Ramallah Friends Meeting (Quakers) 

The affirmation of the indwelling of the divine is a part of all religions. “The kingdom of God is within you,” said Jesus. “You are the temple of God,” wrote Saint Paul. “He who knows himself, knows God,” said The Prophet Muhammed. So too, has this affirmation been echoed by many Sufis. For me, my outward identity has, at all times, been coupled with the inward knowledge that I am a child of God. This self-understanding has, thankfully, long provided me with the necessary su

The first day of spring was marked last week and in Palestine, as well as many other places around the world, Mother’s Day was also celebrated. When I think of mothers, I think of the many women I have known in my lifetime who have been led to the truth and who have, in turn, guided me by their example of seeking, risking and trusting --as they live as children of God. I am especially grateful for the women I came to know when I worked with the YWCA Palestine. Regular visits

While seeking opens us to the possibily of transformation and the reign of God, it also most certainly involves risk. In the book of James, we are reminded: "..do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice." (1:22) Putting it into practice, living as children of God, seeking transformation --it's all risky buisness. When we translate our hope and our love into action, there will be risk. Yet, it will always be a spiritual risk worth t

The way of Jesus calls us back to a posture of seeking. We are invited to seek the spiritual fortitfude to re-root ourselves (over and over again) in the radical Gospel stories of nonviolence. We are invited to realize the reign of God on earth today, and each and every day thereafter. To resort to violence as an instrument of change is rejected as a strategy by Jesus. Instead, Jesus distilled from the long experience of his people that nonviolent resistance was a way of oppo

Our Meeting lives within a context, one where the Palestinian Christian community is now prepararing both spiritually and physically for Easter. Soon afterwhich, our Muslim brothers and sisters will honor a different spiritual and physical journey in their tradition; it is one which is also centred around prayer --the night journey or Ascension of the Prophet. Then, only a few weeks later, Ramadan the holy month of fasting begins. Our spiritual journeys may take on different