In the nineteenth century, many Cincinnati Friends felt called to address the needs of the city’s most vulnerable citizens: its children. Some had mothers who had been imprisoned and had no other option but to take their children to jail with them or leave them homeless. Some youngsters were under
Reflections on a Retreat Led by Michael Birkel
I don’t know what I expected Michael Birkel to be like. Maybe a sobersided Quaker or a professorial academic. Whatever I expected, I was delightfully wrong. Michael Birkel is lighthearted, very funny, personable, and self-effacing. He stated at the outset that if his humor offended, to let him know. “I
A Seeker Since Childhood
New Cincinnati Friends Meeting (CFM) member Dana Neal yearns to know the truth, especially spiritual truth, for herself. At five, when she asked her Missionary Baptist Sunday School Teachers where the Canaanites came from if Adam and Eve were the first people, she was shushed and told to rely on
Poetry as a Spiritual Practice
The following three untitled poems came out of my time in Michael Ramos’s “Seeking the Light Through Poetry” spiritual nurture group, which meets the third Tuesday of each month from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. There is a book about forever Endless chapters inside time. What will be my final word
Remembering Eleanor Muchmore
Eleanor Marie Muchmore passed away peacefully on December 8, 2023. She was born in Moulton, Alabama, to the late Walter and Jennie (Hadley) Porter on September 30, 1926. She grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, graduated from Sycamore High School, and went on to graduate from Wilmington College in 1948. While