The intensity of Quaker women prophets
“Katherine Evans, Margaret Killam, and Elizabeth Hooton were emotional, and the intensity of their public voices, which hostile contemporaries described as shouting or screaming, may well have held a residue of personal frustration or exultation; more importantly, it was an expression of the prophet’s ritually expressed anguish over the nation, mediated through the conventional language and behavior of biblical figures.
Indeed, rather than serve as a vehicle of self expression, the prophet’s strident voice and gestures probably worked to blot out whatever emotions of terror, timidity, or arrogance she might have felt in the moments that preceded her public act. It is in this context, rather than that of egoistic self expression or neurotic masochism, that we find the most appropriate starting point from which to view the energy and persistence of Elizabeth Hooton’s challenge to the magistrates of New England and the seeming compulsion with which she kept baring her back to the whip.”
— Phyllis Mack, 1992
Historian and author
Reader Responses
How do your inward life and your outward actions relate to one another?
Are you aware that we are making evolution daily, bit by bit?
It matters what you use your most precious resource, your attention, for.
Make as loving a contribution, as long-lasting a contribution, as exemplary a contribution as you can with whatever means available to you.
Your contribution is as unique as your fingerprints; only you can add it to evolution.
Barbara V., Northfield, MN, USA
It shows on your face if you’re always scolding yourself. Best to talk to yourself like the student you are.
Lynne F., Bellingham, WA, USA
My early mornings are ALWAYS filled with times of quiet contemplation. To be totally vulnerable, this is usually after a few minutes of phone scrolling to see the world's (and my friends') most urgent needs.
This time is always quite varied. It might include rocking my resident kitty, reading on topics of spirituality, philosophy, biography, pure fiction, meditating, cogitating, journaling, or simply BEING.
Jan E., Tualatin, OR, USA
I'm pondering the question, "How can we be the best guardians for future generations that we can possibly be?" While I understand the intent to see beyond ourselves, I wonder whether the question still has a sense of control in it. Perhaps we need to give the future generations more agency. I have heard some people rephrase this kind of question as, "What can we do to be good ancestors for future generations?" This seems to me to give them the right to judge and places us in a more humble posture.
Rob M., Sydney, NSW, Australia
This Week’s Messages
Stand up, ye prophets of the Lord
Prophets suffer the harms done to others
Follow your leadings, even the “silly” ones
The world we seek
We are the most powerful generation
Does God lead the wicked?
Read the source of today’s quote
