Making sense of religion in a world where Christianity seems to have forgotten the message of Jesus.
Making sense of religion in a world where Christianity seems to have forgotten the message of Jesus.
Mysticism, Personal growth, Quaker
Kate McNally grew up in a mainstream Christian faith, where she could not find the connection to the divine that we all seek. She turned to psychology and science and to the pursuit of success. That all worked for a while, providing a measure of comfort but not fulfillment, feeding the ego but not the spirit. Then, at a low point and broken by the drive for success, Kate began a spiritual journey that brought her to the Quakers, where she found a spiritual community and a stripped-down, simple way of following the basic commandment: Love one another.
In Quaker Quicks - A Simple Faith in a Complicated World, Kate explores the faith of Jesus rather than the faith about Jesus and shares with us the connections to God, self, and others that have brought her to the spiritual community we all long for. Take this journey with her and explore the idea of perfection and how imperfections make us uniquely ourselves, perfectly suited to the work we are called to do.
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Kate McNally takes us on a clear and cogent deep dive into her Quaker experience, with thoughtful descriptions of Quaker ways of working and being in the world. In contrast to her early church experience, Kate dares to describe a close and personal relationship with God that gives us permission to embrace who we are and the courage to let our lives speak. An engaging read, which I will likely offer to other seekers. ~ Gretchen Castle, Dean of Earlham School of Religion and former General Secretary of the Friends World Committee for Consultation
If you want to be told what you should believe don't read this book! Kate McNally, after discarding the strict dogmatic religion her childhood, takes us on her journey of discovery as she explores "the faith OF Jesus rather than the faith ABOUT Jesus". Like many of us, from her first experience of a Quaker Meeting, she knew she had come home. For non-Quakers she explains Quakerism simply and clearly. "In the end, Quakerism for me is not so much a religion but a relationship with God, with myself and with others". The heart of her faith and her life is that we just love one another "It's that simple and that difficult". She explores what the word "God" means to her, but says if that does't speak to you, don't worry. She sees perfection as an illusion and asks "what if we could hold the belief that we are good enough just as we are"? In accepting our own incompleteness and weaknesses we can take "the short step to accepting and valuing the imperfections of others". This book has much food for thought and is a joy to read. ~ Diana Lampen, Peace educator in Ulster, Belarus and Ukraine
In this exploration of Quaker Faith, Kate McNally weaves together personal experience and reflection. She shows how times of doubt and the development of new insights have both supported her faith, and explains in plain and accessible terms some of the things which have helped her -- from the Quaker tradition and beyond. This book is of interest to anyone on a spiritual path, and will be useful to many seekers. ~ Rhiannon Grant, author of Quakers do What! Why?, Telling the Truth about God and Hearing the Light
