Foreword—I spent more than half of 2013 at Pendle Hill in Wallingford, PA, and fell in love with many things about it. My latest passion is with their pamphlets. Here I have, after reading them, set down the most impressive excerpts of each, with rare paraphrasing and additions of my own [in brackets]. Most of all I am impressed with the timelessness of these pamphlets, the oldest of which go back more than 80 years.
141. The Journal of a College Student (by Joseph Havens; 1965)
About the Author—Joseph
graduated from MIT in 1940 with a
B.S. in Business &
Engineering Administration. He took his Masters in Social Studies,
& his doctorate from the University of Chicago in Religion and
Personality. He is a psychologist in a University Health Service. He
has worked in jails, mental hospitals, & colleges and
counseled
others
often.
He
has
developed
a
know- ledge
of
the
spiritual
exploration
of
American
youth.
Note to the Reader—The
writer
of
this
Journal
is
hypothetical;
the
experiences
are
real,
out
of
the
lives
of
today's
students
in
our
colleges
&
uni- versities.
The
pilgrimage
here
depicted
represents
a
minority
of
students.
Evidence
substantiates
both
dismantling
of
religious
belief
&
of
deeply-stirring
"peak
experiences"
in
college.
Dear
Mr. Havens:
Some
of
[this]
may
seem
pretty
way-out
to
be
called
"spiritual."
That's
the
way
I
see
it.
January
1959—I
was
sitting
in
my
library
hideout,
&
something
kept
nudging
me
from
inside.
I
glanced
up
at
the
stars
&
then
the
Nietzsche
I
had read hit me. Nietzsche wrote: "We
have killed [God] ...
What did we do when we unchained this earth from the sun? ... Away
from all suns? ...[Do]
we
not
stray
through
infinite
nothing?
Do
we
not
smell
... God's
decomposition?
How
shall
we,
the
murderers
of
all
murderers,
comfort
ourselves?
[Later
reaction]—Empty
space, coldness,
infinite
nothing,
night, what do they mean? Is
that
the
real world?
(To
Mr.
Havens):
I
recall
stop- ping
here
&
thinking
a
long
time.
I
think
I
grieved
&
cried
a
bit.
Nietzsche's
deed
was
distant
from
him
in
1882,
but
much
closer
to
me;
it
touches
something deep in
me.
I
sometimes
thought
I
agreed
with
[self-proclaimed]
atheists;
we
enjoyed
shocking
the
pious.
Being
agnostic
let
me
look
like
I
was way-out & took
account
of
questions
that
came
up.
(To
Mr.
Havens):
The
rest
of
this long entry refers to how I got out of this fright, how it came
back, how "alcohol helped some, but resulted in some
unpleasantness."
General
Confession
at
church
felt
right
to
me,
&
I
repeated
it
with
deep
feeling;
the
Prayer
of
Forgiveness
came
through
strong
&
clear.
[College
talks
about
building
foundations];
they
have
more
talent
with
dissection
than
resur- rection.
[I
omitted
part
of
the
Creed
&
had
a]
running
inner
argument
with
mini- ster
and
sermon.
The
feelings
of
Christianity
are
still
with
me—confession
and absolution,
Psalms.
But
the
ideas
of
Christianity
seem
to
be
slipping
by
the
wayside—they
don't
fit
with
so
much
I
am
learning
and
thinking
about.
If
the
scientific
experimental
method
is
the
only
sure
way
to
truth,
I
don't
see
where
God
has
a
leg
to
stand
on.
In
feelings
I'm
a
religious
man;
in
my
mind
I'm
an
unbeliever—God
help
me.
February
& April 1959—I've
started
shopping
around.
I
went
to
Friends'
Meeting—next
week
I'll
see
what
Unitarians
have
to
offer.
(Then
maybe
the
fundamentalist
group).
The
silent
meeting
messages
weren't
very
profound.
I
like
the
freedom
of
belief
&
some
of
the
kids
that
go
there;
some
are
pacifists
&
do
service
projects.
I
don't
know
how
deep
a
religion
it
is.
I
hear
that
Unitarians
are
more
intellectual,
&
searching
in
their
discussions.
Tremendous
discussion
at
Liberal
Religious
Fellowship
this
evening.
For
Prof.
Blaney
"liberal
religion"
means
a
rejection
of
all
traditional
theology
and
a
critical,
skeptical
attitude.
We
discussed
the
fact
that
all
of
us
inherited
a
skep- ticism
as
well
as
a
Jewish
or Christian
faith.
Our
thinking
has
been
permeated
by
agnostic
attitudes
of
our
scientific-humanistic-naturalistic
culture.
Maybe
I'll
join
the
Unitarians
some
day.
Remarkable
how
much
the
Hellenistic
period
was
like
ours.
Old
gods
dying,
new
ones
being
born and
currents
of
thought
from
Asia
minor,
Palestine
mingling
and
confusing,
absolutes
being
questioned.
People
were
loosed
from
their
inherited
spiritual
moorings,
forced
to
find
a
new
spiritual
anchorage
or
be
submerged
in
doubt
or
nihilism.
These
parallels
between
the
Hellenistic
age
&
our
own
are
terrifically
exciting
to
me.
(To
Mr.
Havens):
Here
end
the
freshman
entries.
I
continued
with
the
Unitarian
group
through
sophomore
year.
Fall
of
sophomore
year
I
went
to
Professor
Horak's
Literature
bull-sessions. When
I
started
the
group
Mrs.
Horak started
also.
She
brought
a
feeling
into
the
group
which
made
things
happen
among
people,
not
just
ideas.
December 1959—We
were
struggling
with
Laurence
Durrell's
Justine.
Mr.
Horak
saw
love
as
Justine's
simultaneous
"firing"
of
2
persons
or
spirits,
each
autonomously
growing
up.
Mrs.
Horak
saw
love
as
Nessim's
means
by
which
closed-in
persons
were
"expelled
from
their
own
selves,"
and
made
to
grow.
She
told
of
an
unruly
crocus
growing
outside
the
boundaries
set
for
it.
[Upon
reflection],
she
realized
that
Nature
embraced
the
maverick
as
well
as
the
docile
and
harmonious.
She
admired
the crocus' insistent beingness. She realized that each person, being
part of Nature, has a beingness which one should not under- estimate.
The
depth
of
her
convictions
and
her
straightforwardness
drama- tized
for
us
the
beingness
of
Mrs.
Horak.
For
Ginny,
Peter,
Alison
and
I,
Mrs.
Horak
and
her
image
of
the
crocus
struck
home.
I
guess
we
were
ripe
for
this
encounter.
1960—Ginny,
Peter
&
I
had
another
long
talk.
Peter
talked
about
a
revo lution
in
values.
He
was
an
Episcopal
minister's
son
&
an
aspiring
minister.
He had felt
for
about
a
year
that
he
doesn't
have
the
conviction
to
preach
the
Gospel.
He's
gone through an experience similar to mine. He has conflicting
feelings about his girlfriend & broke it off. We got some feeling
of the struggle to understand & to be honest with himself and
with Alison.
Ginny
just
discovered
Martin
Buber
and found
a
quote
that
expressed
what
had
gone
on
with
the
3
of
us.
Buber
writes
about
the
inter-human
realm
and
says:
"It
doesn't
depend
on
one
letting
one's
self
go
before
another,
but
on
one granting
to
those
to
whom
one
communicates
one's
self
a
share
of
one's
being.
Peter
did
that
with
us
&
[I
pray
that
I
may
do
that
with
those
I
am
close
to].
(To Mr.
Havens):
That's
all
for
the
sophomore
year.
There
are
relatively
few
for
the
junior
year.
[Camus
currently
speaks
to
my
condition].
"Not
eternal
life
but
eternal
veracity."
As
Camus
says
well,
"Everything
is
ordered
in
such
a
way
as
to
bring
a
poisoned
peace
produced
by
thoughtlessness,
lack
of
heart or fatal renunciations." I've no idea where this will
lead morally or religiously—that frightens me a little. But it is
a path on which I have been
placed.
April
& May 1961—My
1st
visit to the mental hospital was a moving experience. All is
communication, Life is communication. Most people on this backward
have lost that essential gift.
How
necessary
for
our
very
sanity
is
communicating
with
one
another.
What can I do as a
doctor to keep open the channels of communication in my patients? [I
compared
the
ward's
silence with
the
silence
of
meeting
for
worship].
On
the
ward,
silence
meant
closed-up-ness,
restriction
of
personality,
hostility,
anxiety
&
withdrawnness.
In
Meeting
for
Worship
it
meant
an
opening-out
of
one's
self
toward
other
persons
&
a
transcending
Person,
a
kind
of
communication.
I
felt
the
difference
between
the
hospital
ward
&
the
Meeting.
Maybe
the
Friends
have
something.
I
don't
know.
(To
Mr.
Havens):
It
was
through
the
mental
hospital
project
that
I
got
back
in
touch
with
Friends.
In
the
Liberal
Religious
Fellowship,
[I
had
begun
to
lose
my
favorite
discussion
partners
and
a
sense
of
covering
new
ground].
I
had
to
begin
finding
my
religious
roots
by
exploring
new
ideas
about
God
and
morality,
but
I
had
to
go
beyond
ideas.
I
figured
that
since
Friends tried to go beyond words, they were worth another try. The
puzzle over communication & words sticks with me. Friends Meeting
is a good place to work on it. What worship is supposed to be here is
rather vague. I must "follow my own lights" in working
through my religious doubts. It is not thinking but inner
experien- cing that will provide answers. Maybe I'm in the right place.
I feel at home here.
October & November
1961—After
a
minor
misunderstanding,
Sam
called
me
a
son-of-a-bitch
&
I
threw
beer
at
him.
He
suggested
we
talk
about
what
happened.
Several
months
ago,
I
had
taken
a
slightly
superior
attitude
toward
him.
It
had
gradually
built
from
there.
We
were
closer
after
that.
It
was
a
kind
of
I-Thou
growing
out
of
hand-to-hand
warfare.
While
I
had
2
good
rea- sons for
leaving
the
mental
hospital
project,
I
think
the
lingering
irritation
over
the
fight
with
Sam, even after the good talk, swung
the
decision
over
to
the
negative.
After
someone
had
given
a
brief
message
on
George
Fox's
statement
about
an
ocean
of
darkness,
over
which
flowed
an
ocean
of
light
&
love,
I
be- gan to
visualize
the
2
oceans;
the
image
took
off
on
its
own.
Dark
began
to
filter
up into
the
bright,
luminous
ocean,
&
some
of
the
illumination
made
forays
or
probings
into
deep
darkness.
There
were
streaks
of
darkness
all
through
the
Light
of
all
shades
&
shapes.
The
Dark's
oppressive
totalness
was
broken
by
shafts
of
benign
luminousness.
Darkness
&
Light
weren't
so
separable
as
Fox
implied.
The
semi-autonomous
feeling
of
the
changing
image
awed
me.
Was my meeting
experience, mystical, emotional, or dream-like?
What
do I do with it?
Now
that
I
had
my
inner
experience I am a little embarrassed by it.
Peter
thinks my experience in Friends' Meeting is interesting Jungian
symbolism, & a product of my argument with, [&
mixed
feelings
about]
Sam. A
big
part
of
me
agrees
with
him,
and
yet
it
had
a
kind
of
"cosmic"
significance.
A girl
in
Friends
Meeting
said
my
experience
reminded
her
of
the
yin
and
yang symbol
in
Chinese
religion.
She
suggested
I
meditate
more
on
it
and
see where
it
might
lead.
(To
Mr.
Havens):
I
did
try
in
an
undisciplined
way
to
meditate
on
it.
The
results
were
inclusive.
[It
had
no
life
of
its
own
this
time].
Explaining
it
wholly
by
experiences
I
had
had
shortly
before
it
occurred
was
unscientific;
it
reduced
it
to something
less
than
it
was.
I
was
struck
with
the
fact
that
we
all
have
frame- works
which
we
carry
around
with
us
in
the hopes that experiences will all fit neatly into them. Gradually,
I
stopped
trying
to
meditate
on
it,
and
sank
back
into
thinking-analyzing
activity
in
Sunday
morning
Meeting.
March
and April 1962—In
Contemporary
Religious
Thought,
I've
been
stimulated
by
Bultmann's
Kerygma &
Myth.
He
makes
a
effort
to
"demytho- logize"
the
New
Testament
of
supernatural
miracles
&
its
unbelievable
world
view,
&
to
focus
on
the
existential
core
of
the
Gospel,
i.e.
the
personal
&
pre- sent
reality
of
crucifixion
&
resurrection.
Christian
faith
asserts
that
existential
dying
&
rising
which
may
happen
in
us
is
the
same
as
the
Gospels'
historical event.
Bultmann
wants
to
set
my
everyday
experiences
of
"crucifying"
certain
urges
and
the
"freeing"
which
ensued
in
a
cosmic
or
eschatological
frame.
Especially
interested
to
follow
out
this
idea.
Jamie
was
taken
to
a
mental
hospital
this
morning.
He
was
much
more
hollow,
scared,
confused
or
something
inside
than
any
of
us
knew.
I
knew
him
& had
no
conscious
inkling
that
he
was
even
close
to
a
break.
I
saw
a
movie
about
the
Polish
Underground
at
the
end
of
German
occupation,
anticipating
a Communist
dictatorship.
They
begin
to
kill
Communist
Poles.
The
hero
falls
in love
while
planning
&
executing such
a
murder.
He
is shot by security police & dies in meaningless & horrible
agony. WHERE IS GOD? I think of my Friends Meeting experience of the
2 oceans. Would my
inner experience stand up to the hammer blows of harsh reality?
Jamie
was
successful
last
night.
He
slipped
out,
found
a
knife
&
slashed
his
wrist.
Try
to
imagine
the
drive
he
had.
I
can't—it's
too far
from
my
love
of
life. He
was
like
that
when
he
was
living
down
the
hall
from
me.
Why
doesn't
someone
tell
us
about
the
depths
of
life,
not
just
its
niceties?
I
feel
utterly
confused
&
scared.
Shades
of Nietzsche again.
It
feels
as
though
all
religion,
even
hope
has
departed.
(To
Mr.
Havens):
I
remember
I
thought
some
about
my
own
death.
The
next
week-end
I
had
a
date
with
a
fantastic
woman.
Here
the
Journal
stops
but
the
tales
does
not.
Quakerism
came
the
closest
to
staying
with
me—and
me
with
it.
Those
end-of-year
events
as
a
senior
cast
into
doubt
a
great
deal
of
the
positive
gain
I
made;
the
strong
agnosticism
came
back.
The
ocean
of
dark- ness/
ocean
of
light
experience
was
not
completely
eclipsed.
It
even
"con- tained"
certain
new
experiences
as
they
came.
It
was
1st-hand
and
existential.
[Post-Journal
Experiences]—The
1st
2
years
of
med
school
were humdingers.
Religious
concerns
didn't
top
the
list
of
"extra-curricular
inte- rests."
I
attended
Friends
Meeting,
but
my
heart
wasn't
in
it;
I
was
too
busy.
There
is
scientific
evidence
that
mood swings, physical states,
available
energies are
to
some
extent
dependent
on the
cyclical
changes
within days, months, seasons, and years, changes in the
earth's
electrical fields, electrical tides.
Later
in
November [1964,
walking under snow-covered branches in
the park],
the phrases
"Nature
is all" &
"God
is
Nature
is
all"
bore
in
on
me
with
great
force.
Then
I
felt
as
though
the
earth
were
a
living
creature,
&
that I was a constituent
of
this
Totality,
totally
integrated.
I
was
really
grasped by
it
for
a moment.
It
still
refuses to be reduced to
psycho-dynamics.
It
has become
almost
a
habit
to
see
these
"openings"
as
a
kind
of
divine
Grace which
I
dare
not
neglect
or
forget.
It
feels
deeply
religious
to
me,
&
yet
traditional
Christian
language
or
symbols
figure
surprising
little
in
my
communicating
of
it.
I
shud- der
at
the
demonic aspect
to
this
experience,
[that
it led me a few steps down the road to turning this]
into
a new religion.
After
this
experience
in
the
snow
I
went
to
meeting fairly
regularly
seve- ral
weeks
in
a
row.
The
messages
in
Meeting
seemed
hypocritical.
Friends
seemed
terribly
conscious
of
themselves
&
their beloved Society—as
if
other
people
didn't
feel
this
about
their
churches.
During
March
[1965]
I
had
expe- rienced
a
couple
of
minor
recurrences
of
the
"Totality
experience"—clear
enough to
confirm
my
earlier
understanding.
[On
a
crowded]
sidewalk,
I
was
looking
intently
at
the
faces
flowing
past
me,
&
feeling
what
I
had
in
the
park,
only
these
people
were
the
focus;
[we
were
intimately
related].
