Skull-duggery Afoot

It started innocently enough. I posted the Hip-Hop version of my Quaker classic Holy Silence along with a picture of my rap persona (Rapmaster Johnnie B-Squared -- beaded hair and all).

Then, what I feared would happen happened. Some men, led by Jeff Wolfe, began to emulate my hairstyle, even posting it on their Facebook pages. As Jeff said, "Too cool! The beaded dreadlocks are a nice touch that I definitely think you should include in your overall look when you drop your lyrical bombs ... Based on the obvious quality of your rhymes, I foresee a whole new career blossoming in your future, Brent--er, um Johnnie."

And then Jeff posted a picture of the back of my head as his profile pic.

That's when the skull-duggery began. A female back-of-the-head-lash. From Jeff's wife Tonda. She sends poor Jeff a post demanding, yes demanding!!!, him to "Change your profile pic. ... Brent Bill's bald skull is coming between us."

What's up with that?

I cannot deny that the un-haired pate of a late 50ish gospel writing Hip Hop star is ... well... sexy. I'm a solar-paneled sentence machine. And younger men naturally want to tap into this raw sensuality. Jeff admits, "I desperately want the 'BrentBill Reverse Beaded Mohawk (TM)"..."

But he admits that he "lack[s] the dexterity to bead my own hair." He further goes on to lament that "Something tells me I won't be able to convince my wife to help me with it upon next seeing her. "

Tonda, Tonda, Tonda. Have you not read the Bible -- where it urges you to "Stand by your Man"? (Wynette 3:16). As a young woman going studying to be in a helping profession, I find your cold-heartedness just ... well... cold-hearted.

So, as I head off to Meeting this morning, I carry a concern in my heart. That the obvious tension my bald head has brought to Tonda and Jeff's relationship be eased, that their relationship be fully restored, and that she help him bead his hair.

-- Brent

A Website I Highly Recommend

I get notices of new web sites all the time and while many are interesting, most are just ... um... not. And even many of those that are interesting are not that helpful or useful.

But today I was alerted to one that is amazing and which I think is indispensable. It is True Knowledge dot com.

This site is freak-y amazing. You can ask it anything -- and it knows the answer!!! Like, I asked "What is J. Brent Bill's middle name?" (Yes, that was a bit vain, I suppose, but...).

A nano-second later, up popped the answer -- "Brent"! How did it know that?

So I asked, "What is J. Brent Bill's last name?" Ding! Up popped "Bill." Amazing.

I started asking harder questions --" What is the square root of 4.5749181?" (2.1389058184 ) , "What's the biggest animal in the world?" (Blue Whale), etc. It knows ALL THE ANSWERS.

So then I asked "What is the meaning of life?"

Once again, after a few seconds of computerized cogitating, up popped the answer --

The term 'life' has many distinct uses: 1: the organic phenomenon that distinguishes living organisms from nonliving ones; 2: a living person; 3: the period from the present until death; 4: living things collectively; 5: a characteristic state or mode of living; 6: an account of the series of events making up a person's life; 7: animation and energy in action or expression; 8: the period during which something is functional (as between birth and death); 9: the condition of living or the state of being alive; 10: a prison term lasting as long as the prisoner lives; 11: the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living; 12: a motive for living; 13: the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities; 14: the period between birth and the present time

WOW! I'm hooked. It's now bookmarked on my computer and I have a feeling I'll use it constantly. No more research or deep thinking for me. Thanks "True Knowledge" for saving me from false knowledge.

Now I think I'll ask it how to end this post.

-- Brent

"They Call Him the Rapper" -- the Jaggerz, 1970

Yesterday I tweeted that Carrie Newcomer and I (along with some other folks) were going to be presenting at Earlham School of Religion's annual Ministry of Writing colloquium. It's a great event and I hope folks will take advantage of it. The chance to see and hear Carrie alone is worth the price of admission.

After posting on my facebook profile page that I promised not to sing, my friend Jeff Wolfe asked, "How about a little spoken word/rapping, Brent?"

Well, I had planned on doing a reading (in addition to leading my workshop), but in honor of Jeff's request, I am hereby unveiling (a little ahead of schedule) the Hip-Hop version of my book Holy Silence.

