Tonight I’m working on a letter to a guy who’s spent 21 years of his life in solitary confinement.  The guy was locked up at the age of 14 with some other “delinquents” in the county jail in Florida a subjected to various forms of torture by the local police before finally being sentenced.  The experience created a monster and when our friend was released he rampaged against the people who’d victimized him.  Being a foster child had set the man on an early path to feelings of abandonment and his...

9/11/16 Children gather Moonbeams while Grown-Ups Hide Inside.  Gib Pellet + + + In preparing for today I was visited many times by thoughts of children … something about children and God was rattling around up there …. Finally, this morning, as I was rereading some things I might use, it came together. Let me share a paragraph from Luke. Luke 11:37-41 37 As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the tabl...

The following message was given by my friend Frank Bacon at the Quaker Meeting today in South Minneapolis. I think we could call it: Is God in the rain? Frank’s talk 2016.02.28 I was raised an atheist. I realized I was a pacifist when I was 12 while watching a TV documentary series about WWII called Victory at Sea. I thought to myself, “These people are crazy.” At 15 I found out that I wasn’t the only pacifist in the world, and started attending the Evanston, Illinois Friends Meeting,...

February 21st, 2016 Today I ran into an old friend at the Y after 3 miles of agony on the track… Father Bill Teska, an Episcopal Priest of my vintage who is somewhat of a legend in the Twin Cities. Bill’s been involved in so many projects he’s lost count (his middle name is outreach). We talked for a minute about a brilliant friend who worked with us on a project to reclaim an historic church in downtown Minneapolis and convert it into a home for community projects. Turns out the guy has kind...

Common Ground Outreach / Weekly News / February 14th, 2016   Today, the Board of Common Ground Outreach had a bi-monthly meeting in which we discussed a wide range of topics including web development, fund raising and training opportunities.  We also talked about new ideas for bridging the divide between people in prison and people on the outside who want to be resources.  The fact is that we still incarcerate a huge number of citizens in the United States and many of those people are...

From a message given at Minneapolis Friends Meeting, January 17th, 2016 by Dr. Jim Haefemeyer. Prairies and the Sacred Community Today I want to talk about prairies. Watch the prairie carefully and you will see the divine at work, a delicate dance. I like to watch bumblebees. In October they were feeding on the asters that I was trying to cut back in my front yard. The asters are likely the bumblebees’ last meal before they nest in the ground for the winter. In the summer I saw pale g...

After arriving in Duluth in September last year, I immediately immersed myself in the creative culture here. I volunteered wherever possible: at church basement smörgåsbords, in a gingerbread city at the local Nordic cultural center, at the annual All Souls parade. I helped kids make Christmas ornaments in nearby Knife River, pitched in at cider-pressings and putting gardens to bed at a local public orchard, all along the way meeting artists, craftspeople, permaculturalists, musicians, and civic...