistant about something I have to do. I call it the “hat trick.” While I consider myself to be

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Mid-Week Notes: Being Connected vs Belonging

Is Imitation Better than the Real Thing? The sermon this Sunday at our meeting was on the topic of belonging. It was a great message that I’m still thinking about. Belonging is a topic I’ve written about some in the past and think about often. I have also

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Rebuilding the Collection: One Record and One Story at a Time

Content warning: Mention and discussion about suicide. Yesterday I went to the record store with my wife and 10 year old son C to work on building my collection. I love visiting record stores not only because I love music but because of the memories encased in dust jackets. I

Fireweed

Fire-Flowers by Emily Pauline Johnson

Fire-Flowers And only where the forest fires have sped, Scorching relentlessly the cool north lands, A sweet wild flower lifts its purple head, And, like some gentle spirit sorrow-fed, It hides the scars with almost human hands. And only to the heart that knows of grief, Of desolating fire, of

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A Little An Aside About The Quaker Nomad

In my last post, I wrote about Natalie Ramsland’s zine-making Quaker Project, Fold in the Light. It’s fresh, original, and inspiring. But I left out an aside I wanted to share here: One of the zines she included in the mail sent to me is of a Quaker

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Fold in The Light – A New Quaker Zine Project

A few weeks back, I got some mail from someone I didn’t know. As I opened it, these cute little booklets fell out, and a letter addressed to me: Hello, Mr. Daniels. The letter writer, Pacific Northwest Quaker Natalie Ramsland, told me a little about how she came into

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Let’s Get Bored Together: The Practice of Silence and Resisting the Attention Economy

I am teaching a class this semester at Guilford College called, “The Practice of Silence.” The class is both what it sounds like and a lot more. We are studying the Quaker theology behind the Quaker practice of silence but we’re also studying it from the broader lens of

Poetry

Hurry by Marie Howe

We stop at the dry cleaners and the grocery store and the gas station and the green market and Hurry up honey, I say, hurry hurry, as she runs along two or three steps behind me her blue jacket unzipped and her socks rolled down. Where do I want her