West Hills Friends

Nathan Meckley read from Revelations 7:9-17 and poet Jan Richardson’s “All Hallows Blessing.” Queries for open worhsip were: Who among the “great cloud of witnesses” do you sense encouraging you? From whose example in the past do you draw strength and for which you give thanks? As you listen to the future, who or what is not yet here that gives you hope during hardship and struggle?

Photo by Roger Ce on Unsplash

Nathan explores the first human question in Scripture: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” He reminds us that this question is “the foundation upon which all human moral action rests.” Queries for Worship

1. Am I—are you—your neighbor's, your sibling's, your sister's, your brother's keeper?

2. When and how have you responded no?

3. How does the Spirit help you say yes, especially when that person is someone you find difficult, even impossible or repugnant? How does the Spirit help you say yes when this is someone you do not love or don't even want to care about?

Nathan Meckley, in a series on God’s First Queries, read from Genesis and looked at the second question from God: Who told you that you were naked?

Nathan’s queries for waiting worship were:

In what ways do feelings of fear and vulnerability separate us from others? From God?

From what do you draw strength when you are vulnerable or afraid?

Nathan Meckley starts a series on God’s First Queries and reads from Genesis 1 & 2. Nathan’s queries for waiting worship were: Have you ever withdrawn into hiding from God? What happens if you pause to consider that Divine Love is already -- and has always been -- actively seeking you? What is your response to the voice of Love calling: “Where are you?”

Nathan Meckley shares a message about the manna that fell from the skies in Exodus 16. When, during a time of difficulty or hardship, were your needs met in a surprising and unfamiliar way? How do you discern the difference between “wants” and “needs” in your own life?

Nathan Meckley shared a message called “Loving Words, Loving Silence” about the relationship between silence and words in our spiritual lives.

There are silences that we choose and silences that choose us. Perhaps our chosen silence can receive the silence that was not chosen.

Gillian George shares a message about the Testimony of Equality for our series on the Quaker SPICES. Gillian shared that the equality testimony is rooted in the understanding that every human being has equal access to the guidance of the inward light, the present teacher, the divine, the Holy Spirit, or one of the many ways our limited minds attempt to define the originator of the motions of Love. “Our work is to pull down societal mountains, fill in societal valleys, level the societal playing field, and work to even out hierarchy’s rough places so that every barrier blocking access to the divine voice of love is removed.”

Nathan Meckley shares a message about the Testimony of Integrity for our series on the Quaker SPICES. Nathan shared that integrity urges us, or compels and convicts us to bring our words and our actions into alignment, making it the one Quaker Testimony that makes all others possible. We are called to an integrated, and undivided life where our words and actions are consistent with our values and our beliefs.

Doreen Crail shares a message about the Testimony of Stewardship for our series on the Quaker SPICES. She shared about being stewards in four areas: our relationships; our bodies; our resources; and the Earth and creation