Monday, March 22, 2021
Early on the morning of Monday, January 4, I announced a new partnership between Barclay Press and Quaker Religious Thought. But just a few hours after that email newsletter went out to all of you, my dad called. His blood pressure was low, and he needed a ride to the hospital. I spent most of the rest of the day with my dad and the next day as well. Then, shortly after midnight on Wednesday morning, the on-duty nurse called to let me know that my dad wouldn’t be with us much longer. In spite of pandemic restrictions, hospital staff allowed one of my sisters, both of my brothers, and me to be with my dad during his last hours.
This week, we’re putting Quaker Religious Thought Issue #316 in the mail. This week is also when it looks like my dad’s house will be ready to go on the market.
In a phone call with Alan Amavisca last Friday, I shared that the last three months have been one of the most emotional periods of my life. I’m proud of the work we’re doing at Barclay Press, and almost every day, I miss being able to tell my dad about it. Two weeks after he died, we received a donation for $100 in the mail that he must have sent just before he went into the hospital. It was the best kind of reminder that the work we do matters. —Eric Muhr
“Listening shows respect and helps build relationships. Listening begins reconciliation. Listening affirms the value and worth of an individual. Listening shows empathy – experiencing what the speaker is sharing.” —Rick Ellis, excerpted from Fruit of the Vine
“For those of us living in the ‘developed’ world, our lives, security, and luxuries often depend on slave labor, injustice, and inequality, to name but a few. As our cultures and economies currently stand, many of the decisions we make – how we spend our money, the jobs we do, our transportation from place to place – can cause negative environmental impact and pain to others. We want to live covenantally, to embody generosity in the midst of imperial values, but that is hard, because an alternative way of life can lead to discomfort and suffering.” —Mark Bredin, excerpted from the Illuminate study of 1 Kings 19:1–12; 2 Kings 19:1–7
Migration
If my words can be
as honest as desire
they will go to you
like a flow of caribou over ice
they will lick the air
like a migration of wild geese spill
like salmon upstream
words of a primal instinct
pulling you
into an urgent journey knowing
though you know not where
you’re going home
—Elizabeth Herron, in Insistent Grace
To support and sustain the work of Barclay Press, we need your help to raise $24,000 between now and the end of this year. In addition, our goal is for forty supporters to make recurring monthly donations of $25 or more each month. Click here (or on the DONATE button below) to show your support.
Eric Muhr
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