Mark Pratt-Russum speaks about aromas, the limbic system, and how we might find connection with the Spirit of Love, Light, and Creativity this coming week. As you sit in the silence and pay attention to the thoughts and feelings that visit you, what are they revealing about your heart, mind, and spirit? How does reconnecting with God in the silence…

Mark Pratt-Russum speaks about expressing your fears and longings in prayer. What opportunities do you have for expressing your fears, longings, concerns, gratitudes and complaints ? How does being intentional about expression help clear the way for your heart and mind to be more fully present during times of turmoil? How does trusting that God is …

Mark Pratt-Russum spoke about who we give our attention too, and the biblical story of the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. How are you paying attention to the cultural pressure for more attention and availability as it relates to your ability to be centered and ready for compassionate action? How have you ordered your social systems so…

Mark Pratt-Russum gives a message about climate despair. Queries: When experiencing tumultuous times, what does it sound/feel like inside you? How have you experienced connection with an inner-guide during such times? Do you find yourself preparing your heart, mind, soul, and body for upcoming storms? What does that look like for you?…

Mark Pratt-Russum shares a message about temple obsession and read a passage from a book by James Allison. Do you carry a hope for a more just, liberated, and joyful future that is sustained beyond the soul-sucking influence of institutions of power? How do you do this? How can communities become places of mutual inspiration, rest and joy in the fa…

Mark Pratt-Russum shares about a photo taken in 2006 with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, recalling the profound sense of liberation he experienced in that moment.Por West Hills Friends

Mark Pratt-Russum reads the story in Exodus about Moses approaching the burning bush. Mark offered a different perspective about Moses removing his sandals. Perhaps it was recognizing the need to shed something for this transformative moment. When you consider the growing moments of your life, how did shedding play a part in becoming who you are no…

Mark Pratt-Russum offers a message about what areas in your life could benefit from being grounded in play (the playground). A query from one of our youth, "do you just pick one of the voices in your head and call it God?" How do you recognize and interact with the various voices within you? How might they be interplaying with one another to become…

Mark Pratt-Russum shares a message about Covid and the Eucharist. Here are the queries Mark offered:- Is assessing who/what has your attention a part of your spiritual practice? - How is your internal narrative shaped by the things that have your attention?- How has tending a God/Kingdom/Spirit-led perspective of time and energy changed the way you…

Mark Pratt-Russum makes parallels to Octavia Butler's writing and shares a message about orienting one's self towards loving, compassionate presence in the world.Por West Hills Friends

Mark Pratt-Russum shares a message about reclaiming our imaginations. How is visioning a better future guiding your daily life in relationship with the Divine?Por West Hills Friends

Mark Pratt-Russum reads from Mark 4 and shares a message with about change and the natural world being of equal importance in creation. What is your current relationship with change? What tools are you using to measure it? What do mustard seeds, migrating forests, and relocated mountains tell you about what is possible in your life?…

Mark Pratt-Russum shares a message about Quaker Lewis Fry Richardson and his findings that ever closer observation reveals more and more detail and complexity. This is later described as fractals. In what ways are you embracing or resisting the interplay of Spirit at the boundaries of your life? How are we allowing or resisting the prophetic witnes…

How can we become more attentive to Divine leading, trusting that we may find our way out and forward by a reorientation towards Spirit's presence in the natural structures and systems surrounding us?Por West Hills Friends

"Communion with God" by Gil George by West Hills FriendsPor West Hills Friends

Mark Pratt-Russum offers a message about paying attention to your heart and preparing for the situations of life. How has heart/mind/spirit attention prepared you to enter into situations differently? What possibilities emerge, in your imagination, if the process of heart/mind/spirit re-orientation were more widely practiced?…

Jill Townley shares a First Word about an encounter with a young woman on a recent bus trip on her morning commute.Por West Hills Friends

Mark Pratt-Russum offers a message about feeling comfortable with being completely you. How have you become aware of the "normative" narratives that have influenced the way you interact with others? How does your spirituality challenge you to deepen the grace and understanding you extend to others?Por West Hills Friends

Mark Pratt-Russum offers a message about eclipses and epiphanies and shares the poem “Spellbound” by Bethany Lee. What are the epiphanies you've had in your life? When have things come together, or connected in such a way to bring you Into a profound sense of a world filled with light? Are you hoping for an epiphany? What remains disconnected, or u…

Leanne Benner shares a First Word about asking the question what difference does Jesus’ resurrection mean for us?Por West Hills Friends

Mica Coffin shares a message about how metaphors help us understand God. At the end of the message Mica speaks about a song called "God is a River," copyright Peter Mayer, that can be downloaded at petermayer.net.Por West Hills Friends

Mark Pratt-Russum shares a short story about George Fox. Later we were invited to weave a message on a canvas.Por West Hills Friends

Stephen Deatherage shares an original short story with Latin dialogue about how the cross has given way to life.Por West Hills Friends

Mark Pratt-Russum shared a message about sourdough starters and leavened bread. What metaphors describe what it feels like to be present in the world right now? Whether it be a stone crying out, mustard seeds, or hidden leaven, how does carrying the Light of the Divine disrupt the darkness for you right now?…

Mark Pratt-Russum shares a message about the story behind the song, "We Are The World."Queries were:1. How does holding the unknowns of another's story and experience give you more capacity for grace in your relationship?2. When have you experienced another holding the knowledge of your past challenges in a way that created more space for you to be…

