Matt Boswell
@mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
310 followers 360 following 260 posts
Quaker pastor at Camas Friends Church | Adjunct at UofPortland | PhD in Christian Spirituality (GTU) | Author of *The Way to Love* | PNW trail hiker | Mariners, sigh | he/him | Love mystic | mattboswellpnw.com
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mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
There are many ways to be violent and to be complicit in violence. It’s a good day to ask whether the theology that soothes you is actually making you more violent.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
My autistic friends and family do not need to be fixed! What needs to be fixed are hearts, communities, practices, and structures that make it needlessly difficult for autistic folks to fully participate and be cherished as their beautiful, authentic selves.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Reverence for every person and the Love within them is the beginning of wisdom.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Happy World Quaker Day! Where are my fellow Friends? Or, where are those listening deeply, speaking truth to power, nurturing the love within yourself and others, resisting authoritarianism, responding to needs of vulnerable neighbors, and remembering to breathe? That’s the Quaker way at its best.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
”Love your neighbor” is not just something that happens in your heart but something tangible we do, together.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Finding Love on the trail.

Looking up from the inside of a burned, hollowed tree, near East Zigzag Mountain, Aug ‘23.

#PNW
Looking up from inside a burned, hollowed tree to a heart-shaped opening at the top.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
“Faith without works is dead.” Christianity without compassion and liberation is deadly.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
It’s going to be wild when Bible publishers are told to remove all the calls for peace and justice and liberation made by Jesus and the prophets because they make our president feel picked on, and when many Christians are fine with that.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
It is special when people work together to address a real, urgent need. That’s an exciting kind of unity! Not the unity of “hey look, we’ve stopped criticizing each other” but the unity that arises when people bring their resources to the table to do good and create positive change, with others.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Remembering an early August hike around Timothy Lake (and nearby Little Crater Lake). #PNW
Morning sun shining on lake Mountain peak beyond lake Rocks and stump under the surface of the lake Blues and greens and light at Little Crater Lake
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
If you’re in or near SW Washington tomorrow, come say hello to Camas Friends Church at the Vancouver Peace & Justice Fair from 9am-3pm at Esther Short Park. I’ll be at the Camas Friends booth from 11am-1pm.
Vancouver Peace & Justice Fair
The Vancouver Peace and Justice Fair is at Esther Short Park. Our goal is to build community among groups working for peace and social justice.
vancouverpeaceandjusticefair.org
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Today at Steigerwald Wildlife Refuge. #PNW
Looking at wetlands through trees Yellow flowers (goldenrod) next to river Yellow flower in brown field Bright green wetland among trees and gray sky
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
I will look for the Light in others. I will do my part to help that Light shine. I won’t ignore the bushel of bigotry and cruelty under which that Light is hidden or nearly extinguished. Every person is sacred. Not every person deserves applause.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Progressives (esp. white progressives) do well to stay curious, flexible, and humble—there is still a long way to go.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Being progressive is not about having arrived, it’s about movement. Progressives are right to resist idolizing the past and to recognize that life is dynamic. But tendencies born of privilege and power take time to unlearn.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Pasqueflowers, one of my favorite summer finds at higher elevations. From Paradise Park (mid-August) and McNeil Point (early July). #PNW
Meadow of pasqueflowers (hairy-looking white flowers) and lupine (purple). Three pasqueflowers in a patch of red and pink flowers.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
The Seattle Mariners season may have been saved by an Etsy witch, and the fan who hired them to intervene on the Mariners’ behalf, who is now utilizing the attention to raise funds for the Trevor Project. This week could not be starting off any better.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Nice catch, spider! 🍁

(Fallen Leaf Park in Camas)
Yellow leaf that appears to be suspended in air (next to spider in its web).
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Growing Love, not growing my tradition’s clout, became the task. Certainty became curiosity. Evangelism became listening and learning. Injustice became unacceptable. Love became the center.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
My spirituality changed dramatically when I came to see my faith not as something to impose on others but a tradition that can awaken and guide the Love within me, a Love present in every person.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Lamenting the ways Christian worship music has helped paved the way for this troubling season, shaping the Christian imagination toward militancy and authoritarianism. People have primed themselves for this.
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
“In heavenly armor we'll enter the land
The battle belongs to [Lord Trump]
No weapon that's fashioned against us
Shall stand
The battle belongs to [Lord Trump]
We sing glory, honor
Power and strength to [Lord Trump]”
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Asters at Paradise Park (mid-August). #PNW
Meadow of purple flowers, mountain in distance Close up of asters (purple)
mattboswellpnw.bsky.social
Empathy is under attack. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense may become the Department of War and ICE arrested nearly 500 workers at an EV factory in Georgia. Losing empathy makes it easier to destroy lives, families, communities. This is a really, really bad thing. We can’t lose empathy.