On Saturday 27th of July between 12.30 to 1.30 pm at The Quaker Bookshop at Friends House we will host James McCarthy and Peter Parr for a signing session of the new Kindlers books The Kindness of Presence: Revisiting the Bible with an open heart and mind and Quaker Worship: Reflections and Explorations.
1) Peter Parr: The Kindness of Presence: Revisiting the Bible with an open heart and mind. The Kindlers.
This book is about presence and kindness. Its reflections, prayers and meditations are reminders of God’s presence and unconditional loving kindness. They also invite us to be a loving presence in the world.
In the Bible, the ‘name’ of God refers to the essential nature of God; to God’s intrinsic qualities. Presence is a name for God, since the Divine Spirit is ever-present, pervading all that is. Kindness is also God’s name, for God is love and love is kind.
If we are created in the image of God, then we share the nature of our Source. Our problem is, we become distracted by a thousand and one other goals. Like the prodigal son in the parable, we need to 'come to our senses' ‒ to return to present-moment awareness. When we are fully present, we can experience the presence of God and make a conscious choice to be kind.
It has been said that God has no hands but ours. It is through us, when we attend to the promptings of love and truth in our hearts, that God’s love finds expression in the world. The Kindness of Presence encourages us to be open to receiving those promptings, and faithful in responding to them.
2) James McCarthy Quaker Worship: Reflections and Explorations The Kindlers.
What is Quaker worship? This practice – sitting with others in silence, waiting, listening – why do we do it? What happens in a meeting for worship and what effect does it have? Does it make any difference - to anyone?
This booklet gets inside the experience of worship by asking over 50 Quakers in the unprogrammed tradition what they value about worship and what they do in meetings. The answers are varied, personal, surprising, and strangely compelling.
“Meeting is where I can be in a community experiencing the source of our being.”
"Without Meeting, I'm not me."
Quaker worship can change lives. How can we sustain and nurture it? Quakers have a recurring need to reflect on these questions. Sometimes the questioning becomes part of the worship.
Quakers often say that their first experience of Quaker worship was like coming home. This booklet explores what home is like.