Mark Pratt-Russum offered a message about becoming aware of the influence of principalities and powers and the way they shape our thinking and motivations. How does your relationship with the Divine challenge you to act with integrity and conviction in the world?Por West Hills Friends

Kevin Melvin offers a message about knowledge of God and the search for meaning. What if knowing the nature of God is not material to the exploration?Por West Hills Friends

Mark Pratt-Russum shares about the feeling of always being in trouble. Queries were how much does worry about being in trouble dominate your inner dialogue? How have you received or offered grace? How did it change your heart?Por West Hills Friends

Mark Pratt-Russum shares the message for the morning. Queries were how does the soil under your feet, the watershed in which you live, the light within your own heart, call you back to yourself? In what ways can a community like West Hills Friends be of service to people experiencing the turmoil of our times?…

Mark Pratt-Russum shares a message about the imaginal cells of the butterfly within the caterpillar. What "imaginal cells" are within you? What possibility of transformation might you already be carrying? Where are you in your current process of transformation? What are the voices within you saying about where you are?…

Mark Pratt-Russum asks us to consider holy days as being invitations to wholeness days. When have you experienced something in the routines of normal life that awakened you to an alternative way of being in the world? How do you stay in touch with what makes you whole?Por West Hills Friends

Mica Coffin shares a message about pet peeves and pet delights. Are there pet peeves--cherished annoyances or irritations--that you have been coddling? Have you covered up deeper concerns by focusing on annoyances? What are your pet delights? How do you broaden your perspective to bring more of the goodness of life in? What does it mean to you to c…

Stephen Deatherage shares a message about timshel, the Hebrew word for “Thou Mayest.” The word Timshel is referred to in the John Steinbeck novel East of Eden. Timshel means we have a choice on how to live our lives, and the power to choose our own path.Por West Hills Friends

Mark Pratt-Russum shared a message about attentiveness to the "other way" that Jesus spoke about. How has your life been shaped by attentiveness to this "other way"? How have you been able to access this other "Spirit" and as a result, responded or moved in a new way? How has being in community with other seekers shaped you, and the way you carry y…

A Pastor Molly story about how we walk through grief together.(Photo: Reuters/Therese Apel)Por West Hills Friends

Inspired by Nadia Bolz-Weber's blog post "Impersonating Ourselves," Greg delves into the topic of personal growth and the challenges of aligning our inner transformations with our external presentations. What does it mean to step more fully into who you are called to be? What parts of your past identity do you need to release to move forward? Join …

Mark asks, "When have you asked something taboo, or embarrassing, challenging or distressing 'What are you here to teach me?'"Por West Hills Friends

When have you done "the work" only to discover that it has revealed more work to be done within you? Mark talks about the resistance to liberation we often feel we bump up against.Photo by by stevecoleimagesPor West Hills Friends

A light-hearted story about Jesus’s call to welcome the stranger (Matthew 25: 35-40)Written and narrated by KD BurnettIntroduction and queries by Stephen DeatheragePor West Hills Friends

Gil George reflects on the concept of ubuntu, a term originating in Southern Africa that refers to the recognition that 'I am because we are'.Por West Hills Friends

Mark Pratt-Russum asks how can spiritual communities like ours be offering the world the gift of listening to and responding from a new and yet ancient intelligence?Por West Hills Friends

It feels like all of our communities are asking the question, "Why are things so frustrating right now?" Why aren't we bouncing back from the pandemic? For this message, Mark explores the idea of liminality, of the space between one thing comign to an end, and a new thing emerging. Are we, as the human collective, in a liminal place? If so, how mig…

Perhaps one of the greatest lessons we learn in practicing how to get along with other people is when we say something with the best of intentions, but quickly see that what just came out of our mouth hit a persons ears and made them feel completely unseen. There are lots of shortcut things we say to people, thinking it is a trusted consultation in…

Klarissa Oh has been serving as one of our released ministers for the last two years. She announced that she will be returning to OAASIS, and will be stepping down from her role in our community this July. This is Klarissa's final message to our community. She shares what she has learned, both encouraging and challenging us. In particular, Klarissa…

Mark Pratt-Russum shares about downed river logs, our belonging to the earth and the earth belonging to us. Our reverence of the divine exists in the fibers of a downed tree being worn away by the river. "Wild places are at the heart of the sacred moments that resist the passage of time."Por West Hills Friends

Caryl Menkhus Creswell shares her story and how her experience has been interwoven with her understanding of children's spirituality. Caryl is a sought-out international trainer of Godly Play and guide regarding children's spirituality, and she is (by some amazing grace) the leader of all things Godly Play at WHF.…

Sometimes we think that changing someones mind on something is as easy as giving them the facts. I think we all know that is hardly enough. But why? In this message Mark Pratt-Russum explores the power of group identity in creating belonging, and how we need to be aware of this power when in engaging with folks with whom we disagree.…

We have been in survival mode for the last 15 months. We have been holding on to things tightly. What will it look like for us to come down from this state of survival? In this message Mark explores what it feels like to release, to surrender and to trust that we are lovingly held.Por West Hills Friends

It sounds simple, huh? You are worthy of love. But darn it, we doubt that all the time. For this message Mark offers us a reminder of our worthiness and uses music from David Bazan (Trouble With Boys) at the end to drive home the point. The video of David Bazan's song can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHah0WT8EtQ…

For his first word, Friend Chris L. explores the concept of "minimal viable product" which he picked up while working at a software company. While the concept sounded bad at first, Chris breaks down a minimal viable product in the context of his current life and explores how it is helping him see the world.…