Yo, be quiet. Yo, yo, be quiet.

God is in da howse. Yahweh's in da howse.

He's in u soul. He's in u bonze.

Don't that just make u jonze, jonze, jonze?

Yo, be quiet...

******

Ah, thank u.

Rapmaster Johnnie B-Squared

"So What I Said Was..." -- Obama and The Mosque

I got this email from one of my sisters today.

"Obama slammed, praised for backing NYC mosque. Barack Obama was compared to America's first president and castigated as "insensitive and uncaring," after defending plans for a mosque near New York's ground zero."

"Brent, I was wondering how you feel about this? I am trying to understand his rationale, and hosting an iftar dinner when he would not host the National Day of Prayer recently."

For some reason, her question struck a chord in me -- mostly because it's a good question. How do I feel about that?

Here's what I said (leaving out all our names and endearments and other personal stuff and adding a clarifying remark or two) --

I have mixed emotions about this whole scenario -- especially the mosque. As a matter of religious rights in our country, I agree with his statement that Muslims, like any other religion, have the right to build houses of worship where ever they want to (so long as they obey all the building laws).

I also agree with that he was not saying that the Muslims building a mosque there was a "smart" decision -- “I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding."

I think the Muslim group is being politically/socially insensitive to build a mosque there (given that feelings -- right or wrongly run high about that ground)... but that they do have the right to (so long as they obey all the zoning laws, get the permits, etc).

I'm not sure how I feel about the National Day of Prayer thing. The National Day of Prayer is not a holy day/month observed by a specific religion -- like Ramadan, or Passover, or Easter or whatever. President George W Bush was the only one to hold observances at the White House -- even President Reagan who got it going (President Truman signed it into law in 1952, but it was largely ignored until the 80s) didn't have anything at the White House.

It is an interfaith day of prayer supposedly, so I don't see what the harm would be in having a ceremony at the White House. Reportedly, Thomas Jefferson was the first to host an iftar dinner and it is a custom of modern White House dinners -- as they do host seder dinners, Christmas dinners, and other religious dinners. Personally, I don't think any "religious" dinners -- regardless of the religion -- should be held at the White House as a public event. Separation of church and state and all that. If the president wants an Easter dinner, for example, he should have one in the private quarters as private meal for his family and friends.

If he or she (whoever the president is in the future) wants to attend an iftar or seder, it seems to me it should be at a mosque or synagogue -- a religious place for a religious ceremony. The same would be true of National Day of Prayer event -- go to the National Cathedral or neutral ground like Nationals Park (the baseball field) or some such place.

Perhaps I'm just a cranky old Quaker (okay, so I am a cranky old Quaker), but state involvement in religion has long been bothersome to me. Almost 400 years ago, the state (both England and some colonial governments) had no problem locking up, exiling, and even hanging people for being Quakers. They said where we could meet and where Meetinghouses could (or could not) be located. I had hoped we had moved past that... but evidently Bob Dylan was wrong. The times, they are not a-changin.'

-- Brent

The Mouse and the Deere

The heat and humidity has been brutal here in Indiana for the better part of ... well, all summer! At the start of last weekend though, there was a bit of a break and so I refilled all the fuel cans, put diesel in the John Deere, fired him up and headed out to mow.

It had a been a few weeks since I had used Deere John and, frankly, I had put him away dirty after mowing hillsides. I was low on fuel and my biggest concern was not cleanliness but fuel-ishness -- I wanted to make sure I got back to the barn. So I decided to hose the various seeds and schtuff stuck in the grill so John could breathe well before heading to the lower field.

I thought I had detected some scurrying sounds in close to the tractor when I mounted up and when I stopped by the water hydrant, out of the engine compartment scampered a cute little field mouse. I watched him head through the grass to safety under the fence close by the hydrant.

He had evidently taken up residence next to John's engine. I opened the hood and there was a nice little mousie nest there -- but it was awfully close to the fan blade and various pulleys and belts.

I wondered why he built there? Maybe because it a tight little place and Ebony the cat, who likes little mice in a way much different than I do, can not get there. But poor mousie's house was not nearly as safe as he thought, as he found out when the diesel clattered to life.

