“The effects of our actions are largely beyond our control. Any happening they may influence has multiple causes that can never be unravelled; the contribution of what we did is as hard to assess as that of a single strand in a rope. We must have faith that if we purify our hearts, making our motives more compassionate, what we do will strengthen unimaginably the great forces that can save humanity.”
“Most of us would like to believe that we have no outsized biases in favor of kith and kin, but research findings from neuroscience make that pretty unlikely. My commitment to moral equality is thus a commitment to be as sensitive as I can to areas where my biases might lead me to make unwarranted assessments. We are challenged, first, to notice unfair practices — and then to speak out against them.”
“True godliness does not turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it, and excites their endeavours to mend it; not to hide their candle under a bushel, but to set it upon a table in a candlestick.”
“Those of us known as ‘activists’ have sometimes been hurt by the written or spoken implication that we must be spending too little time on our spiritual contemplative lives. I do know many atheists who are active to improve the lot of humankind. But, for those of us who are Friends, our attendance at meeting for worship and our silent prayerful times are what make our outer activity viable and effective – if it is effective.”
“The man who can teach men has no right to raise turnips. Then, too, we all have special gifts and aptitudes which peculiarly fit us for some tasks rather than for other tasks. The very possession of a marked aptitude or gift is in itself a divine call and carries with it a summons to service – a noblesse oblige.”
Contemplation and activism are sometimes presented as a dichotomy in Quakerism, but they are, in fact, intimately related. A rich spiritual life can inspire and ground our work in the world, and faithfulness to leadings can deepen our relationship with Spirit. From the time of the first Friends, Quakers have aspired to “be patterns, be examples” (George Fox) and “stand in the gap” (William Penn), in public witness to our corporate faith.
No sooner will you have given yourself up to serve the Lord in this inward way, than he will begin to purify you and try your faith in order to draw you nearer to himself. And, for this purpose he will lead you through the paths of dryness and desertion, so that when you endeavour to fix your mind in silence, in order to feel after your God, you will not experience the comfort and refreshment you expected.
“For the first Quakers, convincement was about much more than accepting new beliefs. Even a powerful experience of the Light of Christ within was only the beginning. Then they learned how to allow that Light to be an active and growing force. After turning their attention to the inward presence of Christ, early Friends were shown startling and uncomfortable truths about the nature of their society and their inner psyche.”
“‘Pause and Sense’ [is a] practical body-mind experiment. This practice has been transformative for me. […] It’s about counteracting the tendency to live solely in the realm of thoughts, especially in situations where we’re physically present but mentally elsewhere, like when you’re waiting in a grocery store line.”
“The pacifist is literally a peace-maker. He is not a passive or negative person who proposes to lie back and do nothing in the face of injustice, unrighteousness and rampant evil. He stands for ‘the fiery positive.’ Pacifism is not a theory; it is a way of life. It is something you are and do.”
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