The
realization
that
we
are
deluded
into
seeing
ourselves
as
separate
beings,
whereas
in
actuality
our
lives
are
interwoven
in
ways
beyond
our
kno- wing
was
so
strong
that
I
felt
a strong
urge
to
actually
throw
my
arms
around
those
nearest
me.
[I
was
frightened
by
the
intensity
of
my
visions
&
started
down
the
path
of
fearing
mental
dysfunction].
The
conviction
that
something
very positive
had
happened
gave
me
pause.
[In consulting a
doctor on a profound inner experience],
where could I find a doctor who appreci- ated its revelatory
dimensions? Where could I find a genuine doctor of the soul?
April 24, 1965—Dear Mr. Havens: [By using] your excellent questions, it becomes ever more clear that experiencing anything as radically unfamiliar as I did, should cause some anxiety. I think you may not realize the formidable blocks to keeping one's connection with the Judeo-Christian tradition for many of my generation. Do we need a new profession of psychologist-priests or guru-psychologists to help people come to terms with [inner experi- ence questions]?
My analytic mind still very frequently admonishes my deeper self against continuing on this road of "experiencing"; I fear it will lose. I still feel the terrible danger of self-delusion, & it may be that I need to be pulled up short & brought back to terra firma. I have only just entered upon this way, with no end in sight. I want to give you an image of this Pilgrimage; Hesse's Siddhartha & Journey to the East [comes to mind]. Jesus' parable of the sower also comes up. The at- tention demanded by TV, newspapers, "social obligations" will be the parable's greedy birds, shallow topsoil, and thorny bushes. I hope I may be delivered from it.
1965)
Pamphlet Quotes:
Carmelite Christmas Prayer: “May the fierce love of Jesus drive out of us all vapid and shallow peace. With wild joy and a plea for prayers,
Foreword [by Mark Van
Doren]—No
thoughtful reader of this pamphlet will ever again look at the world
in quite the same way, ignore it, or take things for granted.
Bradford Smith prepared himself to live the final months of his life
so that no joyful secret of existence should be missed. Eternity didn't mean for him endless death; it meant endless life. In his
Journal, in articles to be printed, and in poems he sent to his
friends he gave testimony of which the following excerpts are
representative, testimonies to the “dear gift of life.” He seems
to have told himself daily that he was seeing the world for the last
time—and by some miracle, the first; it always overwhelmed him by
its freshness. Time brought the sun up; eternity left it
hanging. God & the world was thought of by Bradford as his
discovery, which he wanted with all his heart to share with us.
This Then—The
discovery that you have cancer is also the discovery you are
going to die. Not necessarily
from this cancer; [you may die in other ways]. The message now comes
home. You are led to meditation,
even if you haven't been much given to it before. In the state of
half-departed anesthesia [you gain insights]
&
know more clearly what you want to do with the rest of your life ...
No one has reached maturity until one
has learned to face one’s own death &
reshaped
one’s way of living. Once we accept that we will disap- pear, we
discover the larger self which relates to [the human race in
ever- widening circles starting with family].
I found that human contacts
grow warm, they glow, when you are in trouble. I also found myself
full of an overflowing sense of oneness with all of life, whose
givenness is that it must struggle to be born, to live, & then
surely die. [When Marian Andersen sang “He’s got the whole world
in his hands,” the words, so nobly simple expressed the whole drama
of what I had been feeling; [this relatedness surely binds us to the
present & future]. Once we have faced the inescapable fact of our
own death, we need never fear it, but turn & live life to the
hilt.
The Fun of Living—Why
don’t we speak more of the fun of living?
Most of the things I do are fun. Once you have faced the fact that
you are mortal, eternity is bent within the arc of personal
experience. Each morning is new now. The growing light is an omen,
& a good one. Mornings are too pre- cious to take for granted. I must
taste them, and everything, both for the first time & the last. And
so should we do always. Life is a gift so precious that we would
accept it on any terms rather than never to have had it. We get life
[kno- wing] that it conforms to universal laws. We cannot know in
advance how the law will work out for us; we know we are under its
wing.
How do you finish a roll death A Roll of Film finishes first?
Snip, snap, 20 exposures on a roll, Take pictures of my love, of gro-
At 80₵ a bargain, and color too. wing old, of all the tender care
Sky and sea and leaf and loam, of you I had in mind, of spring
Blue and blue and green & brown, & all the seasons we walked
Colors that have no names through together & would walk
And names that have no color: again, of places far and near,
Mine, Smith. Unless gold. of youth both far yet near as
forever, of books, house,
Snip, snap, film unrolls, unrolls like bed, night, dawn.
life, like days going by,
Snip, snap, 20 exposures on a roll, Take pictures of my love, of gro-
At 80₵ a bargain, and color too. wing old, of all the tender care
Sky and sea and leaf and loam, of you I had in mind, of spring
Blue and blue and green & brown, & all the seasons we walked
Colors that have no names through together & would walk
And names that have no color: again, of places far and near,
Mine, Smith. Unless gold. of youth both far yet near as
forever, of books, house,
Snip, snap, film unrolls, unrolls like bed, night, dawn.
life, like days going by,
Pictures for memory, for grandchil- Take all, take all. To keep. For
dren, their warm love too young you must keep them now.
to last, even in pictures. I shall go searching them in
what new place and way I
Snip, snap: another gold begins to do not know, yet always
glow in skin long used to white, here with you, with pictures
But nothing gold can stay; tomorrow or without, while you live
But nothing gold can stay; tomorrow or without, while you live
is another day. our 2 lives joined in some
deeper, different way.
Snip, snap: will it be 15, 16 before Live for me—live all I lack the
deeper, different way.
Snip, snap: will it be 15, 16 before Live for me—live all I lack the
the thread snaps time for: Live double & live
deep, my love. And finish the
roll in joy, nor be afraid:
roll in joy, nor be afraid:
It never will be finished while
you live.
Not Fear—Acceptance—When I knew that I had cancer, I made up my mind that I wanted people to know the facts, to know that I knew, and that I could accept it. This led to an outpouring of friendliness, even from strangers. I wanted my behavior to be accepted as the proper norm for one who knows his number is up. If we cannot speak freely of death, we cannot really speak freely of life.
We usually refuse to face it
for ourselves until something forces us to. Then, strangely, the
response isn't fear any longer, but acceptance, even con- tentment.
One can stop forcing one’s self to achieve. Thus death opens the
door to life, to life renewed &
re-experienced as a child experiences it, with the dew still on it.
Suddenly one senses that his life isn't just his own little individual existence, but that he is bound in fact to all of life.
Once given the vision of one’s true place in the life stream,
death is no longer complete or final, but an incident. Since
life carries death with it like a seed, & since this is normal,
what is there to fear? Death
is a promise rather than a threat. We are not imprisoned by death,
but freed . . . I will not deny that darker fantasies of despair
tried to encroach upon my meditation. But the light is too bright
for them. If my life turns out to have been shortened by this disease, I know that it has also been deepened. The veil is lifted &
I'm not afraid of what I see.
Branched &
Leafed—[Before]
the valley of death comes the valley of life. Have
I walked it with my eyes open, my lung full of its bracing air? There is no valley
without hills. I have climbed them and will climb again. All
valleys are shadowed with death. And the shadow, as in painting, is
what gives roundness and ripeness to shapes and things. This is my
[shadowed] valley of life and I will live at peace in it.
God's wisdom is manifest
in this, that he has let us taste the bitters as well as the sweets
of life. The willingness to accept pain & death as part of life
came as a discovery and a strengthening. Before the operation, I
felt tangibly that I was being upborne, lifted, supported. You are
surer of yourself and your supporters. How
can you help being more deeply rooted, branched and leafed in all of
life?
One—Somehow
I feel myself in the rustling of leaves, the fall of clear water
over stones, the afternoon shadow on grass. When we raked up the
dead poplar branches, we found them alive & green at the tip, the
next year’s buds already swelling. Faith is part of the plant’s
essence. Whoever heard of a doubting poplar? Anyone can see the
divine every day in leaf and flower, face and form, love and
kindness, music and in verse. Lord of life and lord of death,
instinct in every bough!
The feeling seems one of a
basic assimilation of the universe—of the all in the one—that
comes of knowing the individual one cannot last forever. I know
myself a part, both of the geometry 10 or 12 generations have
imposed upon the landscape, and of the landscape which so easily
eludes any human transformation. From the window where I stand, the
snow extends me outward until it no longer falls white but hovers
gray before the hills and above them. So I too fall with the snow,
time’s visible, fragmented, yet unified motion. Fall it must, and
drift and lie, and melt at last, [to rise again in the sap].
Pantheism has always been dirty, implying something pagan. All matter is in a very essential
way alive and moving and related to every other bit of matter,
through belonging within a unified design of magnitude & beauty.
In a wider sense we are in God. For if God is not everywhere, God
is nowhere.
The teaching of a physical
heaven in the skies is one of the worst stum bling blocks of
religion. It is stubbornly maintain by established churches, and is
unacceptable to any thinking man. Heaven is a state of mind to
which any one may come, or at least aspire.
4,000 years ago, Ikhnaton 1st
had the idea that God must be one. With rare insight, he saw that
the sun which made life possible was the source. We do not know
today any more than Ikhnaton did exactly what the nature of God may
be. Where do we
come in? Are not humans the only link between the life force and the
world of ideas which leads to truth, love and beauty which are the
attributes by which we recognize the divine?
A Demonstrable
Immortality—Easter
is the festival which relates the living to the dead; once its
meaning is grasped, life takes on a new dimension. Except
it die, how can it be quickened? The
connection between life and death is in the end a mystery, but it is
real. Last year’s leaves make compost for this year’s garden.
The mystery of the living seed ties us to an inheritance beyond
recorded history. In
what sense is Jesus alive today? Is it not clear that his life is
in our lives? One
person, yet divided among millions and more strengthened the more he
is divided. Through visiting hours held after my father’s death, I
discovered then that my father lived on in many lives. The old
house we live in , the pieces of silver or china we use—all remind
us of people who live in us.
In the total view,
immortality is a social thing. If
immortality is universal instead of particular, does this not
elevate us to a life that is far grander than we deserve, [far
better than a pinched and narrow personal immor- tality]? Is it not
clear that destruction is merciful, and that that which takes away
is as necessary and as divine as that which gives?
We need not blame God for
viruses and cancer and car accidents. God is spirit, the embodiment
of all that a good man knows how to conceive and more. God is the
spirit who informs it, not the cop who swoops down to punish offenders. Living is tough—that is one of its conditions. We
have to be tough to face the blows, but thankful for the dear gift
itself.
Last Entries—Strange
that with so few days remaining to me, they are the most leisured
and calm I have ever had. I have time for setting myself in the
midst of nature and half entering it, as I shall soon return to it
fully. [Time] to watch the storm go up our beautiful valley, first
putting a haze between each pair of ranges, then passing so that all
is clear and freshly washed. What
else is there to do but endure to the end, and to be possessed of a
quiet mind?
143.
Unless one
is born anew—William Penn Lecture, Sunday, March
28, 1965
(by Dorothy
Hewitt Hutchinson;
1965)
About the Author—Dorothy Hewitt Hutchinson (1905-1984) was born in CT. She received a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1927 & a zoology Ph.D. (Yale, 1932). She became a member of Religious Society of Friends in Falls (PA) MM in 1940. She promoted the UN & helped organize a United World Federalists' local chapter. She wrote an AFSC pamphlet A Call to Peace Now in 1943. In 1954 she & Hazel DuBois, traveled the world, promoting friendship & peace (PHP #84 From Where They Sit). She was active in the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom. Dorothy Hutchinson was an civil rights & civil liberties activist as well as peace activist. This pamphlet is about the greatest problems ever to face mankind: peace, freedom, & bread. Individual renewal through the Seed & the Spirit will help us solve them.
Introduction—I
thought if I didn't go to Selma [for the March on Mont- gomery] I felt
I couldn't very well say the things I wanted to say. Because I went
to Selma [and am weary] I may not say those things very well.
Our Symptoms—I
have inquired of some trusted friends what our symptoms might be; I
shall mention 3. The 1st
symptom is that we sit in our Meeting worship [and are very well
off]. We are reputable and extravagantly praised for victories
bequeathed to us by our disreputable
ancestors. We compare ourselves to other perhaps less vital
religious groups. [If we ask: “What are they
doing in response to God’s will?, Christ will respond as he did to Peter’s similar question]: “What
is that to thee?
Follow thou Me.”
The 2nd symptom is that while we have not abandoned our social testimonies,
and cherish them as precious antiques, we do not agree as to their
current appli- cation. In Meeting during the war, I protested the use
of the term “Uncondi tional Surrender,” and [was told that such
radical pacifism should wait until after the war].
The 3rd
symptom is that
we are less individually
involved in the
con- cerns of Friends. When a Committee of the Meeting lays itself
down, feeling it is no longer speaking on behalf
of the Meeting but instead
of the Meeting,
the Meeting tends to feel indignant & unjustifiably humiliated.
If our hearts & hands & spirits droop, some other group will
take up the torch we are letting fall. There are signs of this
outside the Society of Friends (SOF), [some refer to it as a
Pentecostal stirring of the Holy Spirit]. Is
there comparable fer- ment within the SOF?
How Can Man Be Born
Anew?—The
SOF can’t enter again the womb of its 17th
century origin & be born. It must be born [here & now. We
shouldn't seek persecution]. Unless persecution is the unsought
result of acting upon conviction, martyrdom is exhibitionism. Nor
should conferences be called to revitalize the SOF. The crux
of the cure we seek is [in the word “one.”
The SOF] must be revitalized by the birth of Friends one
by one.
We are going to have a hard
time in the 20th
century recapturing this emphasis. 1st,
science was thought to be our deliverer for 150 years. We are only
now coming to the realization that the Spirit is the only reliable
guide in human affairs. We are also living in a period when there a
strong de-emphasis on the individual and one’s importance. Yet
Dag Hammerskjöld asked: You fancy you are responsible to God; can
you carry the responsibility for
God? Neither the
world’s work nor that of the SOF is done by spiritual geniuses
[alone]. Jesus’ 11 companions understood enough
of what He said & remem- bered enough
of what He was so that they kept his message alive and lived it. Don’t underestimate [your value as a] companion
of the prophet.
Thou Shalt Love—Each
of us has to get back to “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart & soul & strength, & thou shalt love thy
neigh- bor as thyself.” Love does no
wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfil- ling of the law.
[With these 2 commandments Jesus] was saying to us, “Ex- plore every
nook & cranny of life,
with love as your only guide.”
It is necessary to identify with the repulsive sinner, with the
threatening enemy, & even the smug, good people who have [only]
condemnation for those who seek new, untried ways to do the right.
[It is this condemnation that holds back the vast majority of people
from doing what they know is right].
What holds us back from
following love is fear, yet only love can cast out fear; Jesus
understood this dilemma. The first commandment, the love
for God is what
casts out fear. The antidote for fear is complete confidence in
God’s universal good will. Jesus was saying that there is a
difference between ordi- nary prudence and the fear that paralyzes & alienates one from humankind.
Cast out the Sin of
Fear—Fear
then, is the evil offspring of lack of faith in God and the evil
parent of lack of love for men. How
can I acquire a [suffi- cient] faith in God? The
only way I can have such faith is by experiment, [to find out] if
God exists & if God’s nature is as pictured by Jesus. God’s nature is the source of: all that is valuable to me; my sense of
adequacy and whole- ness; my sense of security & the power to make a
difference. I test the hypo- thesis of the 1st
commandment by long and patient experiment; each person has to do it
for themselves, and live as
if Jesus was right
about God, and watch for the evidence that this is true through the
Spiritual Response you get. This is the Truth that makes one Free.
Everyone who is afraid is
a slave to fear.
We live in an age so domina- ted by fear that we have come to think of
fear as normal. Half of humankind is in daily fear of misery unto
death; the other, wealthy half lives in fear of mutu- al annihilation.
What is it that
prevents us from giving ourselves unre- servedly and unconditionally
even to our family & friends? Isn’t
it fear of: destruction; change; a lower standard of living; a hurt
ego? Fear of failure is our last refuge [from having to act]. But
God promises only
the power to do God’s will
insofar as we understand it without counting the cost or deman- ding
to see results. [Those who bring about social progress include a few prophets and many], many anonymous, indispensable companions of the prophets.
The Friend Born
Anew—When
love for God finally casts fear out of the individual, what happens
then? The inward
signs are energy, radiant serenity in the midst of activity, a
secure, developing wholeness so that "all nature has a new smell.”
One who is fearlessly awake & alert begins to recog- nize and to
grasp new opportunities for living. We find ourselves becoming more
fearless and loving in all human relationships. When we have done all we can do for our children, we then trust God; [worry or]
manipulation is not the way of love.