For some reason the Jesus' story of the foolish man who built his house upon the sand came to mind. I thought about that man. Did the sand look safe? Far from the river ... perhaps some sandstone? Then the floods came and his house crashed down.

Of course, Jesus goes on to talk about the wise man who built upon the rock. How'd he know it was a good rock? How'd he know it wasn't sandstone that could crumble or slate that could split? The mouse thought Deere John was a rock. It had been there awhile. Wasn't moving. Was solid. Safe. Well, at lease to all rodent appearances. But he was wrong.

And I thought of times that I had built upon "rocks" that looked solid -- friendships, business plans, and the like -- which turned out to be. So I am a man (from a Bible story) or a mouse?

Mostly a mouse, I guess. But trying to learn to be a man of faith -- and to be able to tell the Rock from rocks.

-- Brent

"So, What I Said Was..."

The following is one of the sermons I delivered recently. Someone suggested that I occasionally post them, so here's what I said at Mooresville (IN) Friends this morning...

How Good Is Good Enough?
Galatians 5:1-15

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area we call “The Twilight Zone.’”
We present for your consideration that a man dies and wakes up a moment later at the end of a long line. At the front of the line he sees two doors — one marked heaven, the other marked hell. There’s an usher present and he keeps saying, ‘Move along, keep the line moving. Choose either door, heaven or hell, and walk in.’


The man approaches the usher and asks, ‘What happened to the Last Judgment? Where are my deeds weighed and measured? Where am I told if I am a good person or a bad person?’ The usher replies, ‘You know, I don’t where that story ever got started. We don’t do that here. We’ve never done it. We don’t have the staff to do that here. I mean, look, ten thousand people arrive every minute. I’m supposed to sit down with every one and go over his whole life? We’d never get anywhere. Now, choose either door. Choose heaven or hell, and go in. I don’t want to see you again.’

The man then shrugs and walks through the door marked hell.


This old television drama points out one of humankind’s greatest dilemmas. How do we know when we’re being good enough? What’s the standard by which we are judged – by ourselves or by God? Certainly the man on TV decided he hadn’t been good enough. That’s why he chose the door he did. And while, for a moment, we may be amazed at his selection, when we thing about it longer I have a feeling that many of us would make the same choice. When we judge ourselves against society’s standards, or those of business colleagues or acquaintances, we may feel do okay. We may even feel pretty good. We don’t lie or cheat or steal from our bosses. We don’t do things that border on the unethical, even if they are not unlawful. But when we look at the end of our lives, we’re left wondering if we were good enough. And that’s because we know our own hearts and minds. We know in our innermost selves that we often miss the mark – even if we question exactly what that mark is.

Are we good enough? There is certainly ample evidence to say that we aren’t. A quick reading of the Bible seems to say it’s pretty hard to be good enough. We especially find the Old Testament full of laws and behavioral proscriptions. The books of Leviticus and Dueteronomy are studies in how rigid the standards for daily life for the people of God were. In these books we find laws about sin offerings, guilt offerings, war, duty to a brother’s widow, chastity, jealousy, feasts and more – and these are on top of the famous 10 Commandments. In addition to the law written in the Old Testament, Israelites had codified laws about the Law. For example, in Jesus day there were over 400 proscriptions for the keeping and breaking of the Sabbath – all in explanation of that one law.


In the New Testament, Jesus calls us to an even higher standard. He tells us even our thoughts subject us to possible judgment. And then he gives us the “blesseds” and the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. How in heaven’s name can we ever live up to all this?

That is both the dilemma and the way out. Because, truth be told, I think most of us want to live up to all that. We know that there is something in the very deepest part of our being that calls us toward God and lives of positive goodness. We want to live moral lives that are positive examples of faith. We try to live as such. But we, like the apostle Paul, find ourselves doing things we don’t want to do and not doing the things we know are right. For most of us, the question of how good is good enough is serious one. It’s not one to try and get us off the hook, as in “how much can I get away with?” No, for those of us who want to be considered the friends of Jesus, the question is “what must I do to find favor in the eyes of the Lord? How good must I be to hear those words ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant?’”


