Rapid City Quakers/Friends

04/18/2026

In these last weeks, you may be feeling like many and wonder, how can we be at peace moving through these chaotic times? At our last meeting on April 5th, a member brought a book, Blessings of the Cosmos, by Neil Douglas-Klotz, and another member found a timeless excerpt on the Lord's Prayer to read out loud for the small group.

The author is a scholar whose work brings attention to Aramaic-the actual language of Jesus-and showing how traditional Greek-Latin translations can flatten the meaning. Linguists and Middle Eastern studies scholars agree Aramaic is verb-based and poetic, so his core premise is sound.

Peace I Give To You

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." -John 14:27, King James Version

Then the Aramaic wording is listed and the following translation of that wording reads...

Peace:
The remembrance of
the potential of the universe
before the Holy One created it-
the harmony of opposites,
the awareness of the void.
I recreate this original peace in you
with my presence.
I release this peace by my
constant inner forgiveness and letting go.
I surround you with this peace,
and you feel a fire of love kindled in
your hearts.

The thing-world-the universe of
levels, planes, particles, and separation-
cannot give peace the way I do.
Diversity gives the gift of
forms fulfilling their purpose,
then passing away:
a peace of separation.
I give you peace with the awareness of
the whole story of sacred unity,
an ongoing creation
moving ahead of, with, and behind us
like a caravan.
Let your heartbeat
carry this remembrance.
When you feel this peace,
the center of your passion
can never be forced or limited,
neither inflated nor deflated.
You cannot be carried away by fear
nor hemmed in by grief.
You are always coming to standing
at the beginning,
reverberating peace
around you
without limit.

04/05/2026

This Easter weekend, I have been thinking about how prayer fits into Quaker practice. Some observations have surfaced after discussing meditation and holding people in the Light, and listening to this Quaker Speaks episode: 1) Prayer is not outcome based 2) It can be thought of as passionate thinking and 3) It is not a way to weaponize faith, we merely seek what God actually is about and leave the outcomes to his wisdom.

If you would like to share perspectives on your own experiences please do so.

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02/01/2026

Today at meeting there will be copies of Time to Say Goodbye, the last NYT column of David Brooks which discussed his position that we are abandoning our humanistic core in these times. Here is a quote he included from Reinhold Niebuhr, a 20th century philosopher, that stood out in the reading. We need each other.

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we much be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.

12/03/2025

This is an article from The Guardian about an individual finding Quaker silent meeting and the positive impact it had on helping him lessen the lingering grief of his father's passing. He describes what sitting in silence is like.

After my dad died, I tried to cope by keeping busy: a day job, a side hustle, socialising and working out. But I kept bursting into tears in public. At a Quaker meeting, it was as if someone had turned down the volume of the world

08/29/2024

The schedule for meetings in 2024-2025 is:

September 8
September 22
October 6
October 20
November 3
November 17
December 1
December 15
January 5
January 19
February 2
February 16
March 2
March 16
April 6
April 20
May 4
May 18

09/16/2023

Friends,

A reminder that we have our first post-summer Meeting tomorrow. We thought it might be meaningful to begin our next year of Meetings with a query for folks to meditate upon, perhaps waiting upon the Spirit to move them to speak out of the silence, and/or chat about during coffee. This query comes from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's webpage.

How do I demonstrate in my way of living, and in what I teach my children, that love of God entails acknowledging “that of God in every person”?

Till then, peace to all of you.

09/09/2023

Here is the schedule for our Meetings in 2023-2024:

September 17
October 1
October 15
November 5
November 19
December 3
December 17
January 7
January 21
February 4
February 18
March 3
March 17
April 7
April 21
May 5
May 19

08/11/2023

At our last meeting, I imagined what a Quaker radio station might be like. Perhaps these podcasts come close.

Five Quaker podcasts you should listen to right now.

05/03/2023

Meeting, May 7, Faculty/Staff Lounge on SD Mines campus, 10:00 a.m.

04/17/2023