We become more fearless &
loving in our relations with the world out- side our little circle. As
John Woolman said, “The first motion was love.” The results
[are] left in God’s hands. We begin to know what doesn’t matter,
which is just as important to know [as what does. For early Quakers,
physi- cal safety didn’t matter; material possessions didn’t
matter. Today, property values dropping because Negroes are moving
in, doesn’t matter]. Jesus before Pilate did not defend Himself.
He made a few succinct remarks about Truth, as if that was all that
mattered.
A fearless Friend who is
“born anew” becomes a radical non-conformist. You find that you
must be non-conformist to everything that is the opposite of love.
There are two very different results of slavery to fear; one is
apathy, the other is panicky activity. On the other hand, the
fearless intellect is set free to seek constructive solutions. It
says: “I can do something &, God helping me, I will.” Jesus
spoke of all responsibility in the singular. Dag Hammerskjöld said: “To be free, to be able to stand up & leave everything
behind—without looking back. To say “Yes!” There is no other
way to revitalize the SOF but this.
The Society of Friends
is Born Anew—When
enough individuals are born anew, as Barclay wrote about Meetings
for Worship: “As iron sharpeneth iron, the seeing the faces one of
another whom both are inwardly gathered unto the life, giveth
occasion for the life secretly to rise &
pass from vessel to vessel.” We’ll sit with so much more
expectation than now. We can receive new insights into the
application of love, &
exciting things will begin to hap- pen. [When we take action] “...
suddenly &
mysteriously past generations of peaceable troublemakers
seem to rise silently behind you, a breeze from be- yond the horizon
of the Ocean of Light and Love.”
When we become fearlessly
open to the Light [&
Love], we will find a surprising &
increasing sense of unity on our Testimonies, both old &
new. [Why do we
find more agreement on
one issue than
on another, similar issue?] Is
it not that our fears are more engaged at one point than another, &
that these so-called controversial
subjects are simply the subjects on which our fears run deepest? We
are facing the greatest problems ever to face hu- mankind. It would greatly increase our usefulness if our mind should con- verge as our spirits become clearer. When we speak clearly &
with a more united voice, SOF may really start to grow & the new
members who come to us will be of the highest quality. [Join with
me in the prayer Rufus Jones once prayed]:
“Eternal Lover of Thy
children, bring us into Thy life. Make us sharers of Thy love and
transmitters of it. Help us to become serene and patient in the
midst of our frustrations, but at the same time make us heroic
adventurers, brave, gentle, tender, but without fear, and with
radiant faces.”
144. Bethlehem Revisited (Christmas Sermon in Germantown
Unitarian Church 12/20/64; by Douglas V. Steere; 1965)
Carmelite Christmas Prayer: “May the fierce love of Jesus drive out of us all vapid and shallow peace. With wild joy and a plea for prayers,
Yours, Father
William.”
Jan Ruysbroeck: “All that
[Jesus] was and all that he had he gave; and all that we are and all
that we have, he takes.”
[Frozen Christian (by
Angelius Silesius)—“Bloom, frozen Christian, bloom. May stands before thy
door.”
About the Author: Douglas
Steere was
Professor of
Philosophy at Ha- verford, author of Prayer
and Worship, On Beginning from Within, On Liste- ning to one Another,
Dimensions of Prayer. His
concern for the inner life is fused with a concern for action; with
his wife, Dorothy, he has gone on numer- ous missions to Africa,
Europe, and Asia for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC).
He attended the Vatican Council shortly before giving this sermon.
Christmas is a Time when
we are invited to revisit Bethlehem and to reconsider its miracle.
We change and our eyes change, rather than Bethlehem changing. It is
a small Jordanian town of some 6,000 inhabitants, a bare 5 miles
south of Jerusalem. It is at 2,500 feet and yet it sits in a valley;
sheep and goats share the streets with cars.
The spot where Jesus was born
was probably a grotto or cave; today, this is overlaid by a vast
church & a cluster of religious houses. It is shared by the
Greek Orthodox, Armenian Christian, & Roman Catholic Churches.
[For] the original scene we must see [the cave], the oxen &
donkeys, tethered in their stalls. A young woman has given birth to
her first child [there on the straw]; he now lays in a manger.
Francis of Assisi reenacted this scene in an Italian barn on
Christmas Eve. The saints who have lived with wild animals which
terrify most folk have fearlessness from baptism into the peaceable kingdom. Francis preached his Christmas sermon from a barn floor.
Selma Lagerlof wrote
Christ Legends,
[and in particular] “The Wise Man’s Well.” 3 Wise Men are
drawn by their common vision of a rapturously beautiful star that
bids them seek a newborn King. But [when] they follow the star to a
grotto [they look in and] see only a young peasant woman and her
husband with a new-born child. They turn away in disappointment,
[which turns into dismay] when they lose the star and their
memories, [and then] guilt when they know they have let their
earthly judgment to lead them astray. One of them, wishing to
quench his thirst [at an old well], finds in its depths the reflected image of the lost star, and [rediscovers it in the sky].
They are led back and give homage to the hidden king.
The well in which that wise
man found the star was surely the inner Bethlehem of his own heart.
When in stubborn self-will you refuse direction & lose the star of
rapture, you can recover your direction only by looking into the inward well of your own heart. If
God was consumed with love & knew that only by love could humans
and God’s world of nature live peaceably to- gether, how would God
communicate [God’s knowledge]?
I cannot see the [birth &] life of Jesus as other than God trying
to disclose God’s love for us and to show that the cosmos is
grounded in love. God chose to let this cosmic message shine
through the material envelope of a human life.
There is a Zoroastrian
legend, that
pre-extent souls of men were given the [chance] to go down to earth
“to do battle
with the Lie.”
In none of Jesus’ life is there a contempt for matter, [as there
is in other religions]. Rather we see a man who draws matter
together as he turns God-ward at each moment of deci sion. The
actual Lie with which battle is to be done is two-fold: the
repudia- tion of matter, [&
rejecting it from the spirit] to purify the spirit; &
the attempt to make matter &
its patterning all that there is. The struggle that Hinduism &
Buddhism are having with the technological revolution comes from
their deni al of any genuine reality to matter &
trying to purify themselves from any trace of it. The Lie the West
has to deal with is that matter is all there is.
Jesus not only
worked within
the natural process but he respected it. He hallowed [matter & natural law] by showing how one’s faith affects the way one’s
body responds to surgical and chemical treatment. Every scientific
step forward, the universe reveals itself as being governed by the
same laws that govern human thinking. This fits Jesus’ world,
where matter & its laws have a legitimate & significant status.
Sir Arthur Eddington suggests that important as causal law may be,
it does not exhaust the situation; all causality might have been an
aspect of a deeper purpose. We may all participate in the process
of luring the cosmos toward love.
As we sit
on the Wise Man’s Well, the Son of Man discloses to us a further
insight into the human species: Love & salvation to which Jesus
draws a ll men is not solitary but is in community [and is
universal]. As Charles Peguy said: “We must be saved together,
we must come to God together.” Jesus’ command to share the good
news of the God of love with all the world is a universalism of
caring that breaks every last bond.
In Pope John XXIII’s
vision, this inclusive spirit is no longer the excep- tion but is a
sustained attempt to reach beyond all boundaries. [John XXIII puts this spirit into practices, including visiting and embracing
murderers in prison]. He also longed to witness to those in no
religious group whatever. John wanted the Catholic Church to
realize is that Jesus brought the news that Love was the ground of
the universe to all.
The Swiss Ambassador to India
declared that only [through] Christia- nity’s most open and
receptive dialogue with Hinduism, will it find what the Holy Ghost
has to teach it through such an encounter. I received a Christmas
note from Carmelite friends in Arizona. [It included a prayer which
I put at the be- ginning of this summary. Douglas Steere closed by
quoting Jan Ruysbroeck, also found at the beginning].
145. What doth the Lord require of thee (by Mildred Binns Young;
1966)
About the
author—Mildred
Binns Young has been Quakerdom's gad- fly of ever since she wrote
her 1st
Pendle Hill Pamphlet, Functional
Poverty (1939).
Prodding the complacent to insight & action is her concern; she
is Quaker both by birthright & conviction. 30 years ago, her
family left Westtown School to live & work with sharecroppers;
they stayed for 19 years. This pam- phlet was given as a 2-part
address to the 1965 Young Friends of North Ame- rica Conference.
WE MUST OPEN OUR HANDS:
1—The best
sermon I ever heard preached on the text
“What doth the Lord require of thee?” (Micah
6:8) was
the speech of a Quaker lawyer being installed as a county court
judge in a large, populous & notoriously corrupt county. He faced
the fact that there was no
way to fulfill the affirmation he had just made; he intended not to
forget the Lord’s requirement of him.
What does it mean for us
now to do justice and love mercy? Do we know anyone who walks
humbly with God? How do we connect creatively with the crying needs
of our time? Whenever
we have confe- rences to consider the life of Meetings the questions
are: What ails our
spiritual life? Why do we so rarely experience the real power of a
Meeting gathered under a corporate sense of Presence? Why is our
ministry often scanty or thin? As
individuals we ask: Why
do outward expressions of religious life exhaust us rather than
fulfill us? Modern
folk no longer know the holy. Where
shall modern folk look for the holy?
2.—In
reading early Christian or Quaker history, I get the impression that
neither the individual nor the corporate experience of being met &
claimed was [as rare then as it is now]. From John Woolman and other
journalists of that time I gather that the change to the current
condition started in the 1st
100 years. [Their endurance under persecution drew people to them,
and] their necessities [of caring for one another] kept them
together. With any theories of non-violent resistance, they
practiced it. With no peace testimony to be true to, they saw that
of God in every one; [that would not permit them to fight anyone].
100 years later, they were
not only wealthy but also powerful in some places; they controlled
the Assembly of Pennsylvania. John Woolman wrote: “In departing
from the true Light of Life many, in striving to get treasures have
stumbled upon the Dark Mountains.” This describes [the times from
John Woolman’s life to ours]. In 1756, enough Friends withdrew
from the Assembly so that control of the colony was relinquished
to others. Pennsylvania ceased to be a Holy Experiment in
government.
John Woolman wrote: “Being
thus tried with favor & prosperity, this world appeared
inviting; our minds have been turned to [improving] our country, merchandise & science, among which are many things useful, if
followed in pure wisdom. In our present condition I believe a carnal
mind is gaining on us. If some see their brethren united in paying a
war tax, it may quench the tender movings of the Holy Spirit in
their minds. By small degrees we might ap- proach so near to fighting
that the distinction would be little else than the name of a peaceable people.
John Woolman saw that the
poor often prey upon the even poorer [e.g. the wealthy would prey on
white settlers; white settlers preyed on Indians]. The Southern
poor, white & Negro, were neglected & ignored for decades
while Southern wealth went northward. The poor white’s only basis
of self-respect was his notion that the Negro was lower than he;
northern exploitation of cheap, unorganized Southern labor confirmed
this notion.
3.—The
fortunate must ask themselves: What
is our responsibility to- ward any misfortune caused by society’s
indifference, if not exploitation of certain of its elements? I
take it that Friends have never borne their testi- monies according to
logic or expedience but according to inner compulsion. As long as
inequality exists among the family of nations, some cannot feel at
ease in a preferred status; others’ acceptance of that status will
not excuse some persons from an opposite obligation. I think we are
as a religious society, deeply ill at ease in our preferred status.
It is in this split this need to maintain ourselves in a sharply
felt contradiction, that I find the root of most of the causes of
our spiritual decline.
Quaker schools are the apple
of our eye; I can't hide my pride in them. A fundamental
contradiction seems to have crept into Quaker education above the
elementary level. Friends schools are for the gifted & for those
who have been well prepared from kindergarten on; all of that means
cost. If parents hope they can devote their lives to some poorly
paid service to humankind, they will feel they have to forego it
until their children are educated.
Is
there anything Quaker about educating for success, while every
“success” is taking us farther from human goals? We
seem to be asking young people to recognize that everything is wrong
with the way the world is going, at the same time that we ask them
to succeed in that world. Quaker education should say more than it
does to the problem of those for whom 1st- rate
schools and colleges is not the best option [i.e. craftsmen &
missionaries].
4.—Has
our practice with regard to travel become extravagant, and
self-indulgent rather than productive? How much of the use of our
resources is genuinely productive in international contacts and
peace- making? What relation should exist between spending on
ourselves or our families and our giving? Should our job be given up
“by reason of the evil therein?”
John
Woolman touches on unrighteous use of other human beings,
unrighteous use of one’s own powers, irresponsible use and waste
of land & other natural resources. For Woolman, the means by
which a man got his living & the ways he spent his money, & the
ratio of his prosperity to the pro- sperity of his fellow men, whether
it was greater or less, were aspects of the religious life. It hurt
him to see the whole life of any person preempted by busi- ness of
any sort, [whether in pursuit of survival or opulence]. “May we
look upon treasures, and the furniture of our houses, and the
garments in which we array ourselves & try whether the seeds of
war have any nourishment in these our possessions or not.”
Are
we short of time because we are greedy of experience for its own
sake? What
judgment upon persecutors? The
penalty for “hardness of heart & blindness of mind” is
increased “hardness of heart & blindness of mind.” It is in
working to close the gap that exists between faith & works, be- tween religious insight & what we do in our secular lives,
that I see the pos- sibility of at once deepening our insight &
gathering our scattered forces.
What
then of Personal Success?: 1—Personal
success, in terms of our contemporary culture, is no longer a
legitimate goal for a Friend; personal success and a concerned
Quakerism are incompatible. I mean success as the world measures it
[i.e. treasures laid up on earth]. [Our success can be useful and
important work excellently done (recognition is superfluous);
responding to the authentic call of God, and remaining faithful to
that guidance (seeing the results is superfluous)]. Both
Christianity and Quakerism are a radical criticism, going to the
root of the sickness that presents itself to us as progress and
prosperity, threatening to make us inhuman and leave us alive and
surrounded by the artifacts of “progress.”
2.—Technology
is sometimes personified as having a life, goals, & plan of its
own. This plan seems to rival God’s plan. We all enjoy singing the spi- ritual: “He has the whole world in His hand.” Yet most of us
are convinced that man now “has the whole world in his hand,”
[including the ability to self- destruct]. Large groups of people,
are very close to indifference about what is going to happen next to
humankind; they feel helpless.
Is
life an open road or a blind alley? Where are we to find at the beginnings of a justification of life? Teilhard
de Chardin was a French Jesuit priest, a paleontologist who worked
in China a large part of his life; he died in 1955 in New York. He
was a passionate Christian who wrote so as not to be disloyal to
Christ. [For Teilhard, technology’s gift and threat of enhancement
of life, and destruction of life, respectively, is a “pitiful
millenarianism” distorting “all that is most valid and noble in
our expectation of the future appearance of an ‘ultra humanity’
… It is not any question of well-being,
it is solely a thirst for greater
being that by
psychological necessity can save the thinking world from being weary
of life.”
3.—Abundance
of goods, flawless, economic security, easy mobility, or boundless
leisure won't save us from weariness of life. “The world will
never be vast enough, nor humanity powerful enough to be worthy of
God who created them and is incarnate in them.” Let us be
critical, and say “No” to what is discor dant, ugly, unwholesome
[in technology]. Even God abandoned many lines of creation that
promised well for a while. Technology is but one line of our hu- man
creativity for which God has empowered us. I hope that most of us reject the use of nuclear weapons as threats, mostly called
deterrents. While the sword hung on a thread over Damocles, I
suppose he never thought much about anything but the sword.
Father
Daniel Berrigan wrote: “A radical, permeating change [occurs] in
those who must live under technology in military uniform …
Breathed long enough, the war atmosphere may be said simply to work
a change in the heart of man. We come to accept our [war] climate
as a normal & coherent attitude toward life and human beings …
In such an atmosphere, the order of reality is altered. Our
capacity for goodness and truth is impaired. Our convictions be- come
illusion of what we once were or wish we could be… We hang suspen- ded above a world we can no longer bear to live in.”
4.—What
about technology’s hand with its mixed offering of good and ill?
How are we to detect the point of diminishing return where the good
merges into effects that reduce one’s potential rather than
increase it? Orwell
says that the critical faculty in men is too weak to warn them and
pull them back at the boundary line where conveniency, abundance,
pleasure ceases to be a good and becomes sheer evil.
How is humanity to judge & discriminate between the good and bad
fruits of progress?
Even the goals of the civil
rights revolution are flawed, being limited to equal status &
equal opportunity to compete for [worldly] prizes that are likely to
fall to dust with each new conquest of technology. Habits of
thought normally limited to the production of material goods have
penetrated throughout our society and entered even the sacred
citadel of religion. A radical revision of institutions is being
done by a technology that is not committed to serving human ends.
