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Dear Reader Have you talked with God today? Seeing these words on a billboard caused me to ask myself that question, "Have I talked with God yet today?" This modern query for our souls draws us into the theme for this issue--worship. Sandy Davis shares how seeing the awesomeness of God in the giraffe helps expand her concepts of worship. Simon Webb's pilgrimages to Quaker sites deepen his faith. The traditional queries about worship focus mainly on worship in community: "Are meetings for worship held in expectant waiting for divine guidance? Are you faithful and punctual in attendance? Do you come in a spirit of openness with heart and mind prepared for communion with God? Do both silent and vocal ministry arise in response to the leading of the Holy Spirit? Do all other activities of your meeting find their inspiration in worship, and do they, in turn, help to uphold the worshiping group?" Keith Maddock explores the essentiality of patience to worship and Lance Wilcox compares the physician/patient relationship to our relationship with Christ. Lent and Easter reflections are also included. A new column, Quaker Quotes, begins in this issue, a collection of quotations usable for worship, bulletins, newsletters or personal reflection. Your contributions are welcome also. New England's Advices continue to speak: "Let us be concerned to enter reverently into communion with God and with one another, to yield ourselves to the influence of the divine presence. Then what is evil in us may be weakened and the good raised up. God calls each one to the service of the meeting; let us be obedient and faithful, whether by word, by song, or by silent waiting, and let us receive the messages of others in a tender spirit." Blessings in Christ, Trish Edwards-Konic

COVER STORIES 10 Patience: The Still Point of Freedom Keith R. Maddock How hard patience is! Keith Maddock considers how we learn patience in suffering, with others and with ourelves. 12 Worship: A Response to the Almighty God Sandy Davis As a child, Sandy Davis learned about worship in church. Now, in Kenya, Sandy Davis' worship is grounded not just in church, but in a response to God in all of life. 13 The Christian's Joy The Tract Association of Friends, No. 112 The joy that comes to the followers of a crucified and risen Lord flows from our Christian hope. These words written by a Friend around 1854 resonate within our hearts 150 years later. 14 My Quaker Pilgrimages Simon Webb Pilgrimages have long been used as a resource for worshipping God. Simon Webb shares how laying a Quaker tracing paper over a map of north England leads him on his Quaker pilgrimages. 16 Learning to Be a Good Patient Lance Wilcox Considering the patient/physician relationship, Lance Wilcox explores how Quaker worship shapes this relationship between Christ, the physician, and ourselves, as patients.   FEATURES 4 Valiant for Truth Trish Edwards-Konic 4 News from Friends United Meeting 8 News 15 Review The Spiritual Traveler 17 Poem What Is Prayer? from The Friends 18 Bible Study Blessing and Cursing Revisited Sara Beth Terrell 19 Salt and Light No Half-Hearted Quakers Jack Kirk 20 Ideas That Work Friends Reach Out to Children 21 Quaker Quotes 22 Meeting for Worship Douglas Steere 23 Reviews 26 Passages 28 Classifieds 29 Viewpoints 30 Meeting Directory 35 The Back Bench Through the Cover of Smoke Stan Banker

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