Dor Deasy has been attending Camas Friends Church since 2018. She is currently the Clerk of the Business Meeting for Worship and a liaison to the Elders. She describes herself as having the mind of an analyst, the heart of an explorer and the soul of a poet. Dor’s tap roots are her husband Jim, theologian John Dominic Crossan, and her relationship with God.

On paper, she has an undergraduate degree in industrial/Organizational Psychology and a Masters of Applied Theology. She spent many years working as a Design Researcher studying human experiences and using such techniques as observation, ethnography (following people around and talking with them in their own settings and cultures), group facilitation and depth interviewing.

Her studies included “the meaning of beauty”, “the meaning of dinner”, the “meaning of Teams”, “what if conference rooms had not been invented?” and “the future of transportation.” She currently works as a Chaplain for PeaceHealth. Until February, her focus was acute care (working in the hospital attending to the spiritual distress of emergent and critical care situations). Since February, she has been working in Hospice with a focus on palliative care and the end of life journey.

Dor believes the important parts of our experiences (kindness, self-awareness, empathy, Grace, Forgiveness) are both gifts and skills. Once we have received them as a gift, we are responsible for developing them as skills. She is “a piece of work” and a work in progress.

Romans 12:9-21 (NRSV):

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Queries:

What opens up for me if I affirm an “Advocate within”?

What is that Advocate saying to me, today?

How can I be a loving advocate for others?

What would ease my troubled heart? What would bring a sense of peace?

What are we doing here, really?

Queries:

What practices can help us resist the life-depleting tactics of Empire?

What needs to pass away? What needs to take its place?

Whose tears will we wipe away? Whose thirst will we quench? Who will we come alongside? 

“I am making all things new.” How are you experiencing this to be true?

What gives you hope, today?

Eric Muhr is the publisher at Barclay Press, a Quaker publishing house located in Newberg, Oregon, the town where Eric was born. He is the executive director at Hillsboro Friends Church and preaches the first Sunday of each month at Silverton Friends Church. Eric and his partner, Pha, live with their seven-month-old son in Northeast Portland.

Queries:

When have I had a crucial experience of clarity? What helped me gain that clarity? 

When did I realize I was wrong or causing harm? What did I do about it?

How do people capable of good get caught up in movements that do “bad”?

How do we navigate our commitments to both harmed and harm-causer? What kind of support does each need?

What hard work may await those committed to personal change and making repairs?