Jacques Ellul writes: “In
education, the child is being educated in & for the society. And
that society is not an ideal one, with full justice and truth, but
society as it is ... If each of us abdicates his responsibilities
with regard to values, if each of us limits himself to leading a
trivial existence in a technologi- cal civilization, with greater
adaptation as one’s sole objective, everything will happen as I
describe it.”
The Catholic
Worker writes:
“The problem is to remain in the society but not of it. And we
must flourish like weeds in the cracks of the carapace… It seems
we should sustain ourselves both physically and spiritually on
technological [excess] … [Spiritually], the poor, the unemployed
and the unemployable are the off-scourings of the system … It is
only by serving them that we shall attain the Kingdom of God.”
5.—So
long as we have the suffering poor in our society, we needn’t be
at a loss where to begin to resist. [When society has taken care of
the under- privileged]; when the brilliant have been educated for
responsibility rather than personal success; when we have outgrown
the thought of controlling people by [technology], then it will be
time enough for Christians and Quaker Chris- tian to consider whether
the world offers any positions of power and success compatible with
their convictions.
We cannot refuse to be
killed; if it happens, it happens. We refuse to kill others and we
can clear ourselves as far as possible of all activity that prepares
for killing them or contributes to it, or any activity that
contributes to dehumani- zation. There are little groups of students
or recent students living on the verge of want in city districts
where they are in the midst of all the problems, seeking to start
the poor moving [so that] the “power structure” will acknowledge
their existence.
The new Catholic Worker
groups are perhaps more like the French worker-priests of a decade
or so ago, who shared the lives of the poorest wor- kers to find out
by participation what the people need and want; the Peace Corps and
VISA volunteers do similar work. The Italian aristocrat of the late 15th
century, Ettore Vernanza, friend of St. Catherine of Genoa was
described by von Hugel as believing: “… that only by actually
living amongst & with the poor, poor yourself; only by doing the
work … with such might and thorough- ness that the whole man, body
and soul, are drawn into and are, as it were, colored by it … only
such service can have the fruitfulness begotten by life directly
touching life.”
6.—There
is in every human being some part that is of
God, an inward
Christ through whom every man has direct access to God and may be
directly moved by God; through whom also each man has community with
every other man. This is not to deny the possibility of dimming
that unique light up to the point of extinguishing light; it remains
while life remains. The Inward Light implies unlimited
responsibility of every soul, and the unlimited responsibility that
each soul bears to any other soul doesn't let us rest in postures
of confor- mity. Before Jesus was a long line of people who could not
be fitted in. Jesus could not fit in and had to die. After him was
another long line down to our- selves. It is through cherishing this
immortal diamond, this image of God that we ourselves are immortal
diamonds and become what Christ was.
146.
The wit and wisdom of William Bacon Evans [1875-1964]
(by Anna
Cox Brinton;
1966)
Foreword—Edwin
B. Bronner wrote: “We feel there was much in his life which was
unique; that it would be a service to Friends to have access to
material about him.” In offering anecdotes and memorabilia one is
keenly aware that some of the charm and luster is dependent on the
speaker’s smile, twinkling eye, and satisfaction.
William Bacon Evans left an
impression on the Haverford Library as compiler of the “Biographical
Dictionary of Friends,
as the member of a large and widely known family, as student and
teacher at Westtown School, as valu- able assistant at Daniel Oliver’s
orphanage in Syria, as concerned visitor to conscripts at the
Civilian Public Service camps, as tireless worker for love and unity
in the divided Philadelphia Society of Friends (SOF). He did not
produce a Quaker Journal. He wrote instead bird songs and sonnets,
printed in 10 slender books.
In My Father’s
House—An
English visitor wrote: As
we lined up to board [the
Greyhound Bus to the 5 Years Meeting in Richmond, Indiana] next
to me appeared an 18th
century Quaker—plain dress, grey habit, John Woolman hat... He
thee’d & thou’d everybody gaily & called them ‘Friend.’
He was in his 90th
year & better known in Philadelphia than William Penn. He is a
Quaker institution [through]
his sayings, jokes,
homemade puzzles, mathe- matical conundrums, & bird pictures sold
to benefit American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). He believes in
the brotherhood of man, the Fatherhood of God, and the neighborhood
of Philadelphia.
William Bacon Evans was born
in Philadelphia in 1875; grew up in Moorestown, New Jersey. His
father wrote: . . . “Slender of frame, and singular of diet . . .
easily playing all day without playmates, fond of, & fairly
ingenious with tools and devising things. . . Quite good at
language, already showing a natural interest in etymology. Is
greatly pleased with [and actively explores] Natural Philosophy; if
he is sent to feed the chickens, the fear would be that they should
perish for want or at least the feed kettle would disappear & the eggs go unharvested.”
[As a slight & painfully
shy boy], social situations were harder for him to deal with. In a
bird-loving family he showed [early signs of] the keen observa- tion &
retentive memory of a field naturalist. At Westtown boarding school,
he had [ample room & opportunity to explore nature, which
resulted in a carefully made list of local plants. His stated
desires were for more letters from home, & more time to eat his
meals. He was very thoughtful towards his 2 sisters, who attended
the same school. There was an old Indian settlement about 3½ miles
from school that he and John Carter explored, finding 12
arrowheads between them. He excelled at geometry and mechanical
drawing.
[In 1893, he graduated, and
went to work in his father’s glass and paint store. He suffered
from cut-up hands & a smashed thumb in early days of his work].
He visited Friends meetings & read Quaker books. He promoted a
free public reading room & [worked in] the Friends Freedman’s
Association for the training of colored youth. He served as
secretary of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club. Ten years
after graduation, he served on the Westtown School Committee,
practiced colloquial French in southern France, & took bird notes
everywhere, especially on Puffin Island off the shores of Anglesea.
Master Bacon—After
his father’s business closed, he took a teaching position at
Westtown. After 2 years of teaching, he received a B.S. & a
tea- cher’s certificate from Columbia University. It cannot be said
that Master Bacon was a born teacher. Herbert Nicholson, his fellow
teacher wrote: “For 2 years we had very close relations &
neither of us being too good at discipline had much sympathy for
each other.” [Nicholson slept well at night; Bacon did not]. One
suspects that his relationships with his pupils were stronger
outside the classroom than in it, influenced by his bird walks &
his skilled skating. [He went out of his way to make life easier
for his students].
He hadn't yet adopted the
antique pattern of Quaker dress for which he was later so well
known; he was on his way to it. He was beginning to reaffirm the
old testimonies which in his mind were part of religious
faithfulness. He was 38 when he was chosen captain of the Columbia
soccer team and an elder of his monthly meeting, curiously old for
the first appointment and curiously young for the other.
Syria—Relief
work took him to Syria in 1919. Daniel & Emily Oliver founded
their orphanage within the ramparts of the old Ras-el-Metn castle.
Bacon Evans was to spend 11 years there as a teacher. He taught
English, French, and general science to the older boys. [He had to
improvise, using a soccer ball to show some boys about how
‘longitude’ and ‘latitude’ is used on a globe]. He also
supervised a small rug-making, and later lace-making industry.
In 1931 Bacon Evans attended
Yearly Meeting at Ramallah, and stayed a week visiting Bethlehem,
Jerusalem, Jericho, Tiberius, and Damascus. He got as much
pleasure walking alone in the hills as he did from visiting these
biblically historical sites; he [took notes on the nature around him
and] made a bird list for Palestine; “about 9,000 storks flew
overhead. With the birds he established a communication which at
time became verbal.
Bird Song—That
Bird songs should have been the inspiration for many of his early
poems is no surprise. Bird song was the only music & Poetry was
the only art form allowed by 19th
century Quakers. The laughing loon, the trilling thrush, the
bubbling wren—he knew and caught them all. Seven
Score Bird Songs
in 1943 was a compendium of bird songs, sonnets, translations from
La Fontaine, and other tidbits.
A lifelong love of poetry was
one of Bacon Evans’ most endearing quali- ties. He collected
Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton, Keats, Wordsworth, a dozen others &
his own in Sonnets
for Lovers and for Lovers of Sonnets.
To balance the grave and the gay was more than a lifelong endeavor;
it was part of the fabric of his being. Neither the woman he sought
during his second period of teaching nor he himself ever married.
Of Many Branches—Bacon
Evans was a great grandson of Jonathan Evans, one of the builders of
Philadelphia, whose relentless integrity was instrumental in
splitting Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for more than a century. Many
tensions lay behind the “Separation of 1827.” One part was
rebellion of the membership against the authority of a small group
of city elders, including Jonathan Evans. Another part was the more
liberal theology of country Friends. The 3rd
part was the inevitable cultural cleavage between farmers &
well-to-do urban business men. Elias Hicks represented the country
faction; the elders in Philadelphia called themselves Orthodox. The
Hicksites pro- duced the Friends
Miscellany; two
sons of Jonathan Evans produced the Friends
Library. It is
not easy to discern a doctrinal difference between the Friends
Miscellany, and
the Friends
Library.
Bacon Evans carried the
weight of this division most of his life. On Ninth Month 27, 1928,
Bacon Evans brought his own family together at Springfield Meeting
House in Delaware County. They heard testimonies to the iron
strength and faithfulness of Jonathan Evans, and felt the spirit of
love that largely failed at the time of the Separation. 31 years
later, Jonathan
Evans and His Time was published. In the course of time the efforts of Bacon Evans and
other reconcilers bore fruit; today the SOF in Phildelphia is once
again united.
Costume & Concern—Religious
development was for Bacon Evans a slow & steady growth, unmarked
by a sudden conversion. Integrity permeated the outward processes
of Bacon Evans’ life. It developed after his stay in the Middle
East. He had grown up among Friends who wore the plain, collarless
coat; those he venerated wore also the Quaker hat. Because [such
Quakers] were peculiar in dress and speech they could more easily
become a pioneer in peculiar, unpopular causes. They often
possessed a sly humor and gentle roguishness apparently out of
keeping with the solemnity of their bearing.
The same integrity prompted
him to uphold the old Quaker testimony of “plain language” [i.e.
the use of “thou” and “thee,”] avoiding the use of the
plural “you.” An English Friend writes: “I then knew
nothing of William Bacon Evans except that his concern was for
grammatical accuracy.” [Bacon Evans gently admonished the
Englishman, and advocated the maintenance of “plain lan- guage.”]
Negative reaction to his practicing plain language was rare [due to
his unfailing courtesy]. (e.g. “Thank Thee, for thanking me”;
“I am honored to wear the hat that once covered thy worthy head. I
thank thee;” “Thank thee for talking with me.”) There was
none of the ascetic in him, nor the recluse. He rejoiced in his
family and in domestic life.
Civilian Public
Service—Bacon
Evans welcomed the plainest of work, and concern for peace permeated
his actions. During Pendle Hill’s summer session in 1941 Bacon
Evans was a staff associate, known as “our resident saint.” His
more formal function was to assist certain students with their term
papers. The daily morning meetings for worship that season
sometimes at- tained an unusually high level, due in part to his
presence.
His ministry wasn't oracular, not “the word of the
Lord unto you,” like the ministry of many old-time Friends. It
seems to have sprung straight out of what had impressed him immediately before he arose to speak. When Yearly Mee- ting was faced
with a difficult, dissatisfied Friend, Bacon Evans got up during a
silence, walked over to the Friend, bowed, shook his hand, and sat
down next to him, without saying a word.
The Civilian Public Service
was formed to supply a place for pacifists whose consciences would
not allow them to accept military services. Bacon Evans, not
willing that the young should bear alone the brunt of the Quaker
peace testimony, felt it laid upon him to do what he could for the
men in the camps. He would join the men “on project.”
“Frequently he would teach us, gracefully and without hurting
feelings, how we could better handle the tools that we city slickers
were not accustomed to using.” On another occasion, he was
discussing the causes of the Separation while chopping down small
trees. The Friend with him suggested Jonathan Evans, to which Bacon
Evans re- plied: “Yes, I think great-grandfather had something to
do with it.” This form of visitation was but one type of
traveling in the ministry, of which he did so much.
For Historians,
Genealogists, & Seekers after Truth—The
Dictionary of
Quaker Biography (DQB),
a biographical dictionary was William Bacon Evans’ work; it
occupied a large part of his time during the last 15-20 years of his life. [The handwritten slips were] stowed in an array of old
fashioned filing boxes in the balcony of the Quaker Collection at
Haverford College Library. [These were consolidated with an English
production].
For his basic list he drew
upon his wide acquaintance with contempo- rary Friends & his still
wider reading of the works of past worthies. In his work he slipped
in and out of the centuries readily, less bound by time and custom
than most of us. Each morning he would go to the portrait in Rufus
Jones’ office, “to greet my friend Rufus.” Elizabeth Vining
and he worked near one another on their own projects, exchanging
greetings and information before spending the rest of their time in
silent work.
On 5th
Day mornings Bacon Evans attended Haverford Meeting, along with
resentful students, often in revolt against having to attend the
Meeting. During one such tense Meeting, William Bacon Evans rose
from the facing bench and solemnly said, “No man descends so low
in the scale of social val- ues as to admit he comes from New Jersey.”
Amidst general, loud laughter he finished with, “And so it is with
the SOF, many of whose members take special delight in concealing
the fact that their beliefs have anything to do with the main body
of Christendom.”
In front of a supermarket in
Haverford, & wearing an arrow on his head, he sold homemade
puzzles and gadgets, the proceeds of which, running into some
hundreds of dollars, were turned over to “Friendly and other
causes”; occasionally he would also sell bird paintings. He would
take his puzzles with him on his numerous trips to other Meetings.
He passed them out at the United Nations. A woman of the Washington
Square Meeting said, “If we could just set him loose in this
place, we would have world peace within a year.”
William Bacon Evans was a
children’s man with a bit of that mysterious charm of the Pied
Piper. Some regarded him as someone slightly unbalanced; St.
Francis was so-regarded in his time. The Haverford students never
looked on him as a traditional conformist. Free of conventional
bonds, our Friend could pass through barriers that most of us could
not, and he could take others with him. He gently and patiently
helped a member of the junior conference give his report to a crowd
of hundreds for the first time.
Fare Thee Well—In
spite of a sonnet to the contrary, no dullness of ear & eye was
ever perceptible to the age mates of Bacon Evans. In the course of
time he gave up bird walking and the early rising connected with it,
taking up bird painting instead. He spent his last decade in the
Friends Center at Third and Arch Street, and his last 2 weeks at the
Stephen Smith Home for the Aged. He departed, as a matter of fact,
without illness. After breakfast on the 25th
of Second Month, 1964 he felt a pain, rose, and walked through the
door . . . and was gone.
147.
Walls (by Robert
E. Reuman;
1966)
About the Author—Robert Everett Reuman (1923-1997), was born in 1923 in Foochow, China. He received a: B.A., Middlebury College, 1945; M.A., University PA, 1946; Ph. D. University PA, 1949. He worked in the Friends' Ambulance Service Unit, China, 1949-1951. He taught philosophy 4 years, & served on the faculty at Colby College in Maine for 35 years. This pamphlet is about barriers that separate people everywhere, set in the perspective of a world view.
Introduction—One of the most curious features of contemporary times is to be found in the walls that exist. We are familiar with Germany’s wall; that isn't the only wall or the most formidable. Near China there are 3; between North & South Korea; between mainland China and Taiwan; and between North and South Vietnam. The Korean wall is a moving military wall. The wall between the mainland and KMT is made up of American ships. A stone wall may be a better wall than a moving military wall; there may be more hope of solutions.
[It may seem like there is one wall with local variations between Com- munists & non-Communists]. There are religious & racial walls between Pak- istan & India, and between Arabs and Israelis. [Americans tend to focus at- tention away from their own wall between Whites and Negroes]. The pro- blem we are discussing is neither new nor unique, but is difficult to under- stand. The significance lies not in the physical wall, but in the psychological attitudes in individuals that give it meaning. The “wall problem” is [a result] of the “wall mentality.”
What Makes the Wall Mentality—I find 5 elements present in a typical case of “wall mentality”;
1. The division into two antagonistic sides is both rather recent in ori-
gin & arbitrary in nature.
2. The existence of a sharply defined and limited self-identification.
3. The presence of intense emotional factors, based on basic identi-
ty distinction.
4. The collapse in communication between the inside and the outside
[i.e. the “other side.”]
5. Our behavior becomes “institutionalized” [i.e. formal, rigid, corre- sponding to and limited by the wall]
1. The wall by itself strikes us as unnatural. The divisions of Viet Nam, Germany, Korea, and Palestine seem to cut unnaturally across a genuine or assumed unity. [The similar split between different countries is no less tragic]. [The unwilling part of the change or split sees it as] strange, unfamiliar, and contrary to the way things should be. Often, the initiator of change is charged with belonging to some other & larger “conspiracy.” Neither Korea nor Vietnam had a natural or durable Communist north & non-Communist south; the East- West conflict was imposed upon the situation without regard to local needs.
