The post below is from Seeker's Haven, another Meeting under the Ohio Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. It is a reminder of simplicity, truth, and not getting "caught up" in the commercialism of the season. A direct link is available by clicking here: A Season of Power
In the world today there are wars, fraud, murder, unnecessary hunger, hate. These woes are not caused by random events of nature; they come from the evil within our hearts. Worldly power can suppress evil behavior, but it cannot change hearts. But worldly power corrupts, suppression becomes oppression, and the evil in the hearts of the oppressors is magnified by their power.
This season let us remember that One who, 2000 years ago, came into the world with the power that can change hearts. That power can eliminate evil from the world by eliminating it from within us. War is replaced by true peace, fraud by integrity, murder by forgiveness, hunger by generosity, hate by love.
Yet this superhuman power that can work such miracles does not impose itself, does not oppress. Divine power only works in the hearts of those who invite it in. So this season, as we remember the birth of that power, let us not ask for worldly gifts, which will grow old and die. Let us ask instead for that miraculous everlasting gift of a heart purified by the One who delivers from the power of evil and who rules by the power of love.
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Curious about Conservative Friends (Quakers)? Please join us at 44866 Crestview Road Columbiana, OH. We meet at 10:30 am on First Day (Sunday) and 3 pm on Fifth Day (Thursday). Also visit Ohio Yearly Meeting / www.ohioyearlymeeting.org for additional information, resources and events.
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FYI: our Middleton Friends website seems to work best from a desktop/laptop computer. The "sidebar" information does not seem to show up on a phone. The other option is to click over to "web version" at the bottom of this page.
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