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Valiant for Truth My soul is sick and my spirit is weary. As this issue goes to the printer, the first images of destruction and casualties are coming across the airways. The "Shock and Awe" Campaign is in full swing and my TV screen looks like a video game gone awry. All of this month's articles were written before the war began and may seem dated by the time you read them. The threat of war was imminent, but there was still hope that peace might prevail. Marjorie Schier's article, "The Children Are Dying" focuses on the sanctions against Iraq and the effect on the children. Certainly, more children will have died by the time you read this, but the resource list of Christian witness in Iraq will be helpful for the days ahead. The impact of befriending Arabic men in the Syracuse, New York area found members of Poplar Ridge Friends coming face to face with the FBI and its questions. The "Peace Notes" section contains several other accounts of Friends in these pre-war days. In his Bible Study, Howard Macy says, "He's perplexed." Cynthia Yoder writes of her spiritual journey from the destruction of the World Trade Center to finding the quietness of a Quaker meeting — and uncovering the peace that transforms one inwardly in order to speak peace to the world. But, have all the witnesses for peace, in ways large and small, been effective? Afterall, the government did not change its mind and the war ensued. And so the larger question is asked, "Are we trying to be effective or faithful?" Here we stand — Christian Quakers of the 21st century — wondering and perplexed. And yet, the witness of Cynthia Yoder among New Jersey Friends, Terry Coffey in New Castle, Indiana and the 15 Christian Peacemaker team delegates still in Baghdad speaks to us of a God whom we can trust in all circumstances. "In all the relativities of this world," Elton Trueblood wrote, "there is, if Christ is right, one solid place. He offers 'rest,' not in the sense of passivity, but in that of a place to stand, a center of trustworthiness in the midst of the world's confusion." By keeping Christ as the center of our trustworthiness, the chaos of the world begins to assume enough orderliness to provide rest from the unknown. Meaning begins to appear in events that before were not meaningful or were full of confusion. Christ's saving faith imparts security in the midst of life's chaos. Standing still, resting in the Lord, uncovering the peace that transforms — there is our place to stand. And in our place to stand, what should be our response? The echoes of Christian Quakers across the centuries says: Be patterns and examples, Be faithful to the Light of Christ, Be valiant for the truth upon the earth. Blessings in Christ, Trish Edwards-Konic

COVER STORIES 10 Find and Ye Shall Seek: How 9-11 Brought a Skeptical Gen-Xer to the Quakers Cynthia Yoder Raised as a Mennonite, Cynthia Yoder wasn't prepared when her young son, Gabriel, turned to violent playtoys. When they attended Friends Meeting, she "felt oddly like I'd come to the right place." Now she finds that her "voice is stronger having sat in silent Meeting." 12 Poem: I Want to Thank You Tom Baugh This poem is based on an event that happened at Chattanooga Friends Meeting (Tennessee) in the fall of 2002 — a black preacher came to say "thank you." 14 The Children are Dying Marjorie Schier Written before the outbreak of war in Iraq, this article lists resources that are still available to voices of peace. The question remains, "What were you doing when the children of Iraq were dying?" 15 Are Agricultural Changes for the Common Good? Robert Simkin How have the many changes in agricultural methods in the past century benefited the common good? And what are the drawbacks? Robert Simkin discusses the impact of agricultural changes on character and community.   FEATURES 4 News from Friends United Meeting 7 News 9 Bible Study Maybe God's Laughing Howard Macy 13 Salt and Light The Difference...It Can Be Me Sandy Davis 16 Ideas That Work 18 Peace Notes 22 Reviews 25 Booknotes 26 Passages 28 Classifieds 30 Meeting Directory 34 Viewpoints 35 The Back Bench As I Lay Dying Phil Gulley   ON THE COVER The watercolor painting, "May Peace Prevail On Earth," was painted as a prayer for peace for our present wounded earth. The artist, Diane-Ellen McCarron, is an attender at Poughkeepsie Friends Meeting, New York.

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