2. The wall-minded person decisively draws a line around, one’s inte- rests, one’s concerns, one’s needs and wants, & views the satisfaction of these interests and needs as good. My group being called, or chosen [to receive satisfaction of needs and wants], presumes another group is rejected. The history of Christendom provides unfortunately many examples of the exclusive mentality.
Viewing myself as a member of one class automatically entails my rejec ting another class viewed as antagonistic. At its simplest this characteristic is found in the person who defines his identity with one’s physical body or pos- sessions. More frequent is the limited identification with a group larger than the individual but smaller than all humankind. It has the advantages of locating an external visible enemy where all the mistakes are seen to have been made & upon whom all hate can be focused in an unavoidable & irreconcilable anta- gonism. [If the assertions are believed vigorously enough by either side, it be- comes true, even where it was not true before.
3. Within the approved group all the satisfaction of positive emotions can be lavished. Against the enemy one can pour all the negative emotions, and receive the sanction of one’s group for doing so. Destructiveness, latent in all of us, thrives under these circumstances. We sympathize and empathize with each other within the group. We resent the enemy when a group member is hurt or when the enemy feels joy, and rejoice when the enemy is hurt.
4. The Collapse in Communication—In the wall situation, certain kinds of mistakes & ignorance aren't only permitted but are demanded. We are no longer permitted to hear, even if we want to, the message from the other side that might correct our ignorance. We build a stereotype which is only partially true. Few of the American books about Communist China gave a balanced picture, for what they left out, or explained away, was just as important as what they chose to include. Western “censorship,” though it is more diffused, more voluntary, & less obvious than Communist censorship, has an impact only slightly less effective on the masses of people.
The communications breakdown offers 2 very interesting psychological phenomena: projection of blame & responsibility; perceptual selectivity. If we are disturbed and uncomfortable, we do not see the responsibility or the cause as lying within us; we project them outside of us. In perceptual selectivity, our seeing is determined by what we expect or want. We learn to not perceive things that are unexpected or distasteful.
Different words used to describe the same situation can have emotional content ranging from extreme disapproval to extreme approval. Certain words are frequently used in almost exclusively emotional ways, with little or no de- scriptive content: “democratic,” “liberal,” “peaceful,” “good,” “beautiful,” “God,” “Christian.” Another important element is that of our thought systems, our ideologies, and utopias. It is easy to become a prisoner of an ideology, so that one cannot see what the ideology fails to point out. Over-simplification can easily become the imprisoning walls of dead or rigid thinking.
5. Institutionalization—Having accepted the presence of a certain wall, we organize our lives this side of the wall, ignoring as much as possible what happens on the other side; gradually behavior becomes formal, & rigid. [Insti- tutions] are supposed to help us solve our problems, but they always have inertia of their own which limits flexibility. To overcome the wall mentality, old habits must be weakened, and new ones must be developed and brought into durable operation by institutions. Overcoming the walls of discrimination be- tween Whites and Negroes will not be complete until radical changes in atti- tudes, habits, and institutions are accomplished. Significant changes in any wall are only possible when attitudes, ideologies, and institutions are modified.
The Use of Walls—Every last one of us has, & to some degree must have walls within us & around us. We need them for convenience, psycholo- gical & physical defense, for currency control, for economic organization. [Be- cause of imperfections] I throw up a “Persona,” behind which I can tolerate them. A Mahatma (Great Soul) can expose their failures so as to purify them- selves of traits of which they should be ashamed, & absorb the consequen- ces. This demands great insight, enormous sympathy, self discipline, & great personal courage.
In the present, we don't know how to produce, exchange, educate, communicate, & share so that all creatures are equally within whatever walls and fences we might build. What is true for individuals is even truer for racial, social, political and economic groups and countries. Every country can list past injuries and has elaborate techniques for keeping the memories of these inju- ries alive. The more unfriendly pressure that is put on a wall, the higher and deeper that wall will be built. We must admit that some walls are necessary [and attempt to build only those walls] for psychological protection, conveni- ence, for economic and psychological organization.
An Outworn Means—We cannot be content with building walls and counter walls, or with retaliation raids. It may satisfy primitive instincts for defense or revenge, but it neither defends nor revenges adequately; it often threatens annihilation instead. Traditional wall & defense mentality locates the problem in the wrong place. It sees the other’s mistakes & its own [but rarely]. It sees a troublemaker, but not what bothers the troublemaker; it attacks the symptom, not the disease, & aggravates [not alleviates] the underlying ailment.
The root problem is the underdeveloped maturity of people and systems in a world of insufficiency. A more inclusive sense of equity is needed because people and systems are endowed differently, inherit different resources, and face different problems, & yet are increasingly interdependent with each other. It is the immaturity of all who have not learned to critically respect me & mine on this side of the wall, you and yours on that side, & all creatures everywhere.
The Double Obligation—Albert Schweitzer suggests that we should feel reverence for all life, and be able to respect one’s own life, another’s life, and societies that are less inclusive than the whole. I can't fulfill both of these obligations perfectly, but I am required to try. All living things must be viewed as members of the kingdom of ends. Every being is a center of worth, one who should respect all other centers of worth, and should seek continuously [if imperfectly] to generate that community of lives where ever more can live in harmony. I can express sympathy only for some creatures, therefore I should exercise my critical faculties in the effort to reduce the avoidable disharmonies that exist between us. The first commandment is universal love, the second is parochial love, and the third is critical reconstruction.
The Tension within Love & Truth—There are two attitudes [sought in seeking to live more closely in the universal community]: love and truth. [Any actions I take] require an attitude toward truth, based on the most accurate and inclusive knowledge I can achieve. Although I must love and know in a limited way, I must also be aware of unlimited loving and knowing, and know that they too lay claims upon me.
The young child gradually develops an awareness of himself [& then of others]. One develops a limited social self as well as a personal self. Usually one’s sympathies expand from family and a few friends to include a teacher, classmate, a club, one’s city, one’s country, one’s race. When conflicts of loy- alties arise one either reduces one’s loyalties or tries to maintain those loy- alties, while reconciling the conflicts.
Usually the process of ego-expansion stops at some point; one’s sym- pathies become limited and bordered. One stops growing, stops looking for more inclusive loyalties. For functional purposes these limits may be una- voidable and desirable; for purposes of defining the highest human loyalties and sympathies they are inadequate. We can never serve the whole in its en- tirety, until we are able to find social, political and economic organizations where we can serve any part and the whole as well. The obligation to [serve all of humanity] remains a test for the adequacy of any less inclusive loyalties or set of sympathies, or the organizing of human efforts.
Guidelines for the Future—I have developed the concept of an atti- tude, because attitudes are more within our individual control; programs are equally important with the attitude. Each economic, political, social, educa- tional, or religious institution is suspended between the ideal of universal loy alty, and the local conditions of its origin and history. The adequacy of such institutions must be measured against the needs and interest of the whole of that population, and not some privileged few. [Elites in an institution must be answerable to the people outside of that institution]. The capacity for leader- ship must be developed as widely as possible.
Institutions shouldn't be against the interests of members of other insti- tutions. We have an obligation to be critical of the institutions under which we live, [even] when the consequences of this are unpleasant. [There needs to be] thoughtful analysis of the origins of totalitarian systems, the sources of their strength, and the methods by which they may be constructively restrained. [How can] supranational structures control & limit totalitarianism without in turn becoming a new and more terrifying totalitarian structure?
Wall Mentality is the Enemy—The causes which led to [the wall be- tween East and West Germany] started with a Hitler-German aggression. The polarization of Germany [that followed its defeat] was an expression of the polarization of the victorious powers. Political democracy and material well- being developed in favor of West Germany. East Germany had either to give in to the West, change her system of administration, rapidly improve her econo- mic position, or fight back with restrictive measures; she chose the last in the form of a physical wall.
The use of military force by either side is unthinkable under present political and technological conditions. Even if the East German government were less popular with its citizens than other governments, there's a real power structure there that can't be wishe d away, and probably won't be blasted away. The “enemy” is an exclusive way of thinking and feeling, [focused only on the satisfaction of a small group].
The goal then is the gaining of an attitude of [a wider] community. I am convinced that German won’t be able to reunite with German until they are able to reunite with non-Germans. [There must be a sympathetic, critical element involved in developing a wider community], with which we must criticize the groups on both sides of the wall. I would suggest to Marxists that there is a sense of dialectic, [of dialogue] that provides a frame- work for genuine co- existence, & offers friendly challenge even while it offers mutual respect & toleration.
Aims into Action—We should seek ways of being loyal to our side without requiring disloyalty to the other side. We should save our negative attitudes for criticizing the thinking & actions that are antithetical to the larger community. We should shun words that avoid thinking, & think constructively about problems to which we as well as others can make contributions. Quaker and German churches can develop dialogue opportunities and encourage problem-solving discussion of existing conflicts. Professors & artists have been able to open significant lines of communication [in their chosen fields]. West Germany could reduce the causes of Eastern fears.
Develop positive connections with East Europe in the form of trade, cul- tural exchanges, and even political relations. The healing of the German divi- sion and the European division must proceed conjointly. Objective presen- tation of both good and bad aspects of the situation in East Germany is vitally needed, instead of moralistic condemnation and ostracism. The ground could be prepared for a peace treaty conference at which at least the 4 occupation powers and both Germanies would be represented. East and West Germany need to seek consensus through mutual negotiation on border questions. We need to learn to be patient with what we can achieve, and to take limited satisfaction in limited progress. We must learn to forgive others and ourselves in comparable degrees.
Like a High Mountain—[To date] we have not been able to escape the [wall mindset] in our ideological framework of categories, borders, and groups. Perhaps it would be well to replace or supplement our root-metaphor of walls with one drawn from India. There, reality is like a high mountain, with many different routes to the summit. Each has its own special problems and joys, its unique history & future. Each has only a suspicion, if that, of other sides of the mountain, and of the mountain as a whole. Large and difficult mountains can only be ascended by team effort, teams within teams, and base parties that support several teams climbing higher on the slope. Given this approach, reunification of Germany may be possible, although, once accomplished it may turn out to be less important. The approach itself is the real achievement.
148.
The
Prophetic Element in Modern Art
(by
Dorothea Blom;
1966):
About
the Author—Dorothea
Blom has been with the Pleasantville Adult School since 1954 and
lectures to religious groups, clubs, and schools in the New York
area. Since the early 1950s she has concentrated on art as it be- comes a language of relationships to life. In the present pamphlet
she uses the term “Modern Art” in a broad sense, as art
departing radically from Post Renaissance concepts of reality,
beginning early in the 19th century “Contem- porary” refers to
later 19th century artists.
INTRODUCTION—Art
never lies. When it congeals into repetition as it did in Egypt by
1000 B.C., we know the attitudes of the people have frozen, too. The
art of our time tells us what we are like & whither we go. There
is technological change, & change in our relation to reality,
which is harder to . recognize Our prophetic tradition tells us that
we are still a generative soci- ety, capable of finding our relation
to the largest evolutionary process the human race has ever known.
Within a couple generations of the 15th century academies spread throughout Europe glorifying objects
in measured space; by the 19th century this aspect of reality became
a
tyranny.
We
still have an inordinate faith in objectivity, common sense, &
intellect. We go on treating life as if it required no more than
manipulation of objects & events. We desperately need our best
art to help us feel at home in our own time & to help us greet
the future with creative initiative. Our best art says we are
capable of transforming our attitudes, limbering our imagination,
and vita- lizing our relationships. If we are to communicate with art,
we must be aware of the language of art. Everyone can see 2 ways,
have 2 relations to life: lan- guage of fact; language of truth.
Unless we can trust them both, synchronize them, we are that much
less than fully human.
Part
I: PERSONAL DISCONSOLATIONS—Had emotion and blood, 2 measures of
man’s life, no other use than for outrage released in vio- lence?
Goya must have asked himself this. His life seemed calculated to
irri- tate, exasperate, humiliate & wound him; [his children died;
his lover died]. He thought Napoleon’s invasion would liberate
Spain. [It did not and intro- duced him to the appalling brutality
of war]; a smoldering volcano of inward, secret violence [grew in
him]. [He etched the “Caprices” series, including the “Colossus.”
Goya produced “The Horrors of War,” etchings
reflecting the terrors of Napoleonic occupation. [He had to hide] in
the remote Spanish countryside. Dark, silent, incomprehensible
creatures poured out of paintings (“The Dark Paintings of the Deaf
Man’s House”) and etchings (“The Proverbs”), looked back at
him from the walls of his retreat, and slowly healed him. Later, in
Bor- deaux, his painting mirrors a recovered innocence, a simple
regard for life.
At
the same time, the aging Blake was fulfilling his prophetic destiny.
The world found him touchy, headstrong, unreliable of temper; it had
no use for his etchings and water colors. Some young artists found
the old couple in great physical deprivation. Yet Blake was buoyant
with a joyous love of live. The young men cared for him for the last
10 years of his life. Most of Blakes’ finest achievement in the
visual arts came during those last years. Literal- minded people
sometimes question Blake’s sanity because he claimed that he saw
angels and conversed with Dante. The image-making factor functioned freely for Blake during his daylight hours.
PROPHETS,
COSMIC & SOCIAL/ SEEING FOR A NEW AGE —[The
battles the “Realist,” “Romanticist,” & “Classicist”
fought to find a new “reality” using old art forms], seems a
last fling of Post Renaissance art. J. M. V. Tur- ner’s paintings of
the 1840’s take on a dematerialized onrush. Meanwhile in France, Honoré Daumier had become a famous lithographer & cartoonist.
He developed a painting & a sculpture that make him the great
prophet of the modern world’s emerging common man. He gave dignity
& beauty to the unpretty, unidealized rugged life of plain folk.
Edouard
Manet comes as the 1st great innovator in painting since the 16th
century. [For centuries, painters started with gray or brownish
undercoat, and modeling objects from highlight to shadow.] Manet put
the color he wan- ted directly on the unpainted canvas, and freed
himself of how the world ought to look by looking
at it. Manet and younger men took these innovations out- side, and
Impressionism emerged.
[The 1st Impressionist exhibitions shocked
the public], attuned as it was to the dim light of studio painting
and sentimental allegory. What appeared as meaningless scrawlings
with no relation to nature at all, now seems like nature as we know
her today; [art has trained us to see it that way]. [The label
“Im- pressionist” implied a fleeting glimpse]. The potentially
great artists of the late 19th century wanted the living present to
yield something [deep and lasting] of the structure of the universe,
[its Creator & human involvement in it].
THE
GREAT ONES—Cézanne,
Gauguin, Van Gogh, Seurat, Renoir, Deas, Redon, Rodin were all alive
in the same decade, each with a unique visual language of his own
built upon some neglected aspect of reality. We know them as the
Post Impressionists. Impressionism became academic art of Europe and
America.
Cézanne
called his visual relation to nature his “little sensation” or
“little realization.” Cézanne’s color patches each
represented a bounce of vision. For him living space, at the center
of the picture, becomes the prime content. Cé- zanne forsook
single-point linear perspective. He gives you a many-point per- spective within the same painting. At approximately the same
time, Rodin did the same thing in sculpture. With his sculptures
space penetrates the center of the composition. The very nature of
his works invites you to walk around them and to become involved in
ever-changing relation of volumes & space. They have equal
vitality wherever you approach. Living space and many-pointed
perspective are still new ways of seeing for us.
BETWEEN
PRIVATE EMOTION AND OUTER WORLD—Vincent
Van Gogh focused on nature with an intensity new to painting,
creating visual equivalents of emotion as it responds to the world.
His painting reveals deep emotion as valid response to visual
experience. Gauguin focused on the reality of myth. The
significance of myth has been so hard for us to credit that most of
us dismissed him as merely decorative. Van Gogh’s ego was too weak
for the wear and tear of life, Gauguin’s ego seemed bloated beyond
capacity to relate to others.
With
Odilon Redon, it was different. Between 20 & 40, he was one of
the loneliest of men, living under a shadow of futility & doom.
He married in middle life & suddenly he burst into color.
Members of the great Generation had im- portant things in common.
They were superb picture builders, producing works that are truly
microcosmic, bound powerfully into units, each with a life of its
own. Each wrought a personal style to contain their vision. They
give us their visual events, their encounters between man's depth & the world's depth,
Part II: 20TH
CENTURY IDIOMS—With
Matisse as their leader, the Fauves exploited distortion and color
as equivalents of mood. Picasso quickly assimilated the intuitive
abstraction of African art in the process of developing Cubism. The
Expressionists emphasized the externalization of inner feelings. Some artists gave vent to the general disillusionment concerning the
western world; they formed the Dada movement. Dadaism, Surrealism,
Abstract Ex- pressionism have all deified rationalism. 20th
century arts adds up to an enormous amount of research into
unexplored aspects of reality that can awaken new life in us.