We submit for your consideration another story. The tale is about a man in high authority. He’s the chief executive of his country. One day he spies a beautiful woman and desires her. He makes arrangements for her to come to him. She becomes pregnant. To try to cover his act, he calls her husband home from the country’s war and grants him leave. But the husband feels guilty for leaving his comrades who are locked in combat and so doesn’t sleep with his wife. The leader of the country then sends him to the thickest part of the battle, hoping he will be killed. His wish is granted, the husband is killed, his sin covered and nobody is the wiser. At least that’s what he thinks.

Then a man comes and tells him a story of rich man who steals poor man’s much loved pet and uses it for his own selfish gain. The ruler is incensed and says the rich man deserves to be punished because he had no pity on the poor man. And the visitor replies “You are that man.”
This, unlike our first account, is no Twilight Zone story. It’s from the Bible, II Samuel to be exact. It’s the story of David. And by the Bible’s own standards, which David accepted, David is not good enough. When he hears the words “You are that man,” David answers back “I have sinned against the Lord.” He knows he is guilty – and he has pronounced judgment upon himself. But the prophet Nathan says, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”
Why? If David, the spiritual and temporal ruler of Israel, broke many commandments in his quest for Bathsheba and to cover his guilt, is judged not guilty, why? Surely he was not good enough. What made him good enough?


Well, for one thing, we read that the Lord loved him and called David a man after his own heart.

What makes the difference?


What justified David in God’s eyes was his attitude toward God. He sincerely wanted to follow God. He longed for God in depths of his heart. But his mind and desires, and not just for Bathsheba, frequently got in the way. His psalms, praises and devotion to God were counterbalanced by lying and duplicity and outright lust for life and power. Does this make him a hypocrite? I think not. Rather, it makes him human. One who struggles with the spiritual while living in the temporal. David is man who, like us all, is deeply flawed. David also deeply loved the Lord. And he was willing to acknowledge God and repent when he finally saw his actions for what they were.

That’s the good part about the question “How in heaven’s name can we ever live up to all this?” It is exactly in heaven’s name that we become good enough. The bad news is we can never be good enough – not on our own, anyway. The good news is, that in heaven’s name, we don’t have to be.


In our scripture lesson, Paul is telling the church at Galatia to watch out for those who use fulfillment of the Law as a mark of true faith. The people Paul is warning the church about want the followers of Jesus to obey the Law as a way of determining behaviour and a seal of Christianity. Paul tells the church, and us today, that it is though faith we are made righteous. Christ working in us in love is what justifies us in God’s eyes.

In theological terms, this is known as the doctrine of grace. In reality, it is hard for us to grasp. After all, it does seem to imply that we get something for nothing. That’s not the American way! Many of us act as if the saying “God helps them who helps themselves” is in the Bible. So the concept of grace is a tad bit unbelievable.


That’s true. It is unbelievable – but available. It is free, but it is not easy. What made God’s grace available to David, the early church and us today is a willing and contrite heart – an attitude that admits that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. If we are honest, like the man in the television sketch, that is easy enough to own up to.

Grace lets us off the hook as far as ever being good enough. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. The early Quakers held that Christ’s will could be known and obeyed. We call ourselves Friends after the verse in John 15, “You are my friends.” The verse doesn’t end there, though. We are the friends of Jesus, according the rest of that verse “if you do what I command you.” Grace then, as a guide for practical living, allows us to try to live lives that model as closely as possible the teachings of Jesus and while realizing that we will inevitably miss that high mark, we still find favor in the eyes of the Lord. We cannot, on our own power, ever be good enough.

David wasn’t. We will not. We don’t have to be.

What does the Lord require? A contrite heart and a willingness to follow him. We need to love God and be as good as we can. With God’s help we can be better than we think. And ultimately, if we learn to rest in God’s grace, that will be good enough.


And that’s no Twilight Zone story. And news I need to hear.

-- Brent

Cult Alert -- From Rural Indiana

Since I have been asked about this a number of times over the past few weeks, I thought I would say "Yes" the worship group that gathers at our farm continues to meet. Nancy's kids (all adults) call it the "Cult" -- as in, "Is 'The Cult' meeting this Sunday evening or can we come over?"

