West Hills Friends

Gil George offered a First Word about the forgotten 3rd love, compassion for self. He suggested we look in the mirror daily and say, "You are beloved exactly as you are."

Mark gave a message about Jesus being tested in the desert wilderness. Mark reflected on Jesus's going from the saturation of baptism to the desperation of a long fast and temptation. The temptations were three misuses of power by the ego. How was Jesus able to resist the temptations? Perhaps it was from being wet with the love and affirmation from God. He knew where and in whom he belonged.

Bethany Lee reads her poem "Written on the side of the road, nearly weeping" which showcases her incredible and perceptive heart.

Nancy Richard reads us two of her poems for the next edition of Quaker Poets Read!

Jim Nail reads Claire Germain Nail's poem "Once a Blue Star" for us in the latest edition of Quaker Poets Read.

Ryan reflected on his spiritual path, and the Albert Camus essay, The Myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus is the Greek figure who spends his life pushing a boulder up a mountain, a metaphor for the seemingly absurdity of life. At the end of the essay, Camus writes, "The struggle itself ... is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy." Ryan concludes that he too is determined to find a...

Bill reads a lovely poem that touches on some of the core elements of Quaker worship and community: A Way Forward There is that of Christ in each of us but none has the whole. Therefore, we must listen, listen to discern what part we speak what part we hear what part is left unspoken. We must not think our part is whole, nor another’s part nor the part left unspoken. But searching our soul, open t...

Martha Wood shared about her visit to the Muslim Education Trust on Friday. It was a place proclaiming love. As she sat there, she asked herself what space she made there as a Quaker? She came to see her place as one representing the voice of lament for how scripture is used to provoke fear and scarcity. She read from Psalm 27 and 84, and prompted the question: where do you see the heart of love t...

Tim wanted to eat the lite-brite pegs. Tim ate the lite-brite pegs.

Did you know that the Arctic Tern will fly the equivalent miles from the earth to the moon THREE TIMES over in its lifetime? Did you know that forests communicate with each other? What if we were as prolific as dandelions. Listen to Mark's message to hear some more.

Following the first ever annual sessions of SCYMF Joann Boswell wrote this beautiful piece!

Martha Wood read from Proverbs 30:7-9 for her message entitled, "The Joy of Just-Rightness." She reflected about how Lent has traditionally been a time of mourning and acknowledging our frailty, but what if instead of lamenting, we were grateful? What if what we are right now, what we are experiencing, what we are offering, what we are receiving is enough? It is not the whole picture of the Love a...

Greg Morgan read from John 13 for a message about Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. He shared a story of caring for the feet of his father when his father was unable to do so himself. It was one of the warmest moments he ever had with him, when he finally relented and let someone care for him in that way. Queries for open worship were: Do I find it hard to receive a gift without feeling the...

Vargus reads us one of his poems entitled "Cat Not Included"

Martha Wood read John 4 about the woman at the well with Jesus. She said it was like movie scenes in her mind. Scene 1: Jesus and the woman he shouldn't be talking to share a sharp and playful repartee about water. Scene 2: The disciples return to Jesus and look at him questioningly, and he talks in riddles about harvesting fields. Scene 3: She is en route back to town, with a lightness in her ste...

Peg Edera, a poet living in Portland, Oregon shares one of her poems with us, "How a Fig Brings Me to Faith."

Greg Morgan shared a First Word about staying present in this moment where he is waiting for the next currently-unknown step. He is grateful for the sense of anticipation, which is like a good book with many pages left to read, or a gift that is wrapped and sitting on his lap ready to open.

Martha Wood read from Psalm 37:3-4, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." She asked those gathered what surprise outside the door would delight you and make you clamor or run out the door? She also reflected on how delight and desire coexist. The wholeness and fullness of God's love are met by us with both delight and a constant longing for more, a future-focu...

Stephen Deatherage spoke from Psalm 107:4-7, Thoreau's Walden Pond, and the poet Rumi about getting oriented as with a map & compass. When we find ourselves lost, what do we do to point ourselves in the right direction? What is your North, that gets you re-oriented? Photo by Adam Sacco (https://www.flickr.com/photos/adamvacancy/)

Martha Wood gathered her Spirit-filled leadings into a message about how we become uurselves in community. She read from Luke 5:17-26 pointing out the dynamic of help throughout the chapter. The Gospel passage was the story of friends lowering a paralytic through the roof and Jesus healing him. We viewed the viral YouTube clip, "We Carried Kevan," about friends carrying a man with spinal muscular...

Eric Witherspoon told a story about a man that has prayed at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem for 60 years. Maybe there was something to that, so Eric put a prayer in the cross on the wall of our sanctuary, with the idea of releasing and letting go of our problems and obstacles at our very own wailing wall.

Martha Wood reads from Genesis 12 about the Call of Abram to an unknown land, and from Isaiah 43: "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" She reflected on the difference between transition and transformation. Transition is getting from Point A to Point B, but transformation is A New Thing! What new and wonderful thing is God doing in and through us at WHF?

Doreen Crail gave a First Word about the spiritual practice of waiting for the "WALK" sign as a pedestrian. She realized that this small moment to stop, not rush and watch for the sign to go became an opportunity to grow spiritually. She read this excerpt from Thomas R. Kelly's A Testament of Devotion: Do we live in the steady peace of God, a peace down at the very depths of our souls, where all s...

Kaleen Deatherage's message was framed by Jeremiah 29:11, John 13:7, and May Sarton's October 6th entry in Journal of a Solitude. She invited us to reflect on endings and beginnings in light of a tree shedding leaves in autumn, letting go in order to return deeply to one's roots. Instead of ascribing "good" or "bad" value to events in our lives, can we welcome them as invitations to encounter our...

On Halloween night children dressed as Harry Potter, and another as a werewolf broke out into imaginative play. These children had at the center of their play a compelling story. They weren't just consumers of that story, they were participants and collaborators. For his message Mark wondered about whether or not the story of Christianity in 2018 is a compelling one. He wondered how the legacy of...