For 100 years each new art
departure has shocked the public. If we learn to use shock to
stretch the whole capacity of being we find new answers, new
initiatives rather than habitual reactions. Contemporary art
demands that we gather ourselves into the present where new life
[and revelation] always is.
THE INNER FOCUS, THE
ENERGY, & TRANSFORMATIONS—Never
in the Pilgrimage of man on Earth has art been so inwardly focused
as in the 20th
century. This implies that attitudes, intuitions and relationships
will become as real or more real than objects and events. Pitirim
Sorokin wrote: “If a de- struction of our world can be avoided, then
the emerging creative forces will usher humanity into a new
magnificent era of its history.” The chronic tired- ness prevalent
in our day comes from carrying a great weight of unused energy that
will not channel into mere manipulation of things and events. The real artist knows life's depth, & that is why we identify artists as profoundly religious.
Transformations emerge again
and again in both representational and “abstract” forms of art.
Kandinsky, Wyeth, Pollack, and Calder abstract scenes and rhythms
from nature. An artist’s relation to nature often produces transfor- mations that we fail to recognize at first. Calder’s
mobile art brims with feeling of sea, trees, and breeze, though it
looks abstract. Western culture thought it could bully nature and
has alienated it. We are all children of the marriage of earth and
spirit; we become less than human when alienated from either.
The artist’s works today
ask us to enter a new encounter, to see unre- cognized aspects of
nature which will add new meaning to life. From Esoteric Buddhism to
Zen, from architecture to flower arrangement, from ink painting to
design, we have singled out the Japanese as our greatest non-western
influ- ence. I left a New York art show & found the seeing
experience on the train ride to Philadelphia influenced by what I
had seen at the show.
SCIENCE & MODERN
ART—Albert
Einstein wrote: “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the
mysterious. [One day], our art & science will be seen as one
fabric. The artist trusts a process. One paints from urgent
neces- sity. One contacts aspects of reality near the surface, waiting
to be understood. The Space Age our 20th
century art tells us increasingly, is fast spending it- self. Dr.
Loren Eiseley said: “Venturing into space would be meaningless un- less it corresponds to a certain interior expansion, an
ever-growing universe- within. Space imagery connects with outer
space only in an effort to mirror the “depth and breadth” within
man.
WHAT IS MAN—What
it feels like to be human preoccupies the con- temporary artist—not
at all what it looks like. Any culture with a future grap- ples in
terms of its own predicament for a new, 1st-hand
knowing of what man is. The artist gives imagery to the unfaced &
unresolved negativity rampant in the community. We can no longer
afford the catastrophe of negative projection [onto others]. It is
dangerous. It robs us of the initiative to fulfill our individual
& communal destinies.
The Crucifixion reveals the
artist’s sensitivity to the suffering of his time. Einstein told
us this period will be remembered as a time when changes took place
too fast for human accommodation, causing inordinate suffering. The
artist identifies suffering with meaning and potential
transformation. Many of our artists grow more susceptible to joy
& serenity as they get older & recon- cile the unpleasant side
within themselves. In individuation a person finds himself through
his own uniqueness in terms of universals. His outward rela- tion to
community is a by-product, rather than a measure.
CONCLUSION: As
we learn the visual language of prophetic art of the last 150 years,
we find accelerating promise of 3 things: a radical change of focus
from outward to inward reality; enormous amount of energy to affect
and enliven this change; [realization that] transformations are both
possible and ur- gent. The change within us and the change outside of
us terrifies us and we resist with all our strength—unless we
become involved in it.
We would like art to assure
that [global] problems will not destroy civi- lization before our
attitudes become limber enough to remove the threat. If we bring a
holy curiosity to our art, we can discover an inherent stuff within
us lon- ging to take part in this moment of history. As our art helps
us trust this deep longing to greet an unfamiliar world with love,
it frees us to share the vision of our great thinkers. Dr. Platt
says humankind now thrashes about in a danger- ous and painful
adolescence, with evolutionary hormones pressing hard.
“I have set before you
life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life …”I
(Deuteronomy
30:19)
149.
Experiments in community: Ephrata; Amish; Doukhobors;
Shakers; Bruderhof; Monteverde (by Norman J. Whitney; 1966)
[About the Author]—Norman J. Whitney (1891-1967) studied English Literature, & was for 38 years a professor at Syracuse University (NY); he founded Syracuse Peace Council. In 1957, he went to work for American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) as a representative for New York & New England. He established State Civil Service (NY) as an alternative to military service in the US (1941). He was a signatory of "From the Force to Speak the Truth," a study of the international conflict situation. This pamphlet contains essays describing intentional communities and defining the causes of their success.
Introduction (by
Howard H. Brinton)—A
community is called “inten- tional” when it adopts a way of life,
a type of culture, different from that of the surrounding society.
It creates a “utopia” based on a specific philosophy. The
community maintains itself by commercial and other relations with
the world, while insisting on its own way of life; it is in the
world but not of it. The Amana community in Iowa and the Oneidas in
New York began as communistic soci- eties inspired by a powerful
religious impulse. Capitalism entered, though never completely. On
the other hand, the Amish, the Hutterites, and the Douk- hobors have
persisted for nearly 400 years.
Though greatly separated from
the world, Quakers were individually so successful in business and
politics that the world gradually pushed through the walls and
hedges created by Quaker schools. Not content with being isolated
from the public, they were busily engaged in efforts to prevent
wars, abolish slavery, reform prisons and other pioneering social
efforts. [Under these con- ditions, maintaining different customs was
increasingly difficult].
On this continent there have
been about 200 attempts to create the “beloved society” in
intentional communities. They ranged from complete Christian
communism to a slightly modified, competitive communism. There were
12 definable [attributes] of successful cooperation:
1. Loyalty to an able, selfless lea- 7. Group loyalty over family
der or leaders. loyalty.
2. Religious exercises carried out 8. Balance of intimacy and
by whole group. separateness.
3. Moderately strict cooperative 9. Separateness from the world discipline. to allow for working out ideals; vital concern for world.
4. Adequate, diverse economic 10. Optimum size 50-100 people;
resources, simplicity
5. New member, child education 11. Participation of children.
ongroup practices.
6. Loyalty to social theory without 12. Face to face relationships
obsession. creating single living
organism
Highly successful tribal
communities probably had these same attri- butes; they preserved the
primitive lifestyle, perhaps too well. With little or no community
life, men can't adjust to changes fast enough. 19th
century agri- cultural communities had far less mechanical help, and
far more spiritual help; they were not fragmented as they are now.
Education is concerned with the tool-using, rational part of the
mind, and not the feeling & action-oriented part of the mind. The
19th
century Quaker boarding schools aimed to resemble an enlarged Quaker
family with emphasis on religious worship, the cultivation of the
intellect, and the practice of physical work. Pendle Hill is a moderrn at- tempt along the same line, applied to adult education.
The 6 community experiments in
the following sections are all reli- giously-oriented communities:
[Ephrata; Amish; Doukhobors; Shakers; Bruder- hof; Monteverde]. The
first 5 were transplanted from Europe; the last is a con- temporary
American Quaker settlement in Costa Rica.
Ephrata—The
record of Ephrathites of 18th
century Pennsylvania (Lancaster County) is the record of John Conrad Beissel’s efforts
to resolve the riddle of [needing individual recognition and needing
to identify with others]. Among the 3 types of spiritual reformers
in 17th
century Germany were the Inspired, who broke with the denominations
and organized independent sects, endeavoring to live daily in the
presence of God. Beissel sought to join a mo- nastic group in
Germantown, but they were breaking up. He turned to the Dunkers,
another spiritual reform group and became leader of a new
con- gregation, which divided after 7 years over celibacy and Sabbath
observance issues.
Beissel & his followers
established in 1732 what was probably the first & only Protestant
monastery, called The Spiritual Order of the Solitary, better known
as the Ephrata Cloister; it was dissolved in 1934. It consisted of a bro- therhood & sisterhood to begin with and later included
“householders” or mar- ried couples. Within the buildings, the
doorways were low, to teach humility, & most beds were narrow
boards with wooden blocks for pillows. The diet was simple and
nearly meat-free with mostly water “and good bread always.”
Everything was ordered to
inculcate Christian virtues of humility, cha- stity, temperance,
fortitude, charity. The Sisters tended the kitchen gardens, and the Brotherhood did the heavier farm work. They started a tannery,
grist, saw, fulling [cloth-making], flaxseed, and paper mills. Here
was produced the first German book in the Colonies. They revived the
medieval art of text illu- mination, which they called Frakurschriften.
They had a unique method of singing, the secret of which is now
lost. They ran schools for their own and for the surrounding
community.
The [community’s] aim was
personal union of the soul with God; all else was subsidiary to His
purpose. There were stated hours for meditation, song and prayer
throughout the day, including a midnight meeting. Cloister
mis- sionaries ventured by foot as far as Rhode Island. A
Revolutionary War soldier who received treatment from them said, “I
had no idea of pure and practical Christianity. . . I knew it in
theory before; I saw it in practice then. Blessed are they who see;
more blessed they who show forth.”
Amish—The
Amish arose out of the same spiritual ferment that pro- duced
Anabaptist, Quakers, & Mennonites. They take their name from Jacob
Amman, a Swiss Mennonite, under whose conservative leadership they
be- came a group in the late 17th
century. They renounced infant baptism, denied that the church was
the mediator of divine grace, declared that religion was an
individual matter; they were severely persecuted.
William Penn offered them
shelter in the new world where they conti- nued to “despise the
world, fear God & keep his commandments”; they first came to
America in 1727. Their total membership is about 57,000 [1966;
270,000 in 2015). Maintaining this old-time culture has been
accomplished by rigid discipline, the maintenance of a strict
agriculture economy and a rural social pattern. Amishmen are
excellent farmers, their tools are limited to those that can be
operated by man and animal power, and without electricity. The distinctive dress and language of the “plain people” is a
constant reminder & aid to discipline, a visible symbol of
separateness.
All Amish speak Pennsylvania
“Dutch,” a High German dialect of the Middle Rhine region.
“Dutch” is used at home, English at school and for “out- side”
interaction, & High German for all religious purposes, preaching,
hymn singing, Bible reading. All travel is by horse and buggy. The
family rig is an enclosed buggy; the courting buggy is single-seated
and wide open. Amish dating is called “running around” and
begins at 16 or later, at Sunday evening “ singings,” husking
bees, or apple schnitzens.
“House-Amish” meet in the
homes of members; “church-Amish” have meeting houses. Generally
they have a bishop, 2 or 3 assisting preachers, and a deacon; leaders
are chosen by lot for life. Major decisions must have the “voice”
of the members; meetings last 4 hours. Preparing for “preaching”
in- volves many hours and the whole family, and preparing the meal for
after- wards involves a dozen women from the community.
The Amish are
not anarchist but law-abiding taxpayers up to the point at which the
State would interfere with their religious faith & practice; they
refuse oaths, flag salutes, military service, and federal aid. The
Amishman Papa Yoder said, “We know who we are, Mister, Don’t
interfere. . . Poor people you have plenty, and worried people and
afraid. Here we are not afraid. . . We know what is right. We do
not destroy, we build only . . . And wars we don’t arrange.”
Doukhobors—I
have long been interested in groups that search for so- lutions to the
problem [of balancing] liberty and authority in terms of a com- munity.
My visit to the Doukhobors, or Spirit Wrestlers of Western Canada
began with lunch in a Doukhobor home. The meal was vegetarian with
home- baked bread and straw tea.
Part of the Declaration of
faith is: “The Spiritual Community of Christ, having submitted
themselves to the Law & Authority of God, thereby become liberated
from the guardianship and power established by men. . . Under the
banner of Toil and Peaceful life, everything demanded of us which is
not contradictory to the Law of God, we will accept and execute
through consci- entious guidance. That evening we attended a sobranya.
The men & women sat separately and facing each other. There was
no liturgy; mainly choral sin- ging in Russian. Their own “psalms”
often recounted the traditions and suffe- rings of Doukhobor history.
Joseph James Neave, felt an
inward call to assist a minority group in Russia being persecuted for
their non-conformist faith & practice. With the cooperation of
Arch Street Meeting, 8,000 Doukhobors arrived in Canada in 1899;
Queen Victoria granted them exemption from military duty. Under the
able leadership of Peter Vasilivitch Verigin they developed a type of
com- munal life & prospered. Under poor leadership of Peter’s son
they lost their land. Krestova was the small, principal settlement of
the tragic Sons of Free- dom, who took direct, sometimes violent action
to protest the state’s encroach- ments on a people to whom private
land-ownership is a sin. In 1962, 100 men were arrested &
imprisoned. Hundreds of women took to the road & wound up camped
in a Vancouver park.
A young Doukhobor said: "We & Quakers must get together for the good of the world. Quakers has
been saved [from similar anarchy] by acceptance of the authority of
the “sense of the meeting.” The Doukhobors, with a long me- mory
of martyrdom, serfdom, and Tsarist tyranny, have tried to transplant
an age-old peasant culture into a modern industrialized society. A
deep sense of mission, long frustrated, coupled with a strong sense
of injury, long endured, is the perfect formula for desperate deeds.
The Sons of Freedom became the image of all of us and their very name
a tragic symbol of our collective despair.
Shakers—Their
spiritual descent can be quickly traced. It stems from the Camisards,
a persecuted Protestant group in France. They escaped to England,
where a Quaker couple named Wardley joined them & proclaimed the 2nd
coming of Christ as imminent. Ann Lee joined the Wardley group, where she endured physical & spiritual struggle & the Manchester
jail. It was made known to her that she was
the word of God and the 2nd
coming. She became known as Mother Ann, & attracted troubled men
& women by the spiritual peace in Mother Ann’s radiant face.
They called themselves “The Millenial Church: The United Society of
Believers in Christ’s 2nd
Appearing.
2 Years before the American
Revolution, Mother Ann & 8 of her fol- lowers set sail from
Liverpool. After defying a hostile captain, & a miraculous survival of a storm, Mother Ann’s party landed in New York on
August 6, 1774. There were several years of struggle with poverty
& the hardships of frontier life near Albany, New York; their
slogan was “Hands to work & hearts to God.” Augmented by
frontier revivalism, with its emphasis on the 2nd
Coming, the movement grew around the dynamic presence of Mother Ann
who “appeared to possess a degree of dignified beauty and heavenly
love which they had never before discovered among mortals.” She
died in 1784, worn out by toil & persecution, but not until after
she had seen her vision realized.
Her “Gospel Order” was
based on: Virgin Purity, Christian Communism, Confession of Sins, and
Separation from the World. Additions to the Society were from
conversions, and later adoption. Widowed parents “gave” their chil- dren to a Shaker “family.” Christian Communism took care of
selfish material ambition and assured Separation from the World. At
their peak in the mid-19th
century, there were 58 “families” in 18 Societies, scattered from
Maine to Kentucky.
The list of Shaker inventions
is long. Besides their furniture, they inven- ted clothespins,
brimstone matches, & a washing machine. Their business with the
world was carried on by trustees under strict discipline. The quality
of goods & their integrity made the Shaker name synonymous with
excellence & fair dealing. Other experimenters acknowledged their
indebtedness, notably Humphrey Noyes of Oneida & Bronson Alcott
of Fruitlands. Shakers & Quakers shared the testimonies of
non-violence, opposition to slavery & plain dress to separate
them from the world. Charles Dickens disparaged them. Others found in
their practices a sincere & dignified act of worship.
Bruderhof—The
first Bruderhof was founded in Germany by Eberhard Arnold, who felt
the need of restoring some sense of community in a society shattered
by WWI. Nazism drove the Society of Brothers into England. WWII saw
them labeled “enemy aliens.” They were rejected by the State
Department & the Shakers in the US; they ended up in Paraguay.
Interested groups in this country started Woodcrest
at Rifton in the Hudson Valley in 1954.
What is the attractive
power that draws devout and thoughtful men and women together into
this way of life? This
is an age in which disinte- gration has overtaken integration. In such
a time sensitive souls will feel a heavy weight of responsibility for
a creative contribution to the life of Man. Artur Mettler writes:
“The demand of the prophetic spirit is distinguished by its call
for a people.
[The demand of God’s people] to take up the battle with the world
in new & changing forms was a tremendous demand. Later generations
were not equal to its greatness. The visible people of God became
one reli- gious group among others and the salt lost its savor.”
What is it that holds these
communities together? At
the center of communal life there is acceptance of what appears to be
a hard core of Chris- tian doctrine. Economically the organization is
pure communism. [Socially], complete candor in all relationships is
the rule. As all share in a common faith & a common ownership, so
all share in work, frequently heavy, of the total “family”. The
Bruderhof has its own school for the first 8 grades. After that
chil- dren are able to choose their own level of education &
whether or not to join the Society.