While our summer schedule has been a little erratic (due to vacations and Yearly Meetings and other things), we do have two gatherings planned for August -- the 8th and the 29th.

The group has been meeting for a few years now. It started (and continues to be) based on Spirit-led Quaker worship. No agenda except that which arises from God's moving within those who gather. We have agreed on a principle of theological hospitality, too -- which means that all are welcome regardless of their theological leanings and are encouraged to speak in their language (Evangelical, liberal, whatever) about their spiritual experience.

We never know how many will be there -- three or twenty. The only thing I know is it seems that God has been at work bringing together the people that need/should be there on that particular evening.

Likewise with what happens there. There is no set format. Our unprogrammed stuff is not even slightly programmed ... there is no pattern. Sometimes there's lots of silence. Sometimes there's lots of talk. One time we watched a movie ("Lord Save Us from Your Followers"). The last time we met, the sharing focused on forgiveness -- our role in forgiving, the other's role in seeking forgiveness, the cost of forgiveness, and more.

We also never know what religious traditions will be there -- what variety of Quakers and others. Pastoral? Unprogrammed? Christocentric? God-centered? Not everyone who gathers is Quaker, either. We have a few Methodists and others who are regulars.

One of the questions, in addition to is the group still meeting, I've been asked, too, is "Can anyone come?" One time, I said, "No. It is just for people I like." The person who asked the question said, "Oh..." and acted disappointed. I had to laugh. What kind of theologically hospitality could be extended if we had a closed group? So, "Yes! Anyone can come." If you feel led, make your way out to 6960 E. Hendricks County Rd, Mooresville, IN at 6:30 p.m. on the 8th or 29th. There are no guarantees about what worship will be like that night. But then, isn't that the way of the Spirit?

-- Brent

Quakers in the News

My Google alerts (the same service that told me about the invasion of Russian Quaker hordes) recently sent me notice of these headlines, both of which I found a bit troubling.

Blue Quakers I have 2 quakers ready now and two more coming up..They are tame and loving and looking for their forever homes..They are also banded ..contact.[deleted]

Well, I have been around some Quakers lately and they I wish they had been tame and loving. Well, at least loving. I doubt that Quakers are ever tame -- is not the nature of our spiritual experience. And I wonder if they are blue because they are "banded." We Quakers don't tend to like being banded, smacks too much of credalism.

*************

male &female baby quakersI need to rehome 2 baby quakers I live in jersey and they are ileagel here and I did not know this when I got them if you are interested please contact me ...contact [delete]

It's a wonder these Quakers are not blue. Banned in New Jersey! In this day and age. Yes, we Quakers were hung in Massachusetts, but had been holding Meeting for Worship in New Jersey since the 1680s. How terrible that baby Quakers are now illegal. What brought this around? At least I have learned a new word -- "re-home." Guess it is like re-gifting, except more extreme. Well, send those little Quaker kids to Indiana. Lots of wide open space here -- and we're more tolerant (never thought I'd said that!), too! Of course, it is the Midwest so we will have to keep the male and female Quakers apart. As the rules at Quaker camp used to say -- "no dancing" and "no mixed bathing." (Like I wanted to take a bath with a girl as a kid at elementary school camp anyhow!).

-- Brent

Indiana State Fair -- And the Jury Says...

For those of you who have been wondering (like I have) how my photographs fared (shouldn't that be "faired") at the 2010 Indiana State Fair -- well, they fared fairly well. Of the three I submitted, two won honorable mentions.

"Letters, I Get Letters..."

That song was a feature on the old "Perry Como Show"... Okay, I really just dated myself. But it stuck in my head and was running through my mind today as I was running to the plumbing shop and under the sink fixing a faucet.

I got a letter today. An email, actually. And it was of a particular variety.

Now as a semi-public person, because of my writing and workshops, I get letters or emails fairly often. I try to answer them all. Even the ones of a "particular variety." And I have received a fair number of those over the years. By "particular variety" I mean the ones that start something like, "Dear Mr. Bill, I just [read your book, blog, essay, article] [heard you on the radio] or [saw you on television] or [heard you preach] and you are going to Hell. In Christian love, XX"

One of my favorites went one for eight pages in this vein. My absolute favorite said, "Mr Bill, I just heered you on the radio and you is ignorant."

