Home of the Wanderer

http://sillypoorgospel.blogspot.com/2008/03/geek-squad-jesus.html

Peggy Parsons, who has a paid position with universal tech support, writes skillfully about the ultimate programmer, the big software re-write, and the human interface. As a tech support volunteer – and as one who likes to customize the system settings, download new software, get all the latest upgrades, and sometimes even do beta testing – I’m particularly grateful for the 24/7 help-desk.

While I’m often more excited about the new releases than I’ve ever been about the millenia-old re-write, I recognize that it’s all being done by the same dev-team. In fact, I think that a lot of the new releases I get so excited about may really just be custom design adjustments to get my interface working. One thing I love about the dev-team: there is no abandon-ware, and they’re always taking bug reports. It’s nice to know that the lead hacker takes a personal interest in making the software work for each and every one of us.

Allison writes in this recent post about, among other things, the relationship between Quakerism, Universalism, and Christianity. That brought to mind this article, which my grandmother recently shared with me when I was back east visiting. In it, Samuel Caldwell argues that Quakerism not only marries Christianity to Universalism, but makes of them two sides of the same coin.

It was a refreshing read for me, as it seemed to speak to (and of) my own condition. I suppose I’ll need to make a note of it in my page about my spirituality.

Robin Mohr’s recent comment brought to mind a question that has been with me in recent years: does anyone wait for the results of a clearness process before deciding that they are getting married? Given the number of happy marriages with which I am acquainted that seem not to have done so, is it necessary? Have we ever, as a Society, had this as a practice?

From what I’ve seen, such discipline would seem to be a thing of legend. And then I consider a couple who called off their wedding plans twice before finally (after ten years, I believe, and on the third attempt) getting clearness to marry. It was hard for them, but I believe they both consider it to have been appropriate to wait. (more…)

“Quaker Dating” by Betsy Blake | QuakerYouth

I would *totally* sign up for a Quaker dating site. As a matter of fact, I have. I’m not convinced yet about http://www.quakersingles.org – they have 65 registered users, and no way to filter search results by age or location. In the meanwhile, I’m using http://www.okcupid.com (where I’m registered as heaventwig).

I’ve been thinking, for a couple of years now, about a Young Adult Friends (YAF) workshop on Quaker romance. I was hoping this blog post might talk about such a thing, or try to address some of the questions that come up for me about what it means to date as a Friend. I guess you did that to some extent in raising the issues of discipline and the desire to pair with another Friend, which both seem relevant to me. (more…)

This year on Armistice Day a dear friend of mine said, “next year in peace.” There were tears in my eyes as I considered the faith, hope, and despair wrapped up in that phrase – as in the ritual phrase from the Passover Seder: “next year in Jerusalem.” Hope for peace, faith that we will achieve it, and despair at seeing it in our lifetime. These phrases bring to my mind echoes of our common exile from a birthright that I believe rightly belongs to all beings – to live in harmony with each other.

Some things are just plain fun, and even easy, while providing a challenge.

For example, it’s challenging to sing really well, but when it works it just works. The voice flows out of the mouth effortlessly – at this point the voice is beyond belonging to a particular person, or at least it seems that way when I’m the one opening my mouth and letting song flow out. There’s no work involved, except in staying out of the way.

Similarly, I find a pleasant challenge when I can stare into my heart and discover the sun, everywhere I go. (more…)

I believe that government derives its legitimacy from the consent of the governed; that the best policies are those that most help the least well-off; and that by thinking together, members of a community can gather their collective wisdom to discover good ways to manage their common assets. I believe (more…)