Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity
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Most of us living in this complex and time-pressured era have moments when we wish we were living simpler, more meaningful lives. Sometimes these wishes are fleeting desires, but for many today the search for a life of greater simplicity and meaning has developed into a deep longing. There are many routes to simplicity. This book focuses on and provides direction to the gimmick-free spiritual path followed by Quakers. For over three centuries Quakers have been living out of a spiritual center in a way of life they call "plain living." Their accumulated experiences and distilled wisdom have much to offer anyone seeking greater simplicity today. Plain Living is not about sacrifice. It's about choosing the life you really want, a form of inward simplicity that leads us to listen for the "still, small voice" of God. This book goes beyond the merely trendy to make the by now well-worn Quaker path to plain living accessible to everyone. Author Biography: Whitmire served as the executive director of a health care agency in the late 1970's where she helped diverse groups work together to address issues of teenage pregnancy and motherhood. In 1987, she received a Master's of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. After graduation, Whitmire became a Protestant chaplain and a pastoral counselor on a psychiatric unit of an inner-city hospital in Boston. Whitmire attended the Shalem Institute's program in spiritual direction in 1997 and is currently writing and providing spiritual direction and workshops in Boston and Portland, Maine. The mother of a grown son, she lives with her husband, Tom Ewell, in an old farmhouse in Maine.
Gratitudes9Foreword11Introduction: Beginning a Path to Plain Living131.Keeping to Plainness by Choosing19Inward Simplicity21Simple Living232.Beginning With Ourselves and Our29Work31Time34Integrity38Plain Speech42Money and Resources443.Plain Living Day by Day in51Committed Relationships53Parenting and Mentoring59Aging63Humor, Joy, and Gratitude674.Unexpected Songs for Times of71Fear73Suffering77Despair82Death86Grief91Hope955.Opening Our Hearts Through99Longing101Seeking103God106Faith110Prayer114Scripture1186.Discovering a Spiritual Path to Plain Living Through121Contemplative Listening123Everyday Mysticism126Leadings129Discernment1367.Growing Together in141Community143Decision-Making148Struggle and Conflict Resolution152Reconciliation and Forgiveness1568.Let Us See What Love Can Do in161Practicing Nonviolence163Seeking Equality for All168Listening to the Earth171Spirit-Led Service175Appendix179Glossary of Common Quaker Terms180Biographical Information183Notes187Acknowledgments189