Well, no argument there. And, like I said, if the letter comes with a return address and name, I'll answer. Not to argue, just to say thanks for at least reading, hearing, seeing, or whatever me and I pray God's blessings on them.

But I won't be able to answer today's. More about why in a minute. First, I will share what it said.

"From time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots." Those who beat their swords into plowshares will be ruled by those who didn't. Liberalism, hypocrisy, and political correctness are killing the country that many have bled for. GET OVER YOURSELF YOU ARE INDEED THE WORST OF THEM! DICK

My first thought was, Why are there soo many Dicks in this world? But that seemed unkind, so instead I reread the letter to see if there was anything there that might be helpful or instructive.

There wasn't. At least to my thinking. That "Those who beat their swords into plowshares will be ruled by those who didn't" may be true (or may not), but I don't care. Do I prefer to live in a democracy? Sure. But most of all I care to follow Jesus and beating swords into plowshares is a Biblical injunction. I'd rather be on God's side in this "fight" than of "patriots."

I put "patriots" in quotation marks, because I think it's a false assumption that the only patriots are those who fight for their country. What about those who die for their beliefs? I seem to recall that at least a few peace-loving Quakers died in the cause of religious freedom -- killed by the Puritans whose blood was spilt killing off those who disagreed with them (including one or two or hundreds of Native Americans). And because of those Quaker deaths (at the hands of their fellow colonists), we have religious freedom today. And because of others who were imprisoned for their beliefs, we have trial by jury. And...

But I have a feeling Dick has long stopped reading by now. In fact, I'm not sure he's ever read anything by me, other than my website which refers to me living on Ploughshares Farm.

Am I a liberal? Politically, I guess I am. And proud of it. Liberals have done a lot in our nation's history to make it a better place -- worked against slavery, for women's rights, for equal rights for minorities, for... Have they screwed up? Doh! Sure. But they aren't the ruination of this country anymore than Richard M. Nixon's imperial White House years were. Talk about almost killing the country!

Am I a liberal? Religiously, not so much. I'm pretty conservative actually -- I read the Bible (and believe it), am a Trinitarian (which is not a word that appears in the Bible), believe that Jesus is the son of God, believe that Jesus died for our sins (though I'm not sure exactly which method of atonement was at work there), that miracles happened and still happen, and so on.

But Dick claims that I am "indeed the worst of them."

Okay. I probably am. Though St Paul thought he was -- he even called himself "the chief of sinners." I'm probably giving him a run for his money. But that means that Jesus came for me, too. As Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:15, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief ."

Works for me!

So why won't I answer Dick directly? Well, partly because I suspect Dick is not his real name. He sent his letter anonymously through the automated email link on my website. I don't think his email address really is liberals@suck.com (clever, eh?) or that his phone number is 555-555-5555 (I suspect he's watched too many movies and picked that number up from them).

As far as his urging me to "get over" myself, well, Dick, that's good advice. You are not the first to have given it to me. And it is something I've been trying to do for decades now -- to get over myself and get more into living in the way of Jesus. So thanks for that reminder.

-- Brent

Indiana State Fair -- Photo Entry #3

Nikon D80 Lens: Nikon DX AF-S 18-135 (66mm)
1/40 second; f 5.3;ISO 200
Location: Chimayo, New Mexico
This Coke machine sits just outside El Santuario de Chimayo,
which has been nicknamed the Lourdes of America. People
travel from all over the United States and Mexico in hopes of a
cure from illnesses – and this lonely soda machine in need of healing
sits next to the venerable “Vigil Store” which advertises “Santos, Woodcarvings, and Popsicles

Indiana State Fair -- Photo Entry #2

Shaker Barn -- by J. Brent Bill
2010 Indiana State Fair Entry -- Photography
Nikon D80 Lens: Nikon DX AF-S 18-135 (70mm)
1/400 second; f 5.6;ISO 1600
Location: Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Pleasant Hill, KY

Tobacco barn in mid afternoon.

