By Ferrell Foster Part of what I like about quiet is what it enables you to hear. A person is walking on a nearby path — the crunch crunch of … Continue reading The sounds of silence & the engine of the Spirit

By Ferrell Foster Part of what I like about quiet is what it enables you to hear. A person is walking on a nearby path — the crunch crunch of … Continue reading The sounds of silence & the engine of the Spirit
By Ferrell Foster Looking back 30 years in a journal can be interesting. It reminds you of things you had forgotten, and you can learn some things about yourself. In … Continue reading Living life at age 36 and 66
By Ferrell Foster A friend of mine works for a company that doesn’t allow him to say, “merry Christmas.” Forgive me, but that seems kind of ridiculous. It also seems … Continue reading Merry Christmas & happy holidays
By Ferrell Foster
Sitting outside to worship with my Quaker friends this morning, I notice nine feet in front of me, amidst the fallen leaves, the remains of a once mighty tree.
It was cut down even with the ground to promote mowing, I guess. It’s not flat on top as stumps are; it’s more like pieces barely visible, as if the cutter tried to break it up below the surface.
I think of the great and long life that once was that tree; it may have been alive 100 years ago. But I also think that’s its roots are still in the ground below me, unseen but still there even if slowly rotting.
Long after each of us is gone, there are roots we leave behind for all who will notice and even for those who who do not. We are part of the ground on which new life grows. We leave behind “roots” for others long after we have lived, as are those who have gone before us.
May we build good and strong roots for our good and for all those whom we encounter.
My Quaker friends suggested I share these thoughts. There is something about the silence of the Quaker experience that nurtures worship in community.
Evelyn Underhill tells what she calls an “old story of Eyes and No-Eyes” — two travelers. “No-Eyes” has to take a walk. “For him the chief factor of existence is … Continue reading Walking with eyes or no eyes
By Ferrell Foster Sitting in silence outdoors this morning at the Waco Quaker gathering, I began to notice my hands. They are always there and have been for 66 years, … Continue reading Finding one’s hands in silence
By Ferrell Foster Part of living is learning what we need and what we don’t need to flourish. Some things are the same for all people; other things are different. … Continue reading Friday brings out the introvert in me
It is rather common knowledge now that President John Kennedy was a womanizer with little respect for his marriage vows. He took up the behavior modeled by his father. “While … Continue reading Beware of ‘leaders’ who charm; their lives may not be so charming
I was just thinking about the teaching of history. Since knowledge is built by connecting new insights to ones that already exist, maybe we are teaching history backward in schools. … Continue reading Maybe we should rethink how we teach history
What does it mean to be human. The Bible says humanity is created in the image of God. It is a way of expressing the value of each person — … Continue reading We all contain a spark of the ‘primal fire’