WILMINGTON — Prominent Quaker author J. Brent Bill will discuss the essential importance of beauty, truth, life and love for one to live a fulfilling and meaningful life Thursday, Nov. 12 at Wilmington College.
The virtual event will be held at 7 p.m. via the main Wilmington College Facebook page. He is the latest presenter in the Office of Campus Ministry’s Quaker Lecture Series.
Bill’s presentation will center upon his latest of more than 20 books he’s authored or co-authored, Beauty, Truth, Life and Love: Four Essentials for the Abundant Life, which distinguishes between an “abundant life” and an “abundance life.” He posits that the former offers much more than a simple abundance of material items and can be found in four essential ideals.
He claims these ideals — beauty, truth, life and love — can guide us to the fulfilling life we truly desire if we simply learn to incorporate them into our daily lives. Bill, a Quaker minister, has been described as “…a substantial spiritual guide, but never in a flashy way. Think of…. oh, perhaps Mister Rogers meets the Dalai Lama.”
Bill will read passages from his book spending equal time discussing each of the four essentials, followed by a period for questions.
Bill is an alumnus of Wilmington College and Earlham School of Religion (ESR) and serves as a member of WC Board of Trustees. He is a writer, photographer, retreat leader, writing coach and recorded Friends minister, who has served as a church pastor, Western Yearly Meeting staff person, Friends General Conference staff person, adjunct faculty at ESR, teacher at writing conferences across North America and a go-cart track operator.
He is a member of Spirituality & Practice’s “Living Spiritual Teachers Project” and has written such books as Life Lessons from a Bad Quaker: A Humble Stumble Toward Simplicity and Grace, Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment and Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality. The Englewood Review of Books named Beauty, Truth Life and Love as one of the best Faith in Practice books of 2019.
Bill lives on Ploughshares Farm, which is 50 acres of Indiana farmland that is being reclaimed for native hardwood forests and warm season prairie grasses.
