Quaker Bible Study at Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's 2020 annual sessions

Last summer I led two online Quaker Bible studies during Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's annual sessions in summer 2020. It was PhYM's 340th annual sessions, and their first-ever conducted entirely online.

Earlier in the week, civil rights leader and US Representative John Lewis had died, and his memorial services were held as PhYM sessions were starting. I remembered a clip of Rep. Lewis giving words of encouragement to a young man who asked him to record a message for his sister:

Last year I got to ask @repjohnlewis to record a brief video message for my little sister, who had been learning about him in class. Many politicians wouldn't have taken even the 20 seconds he did to make a stranger's day, let alone been so profound. Keep fighting, Congressman. pic.twitter.com/WLwHOpo7gF

— Elijah Jacob Mears (@ElijahJMears) December 30, 2019

For the first session, on 7/31/2020, I embedded the video in my slide deck, and found biblical passages that resonated strongly with many of the phrases he used. In the context of that week, and the presence in mind of Rep. Lewis's legacy, it was a very powerful time together.

Here's the slide presentation from that session.

For the second day, on 8/1/2020, I looked at some passages from Psalms and explored how they may resonate for us today. Here's that slide show.

To be honest, it did not feel nearly as focused as the first session.

Here's an interview that PhYM staff did with me by email afterwards.

Truly, it was a privilege to be able to lead Bible study with Philadelphia Friends. This library of ancient texts from very different cultures and societies can still speak to us today, if we enter into that Spirit that still inhabits those texts.

I was a DJ. Was I what I played?

I once was a DJ for my favorite radio station, WPRB in Princeton, N.J. 

Community-supported independent radio!

Stereo 103.3 FM!

There's even a photo of me from 1985 or 1986 that's used as one of the rotating background photos for the header on the station's website, wprb.com.

Recently I had the opportunity to peek at the studios. They are located in a different basement from where they were when I was a lad, but they are nonetheless still em-basemented.

Thank you to the generations of WPRB-ers who have made it what it is, and opened the door to new musical and artistic perspectives.

Community-supported independent radio!

Stereo 103.3 FM!

Twilight

Recently I walked through Clifford Park in the Blue Bell neighborhood of Philadelphia at twilight, with the sky's tones shading from the last wisps of sunset to the inky depths of pending night. My phone captured it nicely.

 

Castle

I lived in a castle, more or less, from fall 1984 to spring 1985. I did not live in the tower, but off to the left side of the building in this photo.

Auspices

Personally, whenever I see a raptor, I take that as a good omen. On Jan. 11, a juvenile Cooper’s hawk paused with its lunch on the wall by the front entrance to Friends Center. So I’ve decided to take this as an auspicious sign for the year ahead! (Fun fact: One definition of “auspices” is “observation by an augur especially of the flight and feeding of birds to discover omens,” according to Merriam-Webster.)