Indiana State Fair -- Photo Entry #1

Zinnia -- by J. Brent Bill

2010 Indiana State Fair Entry -- Photography

Location: Ploughshares Farm, Mooresville, IN

Nikon D80 w/ Nikkor DX AF-S 18-135 lens

Zoom set at 122 mm

1/320 of a second

f 5.0

ISO 200

Quaker Wisdom for Today

“God stirs up our comfortable nests, and pushes us over the edge of them, and we are forced to use our wings to save ourselves from fatal falling. Read your trials in this light, and see if your wings are being developed.”

-- Hannah Whitall Smith

Quaker Wisdom for Today

I reverence old time faith and men,
But God is near us now as then;
His force of love is still unspent,
His hate of sin as imminent;
And still the measure of our needs,
Outgrows the cramping bounds of creeds;
The manna gathered yesterday
Already savors of decay;
Doubts to the world's child-heart unknown
Question us now from star and stone;
Too little or too much we know
And sight is swift and faith is slow;
The power is lost to self-deceive
With shallow forms of make-believe.
We walk at high noon, and the bells
Call to a thousand oracles,
But the sound deafens, and the light
Is stronger than our dazzled sight;
The letters of the sacred Book
Glimmer and swim beneath our look;
Still struggles in the Age's breast
With deepening agony of quest
The old entreaty: 'Art thou He,
Or look we to the Christ to be?'

"God should be most where man is least:
So, where is neither church nor priest,
And never rag nor form of creed
To clothe the nakedness of need,

I lay the critic's glass aside,
I tread upon my lettered pride,
And, lowest-seated, testify
To the oneness of humanity;
Confess the universal want,
And share whatever Heaven may grant.

-- John Greenleaf Whittier (excerpts from The Meeting)

For Kristyn...

... who wanted to know when I was going to update the blog -- "Here's the update."

-- Brent

Quaker Wisdom for Today

"Let us make Christ our teacher as his earliest disciples did, who knew nothing about his His birth, and only followed Him at first just because they felt He was far better than they, and they had need of Him and loved Him. As we do this and simply endeavour to keep near to His thoughts, to think over the meaning of His words and to act as men who are seeking to follow Him, we shall begin to realise that there is in Christ himself a greater miracle than anything recorded of Him in the Gospels."

-- T. Edmund Harvey, 1913

Quaker Wisdom for Today

"But I take comfort from two things : first that any mere personal statements of belief can only put into words what we think we believe, while deeper down experience may have built on rocks that we know not of until storms reveal the need of them. And secondly the fact that all heresies, however great, may be phases of growth if one only knew it."

-- George Lloyd Hodgkin

Quaker Wisdom for Today

"The thing is just to live the highest life we know and leave everything else"

-- George Lloyd Hodgkin, 1912

Evening Light

There are golden times for taking photographs. One them is right now... as the sun is setting. The light being thrown is amazing. Deep shadows. Saturated colors. I should be out... but I'm sitting here enjoying the light and how as it sinks into the west it changes second by second the woods into which I am looking.

Not picking up the camera has taken an act of will. The photographer in me wants to capture the lit limbs, the paling prairie below, the evening birds zipping across. But tonight, more than taking pictures, I need some quietness. I need a time to simply enjoy the scene. Yes, it will never come to me quite this way again... which is all the reason more not to view it through my Nikon's lens, but to open my eyes wide and peer into the beauty that God has set before me.

The drama of the fading sunlight has captured my attention in a way that the full blaze of the noonday sun did not just a little over eight hours ago. I took it for granted. It is only as the light is fading -- and illuminating its impending disappearance -- that I am watching it.

How short-sighted of me. Literally.

I fear I am that way spiritually, too. God's light is all around and within me and yet, far too often, I do not pay enough attention to it. The Spirit is moving in me... and I take it for granted.

But, unlike today's sunlight, God's light will not wane. Nor does it shout it's existence. It merely beckons those of us who are willing to mind the light... to notice it.

The green of the trees is darkening now. The limbs have turned from golden brown to black. The birds are silhouettes against the deepening sky.

But God's light shines on.

Thank you for this day.

-- Brent