The Woodcrest
Brothers say: “When
the world faces a [horrible] future . . . we all must make greater
efforts to spread the witness of a life where love & brotherhood
. . . become the center of our lives: the basis for a way of life.”
I should like to think of the [“one body”] as a Fellowship of the
Friends & Follow- ers of Truth. Each of us may find their right
service & make a reasonable sacri- fice for the coming of that
Peaceable Kingdom for which we all long.
Monteverde—It
wasn't by accident that Monteverde, the ideal commu- nity, was planted
in Costa Rica, a world of exotic foliage, bright birds, & green
mountains. [Nor was it by chance that the government here] does not
have political prisoners or a strong military, and does have “more
schools than soldiers.” After leaving the airport, the last leg of
the journey was by a slightly upgraded ox-cart trail, now a quagmire
punctuated by an occasional boulder. We negotiated the 45% grades
and 60° hairpin turns in an Austin Jeep with the aid of shovel,
winch, walking and the skill and strength of our driver.
At length, in the distance,
green fields appeared on the mountainside. [When we arrived I asked
my new friends]: What
has thee found here that justifies the effort of that incredible
journey? Monteverde
is 3,000 acres of rain forest overlooking Nicoya Bay from an
elevation of 4,000-5,000 feet on the Pacific slope of the Continental
Divide. It is a small agricultural community whose principal
industry is dairying and cheese-making. In 1950, a half-dozen
families left their Alabama Meeting to seek a different social
climate on this Costa Rican mountainside. They started out in tents.
They built new houses, a sawmill, a woodworking shop, the
hydro–electric plant, telephone lines, a cheese factory, and roads.
We rejoiced to see the friendly relationship between Tico, the local
people, and Quakers, based on mutual trust.
My guide & host answered my
question with: “Freedom. Freedom from the pressures of an
urbanized society; from defense taxes; from the whole military
industrial complex. New challenges and the adventure of the
untried.” These people advance no social theory; ask no
revolution; they are a revolu- tion. During graduation, there was a
special Meeting for Dedication held at sunrise on First Day. In the
Meeting I waited in the confident expectation that silent worship
invites. A little later someone behind me spoke words of prayer in a
voice vibrant with feeling. [Surrounded by people of all ages], I
found my self relaxed in the “womb of sensations which in
themselves can mysteriously nourish.” I had found the secret of
Monteverde: a community whose center is a meeting for Worship; a
Meeting whose life is a community at work. http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
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150. Many Religions, One God: Toward a Deeper Dialogue (by Carol R. Murphy; 1966)
About the Author—Carol Murphy has written 7 pamphlets for Pendle Hill, including this one; they serve to document her own spiritual progress. Beginning in 1948, she explored religious belief’s philosophical basis in The Faith of an Ex-Agnostic (#46). The Ministry of Counseling (#67) & Religion & Mental Illness (#82) testified to the religious nature of love's power at work in heaing minds. Morality and religious living was explored in The Examined Life (#85). Reading Paul Tillich led to A Deeper Faith (#99) and Revelation and Experience (#137). This pamphlet tries to relate the Christian revelation to "that of God" in all the world's great religions.
Unto God shall ye return, and God will tell you that concerning which ye disagree. KORAN Whatever man gives/ In true devotion:/ Fruit or water, A leaf, a flower:/ I will accept it. BHAGAVAD GITA The Dwelling of Tathagata is the great compassionate heart within all living. LOTUS OF WONDERFUL LAW Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me. MT. 25:40
The Nature of Religious Assertions—What can there be in common between a crimson-robed Vatican Cardinal, a Burmese boy entering Bud- dhist monkhood, a Muslim pilgrim to Mecca, the Hindu worshiper of the Mother Kali, and the Jew reciting the Shema? Is there a way of tes- ting religion in living? How does a religion relate to the culture it grew out of? Do religions mean different things when they use the same Words, or do they mean the same things in their different words? Is there one best religion?
For Paul Tillich, religion arises from man's ultimate concern. [According to] William A. Christian, there is something more important than anything or everything else in the universe [stated as religious concern]. Whatever is ulti- mate calls for a commitment that lays a transforming hand on the innermost self. The religious statement must isolate what is holy, & give it primacy over all else. It must be distinguished [but not completely isolated from secular things].
For Paul Tillich, religion arises from man's ultimate concern. [According to] William A. Christian, there is something more important than anything or everything else in the universe [stated as religious concern]. Whatever is ulti- mate calls for a commitment that lays a transforming hand on the innermost self. The religious statement must isolate what is holy, & give it primacy over all else. It must be distinguished [but not completely isolated from secular things].
The Holy must have a superior claim, yet be related to lesser values in a way that does them justice. [The difficulty of stating this relationship] in reli- gious assertions give rise to differences between religions. For the Jews and early Christians to debate the proposal that Jesus is the Messiah, "Messiah" needs to be defined before meeting the issue of whether Jesus is the Mes- siah. How shall we argue over such a fundamental category as the Holy? No one can argue another into seeing as holy what does not so ap- pear to one.
Revelation, Reason, & the Empirical/ Religion or Religions—The relation of reason to revelation is an important issue in Christian theology. The Ultimate's basic revelation in religion gives rise to a basic organizing vision in terms of which life is understood. [Reason is faith in search of understanding & a common language for faith]. Finally there is an empirical, visual element to religious practice, like Ignatian Exercises or Buddhism's 8-fold Path. Here is knowledge of human nature & the ways of changing its motivation, which can & should be tested. The Path's religious value depends on the vision of Nirvana. Nirvana's worth doesn't depend on this path.
Is there such a thing as religion-in-general? One never meets just plain Man, only an individual. All we meet are unique individuals; all are recog- nizably human. We can usefully speak of Man & describe essentially human structures. Likewise in religion we can describe specific religions in terms of structures as have already been discerned. Often rationalists prefer to think of religion as primarily universal, particular faiths being local & partial. Those who think of religion as particular in nature hold 1 religion to be the truth, [and all others error].
The universal element in the revelatory root of religion is the Ultimate that reveals itself. Eternity's white light is broken up into religions' rich spectrum. The likenesses, assuming they are more than verbal, may be a sign of like- mindedness, but not necessarily a sign of greater truth. A universal element provides a basis of dialogue; the particular element provides many gifts by which discussion can enrich the participants. Is religion so tied to culture that one can't be exported without the other?
The universal element in the revelatory root of religion is the Ultimate that reveals itself. Eternity's white light is broken up into religions' rich spectrum. The likenesses, assuming they are more than verbal, may be a sign of like- mindedness, but not necessarily a sign of greater truth. A universal element provides a basis of dialogue; the particular element provides many gifts by which discussion can enrich the participants. Is religion so tied to culture that one can't be exported without the other?
Paul Tillich says that culture is the form of religion & religion the sub- stance of culture. Culture provides religion with myths & rituals; religion pro- vides a vision of God & cosmos to culture. Christianity is often called intolerant because of its theological disputes; Hinduism is considered tolerant because it embraces different philosophies & approaches to God. There is also the pro- phetic aspect which reaches toward fuller truth about God by criticizing & transcending the cultural vision.
Polarities in Religion: Form-Formless—[I will touch on some polarities among religious beliefs: form-formless; ought-is; history-eternity; nondualism- relationship; immanence-transcendence]. In Form or Ritualism, religious life is ritualized in every detail, like a sacred dance. Ritualizing many daily actions of life hallows each daily detail, relating it to God's will. Confucianism, Hinduism, Catholic, & Eastern Orthodox Christianity, & Judaism have their ritual; Islam prescribes daily prayers facing Mecca.
The dangers of formalism are well known. Formalism in worship can become empty & an obstacle to inspiration and creativity; the yoke of the law can become an intolerable burden, [or devolve into a joke]. Formlessness, Spontaneity, the creative urge is seen as holy, divine inspiration, and the Spirit blows where it lists. Trivial observances are ignored. The non-sacramental Quakers aim at seeing all life as sacramental; they feel all rituals get in the way of this. Even Jewish prophetic tradition insisted that God despised their solemn assembly. Quakers find themselves at this pole with Taoists and Zen Buddhists, who have little respect for rules, rituals or images. Buddha was protesting Hindu formalism.
The quality of holiness may drain out of a life when no specific reverence is practiced. ["No place is holier," becomes "no place is holy]." Non-ritualism may become a ritual in itself, & isn't recognized as such. Non-ritualism may be misused by enthusiasts where forms are breaking down too far and too fast. Forms remain alive when neither flouted or idolized, but used in freedom. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Ought-Is—The "ought' or moral imperative usually takes some sort of form as a code or general prescription of what is desired, and often ends up entangled in cultural mores. Confucianism and Judaism are ethical, social- minded religions. Buddhism is not so social, but more mystical; in its origins & Hinayana or Theravada tradition, it emphasizes right thinking and action, a kind of ethical-spiritual therapy without theology or deity-communion. [It can become a heavy load without groundedness in the Ultimate that is].
The quality of holiness may drain out of a life when no specific reverence is practiced. ["No place is holier," becomes "no place is holy]." Non-ritualism may become a ritual in itself, & isn't recognized as such. Non-ritualism may be misused by enthusiasts where forms are breaking down too far and too fast. Forms remain alive when neither flouted or idolized, but used in freedom. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Ought-Is—The "ought' or moral imperative usually takes some sort of form as a code or general prescription of what is desired, and often ends up entangled in cultural mores. Confucianism and Judaism are ethical, social- minded religions. Buddhism is not so social, but more mystical; in its origins & Hinayana or Theravada tradition, it emphasizes right thinking and action, a kind of ethical-spiritual therapy without theology or deity-communion. [It can become a heavy load without groundedness in the Ultimate that is].
The "ought-to-be" near the Being pole is seen in the context of the nature of things which demands it of us. Primacy is given to contemplation & union with what is. Ethics [or right-thinking] may appear as inner purification rather than effort to make temporal order more just. This purification is con- sidered to be not so much change in the self as the realization of what the self really is already. Here there is Islam's sense of the completely controlling power of Allah; but this is balanced by Islam's ethical demand to form a just Islamic brotherhood.
Polarities in Religion: History-Eternity—Our conduct takes place in the sphere of history and of human relationships. Hence the just claims of the ethical are involved in the Historical-Eternity and the Non-dualism-Relationship polarities. The religions that take history seriously include the belief that the Ultimate acts in history; human purpose & freedom are also involved. The result is meaningful history, goal-directed by Providence. It is possible to adore the onward march of history and forget ethical responsibility.
In Hinduism & Buddhism, history's "disasters" are of the nature of maya, a very powerful illusion. Eastern peoples have long been satisfied with the eternal, eventless, distinctionless bliss of Brahman or Nirvana, but have [exhi- bited] its inadequacy by their strong attraction to history-centered Marxism. Judeo-Christian tradition has never idolized history; the goal of history is be- yond history. It isn't a temporal Utopia determined by human planning. Escha- tology, the "end" of history, not merely negates it, but gives it meaning.
Polarities in Religion: History-Eternity—Our conduct takes place in the sphere of history and of human relationships. Hence the just claims of the ethical are involved in the Historical-Eternity and the Non-dualism-Relationship polarities. The religions that take history seriously include the belief that the Ultimate acts in history; human purpose & freedom are also involved. The result is meaningful history, goal-directed by Providence. It is possible to adore the onward march of history and forget ethical responsibility.
In Hinduism & Buddhism, history's "disasters" are of the nature of maya, a very powerful illusion. Eastern peoples have long been satisfied with the eternal, eventless, distinctionless bliss of Brahman or Nirvana, but have [exhi- bited] its inadequacy by their strong attraction to history-centered Marxism. Judeo-Christian tradition has never idolized history; the goal of history is be- yond history. It isn't a temporal Utopia determined by human planning. Escha- tology, the "end" of history, not merely negates it, but gives it meaning.
Nondualism-Relationship—For Buddhism and Sankara Hinduism, the Ultimate & men's souls have a metaphysical unity, or non-duality. The goal is Nirvana or liberation from pseudo-real individuality. "The Buddhist loves his neighbor because he is not other than himself." Subject and object do not con- front each other over a gap; rather they are 2 ends of the same stick. What- ever one may suppose the metaphysical reality to be, we do seem to have to deal with personal purposes and relationships.
To Jews, Christians and Muslims, the distinctness of persons as indivi- duals seems most real. Any unity with them must be achieved by relation- ships in a world of persons. Confucianism also envisages a social harmony in which the cosmic order participates. The extreme individualism and per- sonalism of the West has a sense of loneliness and guilt. If the Buddhist loves his neighbor for reasons stated above, the Christ loves his neighbor because he is other than himself. We don't love because of some belief. Love has its has its own reasons, and provides the clue to the proper balance between Unity-Relationship extremes. Those who set out on the path of love are led into both respect for otherness and mystical union.
Immanence-Transcendence—This polarity is needed to describe the differences between the relatively naturalistic and impersonal conceptions of the Ultimate in Taoism and Confucianism, and the personal & supernatural conception of God in Judaism, Christianity & Islam. If the Ultimate is thought of as a primal unity that includes nature and humankind, to go to God is to return to one's own nature.
Without correction this extreme immanentism tends to lapse into a natu- ralism that leaves humans with no appeal from the brute force of nature. San- tayana writes: "The human heart is lifted above misfortune and encouraged to pursue its inmost ideal when no compromise is any longer attempted with what is not moral and human ... At that moment religion ceases to be super- stitious & becomes a rational discipline, an effort to perfect the spirit rather than intimidate it."
The immanent God may be discovered, but the transcendent God must reveal God's self. If God is occasionally present, there is fear that God may often be absent. Religions of transcendence make statements correcting them selves with statements indicating God's closeness. Paul Tillich points out that Christianity needs both immanence & transcendence to correct each other. The Trinity includes transcendence as Father, the personal as the Son, & im- manence as Spirit. The Hindu theist Umapati writes: "The soul isn't merged in the Supreme, for if they become one, both disappear; if they remain 2 there is no fruition; therefore there is union and non-union."
The immanent God may be discovered, but the transcendent God must reveal God's self. If God is occasionally present, there is fear that God may often be absent. Religions of transcendence make statements correcting them selves with statements indicating God's closeness. Paul Tillich points out that Christianity needs both immanence & transcendence to correct each other. The Trinity includes transcendence as Father, the personal as the Son, & im- manence as Spirit. The Hindu theist Umapati writes: "The soul isn't merged in the Supreme, for if they become one, both disappear; if they remain 2 there is no fruition; therefore there is union and non-union."
With these polarities, we see all religions engaged in a delicate balan- cing act, trying to be true to their vision of holiness, as they point to the Ulti- mate & show it to be over all. We see Christianity represented [at both ends of] every polarity, making it a more many-sided & versatile religion than most give it credit. Hinduism and Buddhism are weakest in the historical & social areas. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam can help them with eschatology and histo- rically working out justice and brotherhood. Hinduism offers philosophies and yogas which can be matched to different religious temperaments and to diffe- rent stages of life. The retired may seek God and strip themselves of egoism in preparation for the final adventure.
The Deeper Dialogue—As we adventure deeper into the dialogue be- tween religions, we will come to questions the value of religion itself in its as- pect of cultural god-conceiving organism. The 1st step is to explore together the empirical Ways of the great religions. They have different conceptions of the goal, but in practice, the great disciplines lead in liberation's direction, non- attachment [i.e.] transformation of man's egotistic claimfulness into free giving. We are in greater hands than our own, and we can only learn to trust the process. Dom Aelred Graham [has studied Buddhism] and shares with him a respect for Buddha's fearless analysis of human suffering and the way of libe- ration. "To be reconciled, not blindly, but with a mind enlightened, to the inevi- table" is the heart of Zen Buddhism and the message of Catholicism.
What is it that holds Christians together if it isn't to be estrange- ment from other faiths? For Christian & Buddhist, the deeper unity of each faith lies in loyalty to a central symbolic figure (Christ & Buddha). Both are many-dimensional & have unsearchable riches of meaning. [The wide range of Christians & Buddhists have found in their respective figures attributes & images that "speak to their condition]." There is more light and truth yet to break forth from these central images, for it is here that God's revelation penetrates into man's view, where the universal pierces the particular.
Christ is judge of all religions, including the Christian. This enables the Christian to see Christ wherever truth is. What seems apostasy to the "merely religious" man is to the man of faith an attempt to be truer to the God who is greater than the vision itself. [There is a difference between a humble openness toward God (belief), & the closed, self-sufficient dogmatism (belief disguised as "final, total belief)"]. A closed mind can't be healed.
