As many of you know, Rhonda Ashurst and I have been writing blogs for Reno Friends Meeting for some time, as well as editing blogs from other folks in the Meeting. I started the RFM Blog in 2014 as a way to share ideas about Quakerism, explore difficult topics, and seed the zeitgeist with Quakerly principles and testimonies. Rhonda joined me in 2019, writing blogs and bringing her wisdom to the table to help shape and edit submissions. We’ve been led by spirit, but also by our editing and writing experience and the journalistic principle of keeping it fresh: to that end, we’ve published a new blog nearly every month for ten years. We are proud of the collection of Quaker blogs we’ve shared, but we are also tired. So we are reshaping the RFM blog.
Over time, Rhonda and I found that the best blogs emerged when one of us (or someone else in the Meeting) felt a strong leading to take on a particular topic. These blogs were easy to write – they flowed from our hearts with an urgency we couldn’t always explain. They also seemed to tap into something deeper; they were blogs we felt we needed to write, something that had to be said and shared. They were the blogs that most often seemed to move our audience.
In that vein, Rhonda and I are now shifting the RFM Blog to a more “spirit-led” process. What we mean by that is that we will now only publish new blogs when one of us, or anyone else in the Meeting, feels moved to write one.
We invite everyone in the Meeting to consider writing a RFM Blog, or even just sharing ideas for blogs. If you are inspired to write one, here are the guidelines:
- Blogs should focus on a spiritual and/or Quaker issue, topic, discovery or musing. By focus, I mean a small slice of an issue, not a tome. Blogs, by definition, should be short and timely.
- While spiritual in nature, they should also be rooted in everyday experience. Think about your life and the way Quaker values or testimonies illuminate or help you solve a vexing problem. Or, consider current events and how your Quaker experience helps you decide how to respond and what to do.
- Most blogs are written in the first person. Don’t be shy about sharing a bit of your life, your heart, your voice.
- While writing, remember to consider our audience: Part of the purpose of the RFM Blog is to explain Quakerism and the range of our spiritual experience to the larger world. The Blog is read by the members and attenders of the Meeting, but also by many other people who stumble across it. Our audience is wide.
- Blogs should be about 500 to 600 words, and tightly focused on the topic at hand. In my experience, the best blogs are often written long and then rewritten to tighten, sharpen and highlight the best parts. But sometimes it just comes out as one unified, sweet song. If so, that’s okay.
- Rhonda and I often found that talking out our ideas together resulted in better blogs. Feel free to call or email either Rhonda or me if you want to brainstorm an idea. And please feel free to let us know if you’ve come up with a great idea for a blog but don’t want to write it yourself. We are always open to blog ideas!
- If you have a submission, email it to classes@renofriends.org. Rhonda receives those emails and will respond. Rhonda will work with you on editing the blog to make it ready for publication.
As part of this new vision for the RFM Blog, I will step down as editor and Rhonda will take over. Her experience editing for the Quaker newsletter What Canst’ Thou Say makes her the perfect person for this role. Whenever a new blog is published, I will send it out over the email list, so that everyone can access it easily.
Thanks to all of you for your kind attention and thoughtful commentary over the years. The loving presence and shared experience of everyone in the Meeting has been the rich ground from which our blog emerged.
Wendy Swallow, Blog Editor, Reno Friends Meeting
(The opinions expressed above are not necessarily those of Reno Friends Meeting.)