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The meeting house was silent as always, though filled with people. Quakers could spend an inordinate amount of time in quiet contemplation before the Spirit moved on a participant who would then stand and speak. The faithful were never particularly disturbed by hours of silent worship. It was in stillness that they found God. That day, however, concentration was a bit of a problem, especially for the young women of the congregation. A tall, athletic young man of twenty-tw

It began in grade school – our questioning the logic behind hard or tedious work. “Why do I have to learn algebra?” “When will I ever need to diagram a sentence?” We are hard-wired to weigh the benefit we will receive against the effort we will expend. Now that we are no longer tested on our academic knowledge, what is the point of reading a biography or watching a documentary? What is the benefit? As a to-the-bone history nerd, I would argue, “Because it is fun, and histo