If money troubles your soul, try this down-to-earth Quaker perspective on economies large and small. The economy, as we usually encounter it, has nothing to do with values or faith. After all, the “invisible hand” caters to no religious belief. It is all a matter of science, we are assured: economists have mastered the mathematical formulas for growth and prosperity. Our role as individuals is simply to work, consume and save, each adding our bit to the sum totals of economic activity that will keep the system humming along; the experts will take care of everything else. This breezy values-free story, however, is unlikely to be a comfortable fit for anyone who takes seriously the challenge of bringing our faith into the world. Knotty issues around economics crop up at every turn, especially if we are willing to ask the big questions: What is the economy for? How much is enough? What needs to be equal? How is well-being best measured? Who should decide? In Money and Soul this search for answers, through a Quaker lens, gives a taste of the power of applying faith values to our economic story.

Are Quakers mystics? What does that mean? How does it translate into how we are and what we do in the world? 'Jennifer Kavanagh has written a lovely book which I found to be to be compelling reading. In a very practical way she explains the meaning of mysticism for Quakers and how an experience, which some might regard as being esoteric, can be truly meaningful for many today.' Terry Waite Practical Mystics is Jennifer Kavanagh's first addition to the burgeoning series Quaker Quicks, which examines every aspect of what it means to be a Quaker, from John Hunt Publishing imprint Christian Alternative.

Do Quakers Pray is a short book for the Quaker Quicks series that considers questions such as 'What is prayer?' and explores whether, when and how Quakers might pray. Do we pray together? Do we pray alone?

Open to New Light is not only for readers interested in exploring Quaker history and principles but also for anyone interested in different faiths and the relationships between them. The topics covered include Quakers' historic interfaith encounters, as well as more recent engagements with Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and Jains, Sikhs, Baha'is, followers of Indigenous religions and Humanists.

Rufus Jones was a Quaker giant of the 20th century. Charismatic and controversial, he reshaped the way many Quakers thought about the relationship between God and humans. Rufus Jones and the Presence of God traces Jones' life from adventurous farm boy to much-loved college lecturer and popular author on mysticism, showing how he wove together ideas from Quakerism, psychology and philosophy. It also explores some of his spiritual practices, asking whether there is anything we can learn from them today, whatever our beliefs.

What do Quakers have to offer when there is pain and distress in body, mind and spirit? Can their beliefs and worship help in the processes of healing? In this book, Diana and John Lampen try to answer these questions, drawing on their experiences of caring for troubled people and working in situations of conflict, as well as their long membership of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). The book contains practices which readers can use for themselves.

Navigate through the sacred, the impossible, and the unexpected in these hard-won reflections on parenting with humility, connection, resilience and joy. Tending Sacred Ground: Respectful Parenting is a series of essays, each of which alights on the experience of parenting and is inspired by a Quaker perspective. Pamela Haines shows how to cultivate respect, resilience, humility, connection, discernment, and joy while encouraging and inspiring a wider view toward inclusion.

'I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t find this remarkable book helpful: deepening their awareness of how they live their lives, increasing their confidence, sense of power and choice, and love for themselves and others.' George Lakey, educator, author of Dancing with History: A Life for Peace and Justice These reflections address the challenge of reaching for right relationship in all aspects of our lives. They invite us to consider how we show up - with ourselves, our communities and the world around us - in the light of Quaker values and practice. Does this choice of a way of being nourish community, for myself and others? Is a commitment to equality embedded in my position and clear in my intent? Does it have the essence of simplicity, cutting through the layers of complexity and clutter in modern life, and resting in that which is good and true? Is it life-affirming, tending to minimize violence and enhance the possibility of peaceful cooperation? Is it rooted in an understanding of my place in the larger community of life in all its forms, and my role in sustaining that web? Is it honorable: Does it have the ring of truth? An intention to keep reaching for right relationship holds the promise of finding solid ground in these tumultuous times and discerning paths that light a way ahead.

Stay alert to the ring of truth and reach for solid ground in all aspects of life. John Woolman, a colonial Quaker, advises us to “Dig deep. …Carefully cast forth the loose matter and get down to the rock, the sure foundation, and there hearken to the Divine Voice which gives a clear and certain sound.” What if moving ever closer to what rings true were the central principle for organizing our lives? There may be no work that’s harder - or more worth doing. And maybe, as we keep trying, it will get less hard - and we’ll hear that ring of truth in our lives more and more. This collection of meditations on being alive in these wonderful and perilous times encourages us to stay alert to the sound of truth even in the most unlikely places, to reach for solid ground in all aspects of our lives, and to stretch from there toward lives of greater connection and integrity.

Money and Soul explores our troubled relationship with money, with finance, and with the economic system in which we are all entangled. It invites readers to consider how childhood experiences with money can shape attitudes, and how attention to individual conscience and shared Quaker values can illuminate big finance and economics questions that lie in the shadows, but cry out for more light. The pamphlet offers a brief sketch of how our political economy has shifted since the late 1970s from a concern for common welfare to a focus on private gain, and offers suggestions, using the framework of the testimonies, for ways that Friends can bring personal practices around money and personal witness around the economy into closer alignment with faith values. This is an invitation to those for whom finance and economics may seem like a closed book to find new openings for discernment and action.