We Say We Are Activists; Early Friends Said They Were Waiters

“When compared with bodily action, what could seem more inactive than waiting upon God? The modern world asks, ‘Where will that get you?’ Young people say, ‘We want action.’ Yet, as we have seen, it was precisely through this and other apparently inactive means that the early Friends came into a power of whole action that surpasses anything that we experience today. 

We say we are activists, but often lack the spiritual force to act effectively. They said they were waiters, and frequently acted as moved by God’s light and love. I think that we in this age of decreasing inner action, of ever increasing outer activity, have a profound lesson to learn from the early Friends.” 

— N. Jean Toomer, 1947 (source)
Quaker poet and novelist

When you are eager to rush ahead with action, take the time to first wait on Spirit.

What have you or those you admire sacrificed for a better world?

What is your duty to Spirit, others, and yourself?

Share your response!

Banner art by Maggie Fiori

Author

  • N. Jean Toomer

    N. Jean Toomer (born Nathan Pinchback Toomer; December 26, 1894 – March 30, 1967) was an American Quaker poet and novelist commonly associated with the Harlem Renaissance, though he actively resisted the association, and with modernism. For more than a decade Toomer was an influential follower and representative of the pioneering spiritual teacher G.I. Gurdjieff.

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