The Bible portrays God's revelatory knowledge in the Jews' ability to see past their parochialism, to see God as Judge & Champion, God of Jews & Gentiles. Religions aren't to be compared with each other but with the Center. Dom Aelred Graham writes: "Where final unity lies isn't in articles of belief, but in penetrating thru them to the Reality they inadequately represent." In the Light of this Reality, those of different religions must dare to worship together.
True worship aims at the real God, not at the thought of him. It requires loyalty & openness combined, and the patience to work out ways of worship which don't demand doctrinal assents which would obscure or imperil the deeper unity. We enjoin those who would venture into a deeper dialogue be- tween religions to explore ways to enlightenment, be loyal each to one's own religion's revelatory center, be open to that of faith in every religion, & to worship together in that which is eternal. Lord, we believe; help thou our unbelief.
151. On Being Present Where you are (by Douglas V. Steere; 1967)
About the author—Long ago Douglas Steere found his identity in a balance between philosophical and active life. This rhythm has pulsed through 36 years of teaching philosophy at Haverford College Europe , 6 to Africa , and 3 to Asia . 1 out of 4 semesters he goes on some journey for American Friends Service Committee. He has become deeply involved in the Institute on Contemporary Spirituality (10 Catholic and 10 non-Catholics), exchanging their respective treasures of spiritual practices.
Preface—This informal lecture was prepared as the James Backhouse Lecture for delivery at Australia Yearly Meeting on January 8, 1967 . I was drawn to the subject of presence by a little book on Presence by Bishop Brent. Knowing Albert Schweitzer, with his gift of being present where he was, also sharpened this dimension for me. In the stories of Jesus I found what a man is like who was always present where he was. Nothing reveals more conclu- sively God’s universal man than this gift of presence so powerfully disclosed. There is, I hope, a little of both the “way” and the “how” in this lecture. I hope in sharing this rough-woven word, that others may take it up and add to its dimensions.
Introduction—Is presence possible when there is almost no physi- cal representative on the scene? What does it mean to be present and what does genuine presence imply? When I answered roll call as a child, all the teacher was recording was my physical presence. But she assumed that not only my body was present but that my mind was also available. My answer of “present” on many schools days did not live up to the teacher’s assumption.
Do you remember [the first time] some person of the opposite sex be- came intensely present to you? [Most adults] were not even remotely present to you. There were a few adults whom you did think about and they mattered terribly to you. My 7 year-old sister caught scarlet fever from me & died. For many months after-wards my sister Helen lived closer to me than ever in life. Later it helped me to understand Jesus’ saying that it might be better for him to go away and to come to them from within as an inward comforter.
I read a life of Abraham Lincoln as a child, & Lincoln
One Who is Present; 4 Types of Love; Being “All There”—Henri Bergson speaks of “a body as present wherever its attractive influence is felt. Eberhard Grisebach’s word Gegenwart literally means “that which waits over against me” [i.e. that in the other which resists me]. Immanuel Kant’s 2nd for- mulation of the categorical imperative says, “Treat humanity, whether in your self or in others, always as an end and never as a means.”
Grisebach and Kant would therefore accent the integrity of a fellow subject, the waiting resistance that also operates from a mysterious & impor- tant axis of its own. If we go beyond locatability in speaking of presence, we should speak of a readiness to respect & stand in wonder & openness before the life and influence of the other, of a willingness to penetrate & be penetrated and even be changed by experiencing [the other].
Ortega y Gasset first describes the physical love in which one or both of the partners uses the other for physical gratification; any presence is only as an object. His 2nd kind of love is one that seeks psychological conquest of the other partner; success in submission and domination leads to waning interest in the presence. A 3rd type of love may involve the two partners pro- jecting an image on each other. In many instances, the struggle for integrity fails and the projected image prevails; neither can be present to the other except in this disguise.
Ortega only hints at the 4th type of love, which is something like Rilke’s “two solitudes’ that “protect and touch and greet each other.” There can be little doubt that the post-crisis presence is often superior to the pre-crisis one for it has been tested & has been vindicated. The 4th level searches each of us to the quick not only in our friendships and marriage but also in our contacts with other religions, races and nations.
In the last of Tolstoy’s 23 Tales, a king seeks the answer to 3 questions from a hermit deep in the woods: How can I learn to do the right thing at the right time? Whose advice can I trust? And what things are most im- portant and require my first attention? Through digging the hermit’s garden and binding the wounds of a bearded man the king received his answers. “Remember then,” added the hermit, “there is only one time that is important. Now. The most necessary man is he whom you are . . . & the most important thing is to do him good.” But to make anything of this bone-bare answer of the hermit’s, of our being present where there is immediate need, you have to be all there. [Being all there may make all the difference in a person’s life or death].
The Cost of Being Present; A Real Friend…—The Franciscan Third Order of lay Christians were to seek ways in which they could mix their bodies and personal service, with their alms. The members were to be personally present where they helped, and to find fresh ways to show that they cared. To be personally present in what you do gives some earnest that you mean it. In the Old Testament, Elisha can revive the Shunamite woman’s son only when he lays his own body over the body of the boy & breathes his own breath into the boy’s nostrils.
When it comes to a friendship, how seldom are we really present. [A Friend suffering from acute diabetes requested visits only from those who could commit to coming continuously]. One of the vital Ad Hoc churches in the Christian world today, where men & women are really present to each other is in Alcoholics Anonymous, [& particularly their sponsorship program, where the sponsor] is ready to come at any time.
Letters can be written in such a way that the receiver knows instinc- tively that the receiver’s situation is present to the writer through-out. A real friend is present, and knows how to confirm in us the deepest thing that is already there, “answering to that of God” in his needy friend. No other person can chart a course for you but a “present” friend can firm up what you in your deepest heart of hearts have already felt drawing you. Visiting Friends sought to be truly open and present to family members as they visited with each one about that one’s spiritual condition at that time.
I am Ready, Are you Ready? The Unbidden Presence—Presence may come in an act of prayer, by which we become aware of the presence and of what the presence does to search, transform, and renew us. When God says, “I am ready. Are you Ready? [we may respond], “O Lord make me more ready to be made ready.” In prayer where intercession is involved, my own caring [while frail in comparison with the whole communion of the saints] may be the decisive impulse that touches my friend’s decision.
Caring opens that friend to these ever present forces that could change one’s whole perspective. In intercessory prayer my friend may be more truly present to me than as if I were literally never out of their sight. It is not only my friend who is opened to transformation but this holds for my own life as well; 2 persons can never be truly present to each other and remain the same.
God’s presence comes in prayer, but it also can come unbidden and overwhelm us when we least expect it. Wordsworth wrote: “And I have felt a presence that disturbs me with the joy of elevated thoughts.” [All the little joys, the “minor ecstasies” from a book, a play, a child, the sea], are all pointing to the presence. [To “I am ready, Are you ready? we may] now and then answer: “I am present, Lord, where I am, and you are present with me.”
[Being Absent] Amidst the World Religions; No Religion is an Island; Dialogue—In 1966 I was sent to India & Japan to see if it was feasible for Quakers to serve as hosts for [a seminar, a meeting of the minds] with Zen Buddhism and Hindu religious thought. The truth of the matter is that in Japan India
In shunning world religions which they or their forbears left, they have often shunned a deep part of their own hidden life. Gandhi once said that Christianity was the greatest handicap Jesus had in India
In the US Israel
The religions of the world are no more self-sufficient, no more indepen- dent, no more isolated than individuals or nations. Spiritual betrayal on the part of one of us affects the faith of all of us . . . We must choose between inter-faith and inter-nihilism. Should religions insist upon the illusion of isolation . . . and hope for each other’s failure?
Paul Tillich said of the Jewish-Christian dialogue: “They have not con- verted them but they have created a community of conversation which has changed both sides of the dialogue.” If the Holy Spirit is always at work and if it has something to say to Christians through Buddhism and Hinduism and through Christians to those religions, [how can the Holy Spirit] say this un- less each is willing to be present, to the other? We must learn to create an inter-religious space; in such a space, God’s spirit can blow as it wills. ”The Holy Spirit has something to say through Hinduism’s belief in: God expec- tancy; simplicity of life; inward meditation; sanctity; and thankfulness. [Per haps in gathering we] may experience what our Catholic friends call the Real Presence.
An Ecumenical Aspect…Vatican Council II—In this small project there is also some hope of contributing something to the ecumenical move- ment. There is guarded enthusiasm from both Roman Catholic and Ortho- dox communions at having some of their leading thinkers [take part]. I met with an influential Zen master at his temple. The master suggested having only Zen Buddhists and Quakers meet. I felt inwardly convinced that we dare not any longer come to our Buddhist brothers as separate denominations; the master agreed. In India
Educators of Christian colleges invited Roman Catholic educators to their conference. To see these Catholic and Protestant educators now taking part freely in the discussions of their common educational problems means they are being present to each other. Ten Roman Catholic & ten non-Catholic scholars met at Pendle Hill to write a joint paper on prayer in the contemporary scene. A vast enrichment is coming to both sides as we encourage each other in that which is most precious to us both.
Revolution in Higher Education; Racial Barriers—We in the US
I believe the students are saying that they want to be present to the faculty and the administration and to the community in which they live, and the reciprocal response that such presence calls for. The kind of situation where presence to each other would be central in the higher education process may be closer to us than we are prepared to acknowledge.
In no area of our time is this issue of presence to be seen more clearly in the US
Interior colonialism, condescension, patronization all point to what makes the Negro want to go it alone. [Many liberals have sentimental image of Negroes that they expect Negroes to fit into]. There are demands either to be present to the Negro as they are & penetrate & be penetrated by them; or to receive a declaration of war until we can accept Negroes on that basis.
International Relations; Interior Emigration; Quaker Task—[Those who have come into Switzerland Great Britain Viet Nam
In the German Democratic Republic, Pastor Hamel holds that nearly all of the “heroic” Protestant brothers are guilty of interior emigration [i.e.] they live on in the DDR but in nearly every other sense they have already defected to the West. They can never be truly present to their Communist brothers, never influence or witness to them until they inwardly return to the DDR, and are willing to trust the power of God to sustain them there. [People in general live in the future and remain numb and glazed from the living moment].
[The most important challenge and issue for Quakers is to] learn to be present where they are in their personal relationships and making their infini- tesimal witness & effort to rouse all to dare to be present to each other. There is One who, on the road to Emmaus, taught his companions to be present. That same presence walks by our side, kindles our meetings for worship, and reveals our failure to be truly present with our families, friends, & brothers in the world. Not only is there “no time like the present,” but there is no task God has called us to that is more exciting and challenging than being made ready to be present where we are.
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152. Quakerism and Christianity (by Edwin B. Bronner; 1967)
About the Author—Edwin Bronner received his bachelor’s degree from Whittier College on the West Coast (1941). [He settled his transfer to the East by marrying Marian P. Taylor of Philadelphia]. He is Haverford Professor of History & Curator of the Quaker Collection. He is active in many historical & professional organizations. This pamphlet is from the author’s Stony Run Lecture, delivered at Baltimore YM in August 1966.
Dearly Beloved Friends, these things we don't lay upon you as a rule or form to walk by, but that all, with the measure of light which is pure and holy, may be guided … and fulfilled in the Spirit, not from the letter, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.”
What is Quakerism?/Seekers and Finders—[Seekers asking what we believe are] apt to get the reply, given in ignorance, intellectual or spiritual lazi- ness: “We are a community of Seekers, we don’t have a creed,” or “Read our Book of Discipline.” Traditionally the MM appoints a membership committee to visit applicants. These visits sometimes become perfunctory. Saying it doesn’t matter what you believe is a hazy, lazy approach to religion that does a dis- service to the individual and to Quakerism. I hope we would add that it is important that a Friend adopt a set of beliefs and practices, and develop a strong sense of commitment to them.
Early Friends had often been Seekers, and after listening to George Fox & “to the Spirit of God in themselves,” they became Finders. The orthodoxy of the early Friends was constantly challenged in their own time. A book pub- lished in 1873 contains nearly 500 pages of bibliographical notes about those who disagreed with Friends and denounced them. Robert Barclay’s Apology (1676) is the classic contribution to the effort to prove that Friends were truly Christian in their beliefs. I believe that they were in Christianity's mainstream, although they differed from many of the accepted contemporary manifestations of it.
What is Quakerism?/Seekers and Finders—[Seekers asking what we believe are] apt to get the reply, given in ignorance, intellectual or spiritual lazi- ness: “We are a community of Seekers, we don’t have a creed,” or “Read our Book of Discipline.” Traditionally the MM appoints a membership committee to visit applicants. These visits sometimes become perfunctory. Saying it doesn’t matter what you believe is a hazy, lazy approach to religion that does a dis- service to the individual and to Quakerism. I hope we would add that it is important that a Friend adopt a set of beliefs and practices, and develop a strong sense of commitment to them.
Early Friends had often been Seekers, and after listening to George Fox & “to the Spirit of God in themselves,” they became Finders. The orthodoxy of the early Friends was constantly challenged in their own time. A book pub- lished in 1873 contains nearly 500 pages of bibliographical notes about those who disagreed with Friends and denounced them. Robert Barclay’s Apology (1676) is the classic contribution to the effort to prove that Friends were truly Christian in their beliefs. I believe that they were in Christianity's mainstream, although they differed from many of the accepted contemporary manifestations of it.
Quietism & After—[In the later part of the 18th century], in the midst of quietism, the evangelical movement began to permeate the Society; religious liberalism also began to make some inroads among Friends. The Society was unable to maintain unity in the face of these 3 tendencies. By the middle of the 19th century, there were Hicksite [poor, liberal], Wilburite [middle-class, quietist], Gurseyite [wealthy, evangelical]. All 3 groups regarded themselves as part of the mainstream of Christianity.
John Wilhelm Rowntree & Rufus Jones worked on producing a history of Quakerism. Rufus Jones saw a strong element of mysticism in the early Friends & wrote 2 volumes: Studies in Mystical Religion (1909), & Spiritual Reformers in the 16th & 17th Centuries (1914). Rufus Jones was a dedicated practitioner of mystical religion, & regarded it as integral to Christianity. He said: “Jesus Christ holds a commanding place in history.
Christ still dominates conscience, by the moral sway of His Life of Goodness, as does no other person who has ever lived.” In recent years, especially in response to neo-orthodoxy, there has been a tendency to question the emphasis on mysticism of Rufus Jones, & to see early Quakers as more clearly related to Puritanism. John Yungblut defends Rufus Jones’ position and says: “The last word has not yet been said on this subject.”
In the Mainstream/A Separate Christian Movement—There is no sin- gle interpretation of Quakerism which stands the test of time; several different approaches to Quakerism exist within one body, even in Quakerism’s early period. The Religious Society of Friends is in “the mainstream of Christianity”; I don’t interpret this phrase in traditional terms. Those who try to live in accor- dance with Jesus’ life & teachings are in Christianity’s mainstream. We must recognize that of God in other faiths. We shouldn’t have the belief that all religions are the same.
There is a tradition in the Society of Friends that the Quaker way repre- sents a 3rd strand alongside of Catholicism & Protestantism. Others, [espe- cially evangelicals] feel they are a part of Protestantism, & are uncomfortable with any contrary suggestion. Few so-called liberal Quakers would want to place themselves outside Christianity. They regard themselves as followers of Christ who are attempting to live in accordance with Christ’s teachings.
In the Mainstream/A Separate Christian Movement—There is no sin- gle interpretation of Quakerism which stands the test of time; several different approaches to Quakerism exist within one body, even in Quakerism’s early period. The Religious Society of Friends is in “the mainstream of Christianity”; I don’t interpret this phrase in traditional terms. Those who try to live in accor- dance with Jesus’ life & teachings are in Christianity’s mainstream. We must recognize that of God in other faiths. We shouldn’t have the belief that all religions are the same.
There is a tradition in the Society of Friends that the Quaker way repre- sents a 3rd strand alongside of Catholicism & Protestantism. Others, [espe- cially evangelicals] feel they are a part of Protestantism, & are uncomfortable with any contrary suggestion. Few so-called liberal Quakers would want to place themselves outside Christianity. They regard themselves as followers of Christ who are attempting to live in accordance with Christ’s teachings.
Rejecting the Christian Label—There are those in the Society of Friends who feel they are God’s children & Quakers, but don’t wish to accept the “Christian” label or be associated with the Christian church. [Such] Friends have been vocal in London YM & in Europe. Similar American Friends haven’t spoken out. They may be tender towards Friends who believe Quakers should be in mainstream Christianity; they may [doubt] their divine leading; or they may [prefer] to just [live & act on] their religion & leave theological contro- versies to others.
Quakerism: A View from the Back Benches (1966) omits all reference to Christ & Christianity. The American Quaker Today’s essay “Unaffiliated Friends Meeings” stresses the need to live up to Quaker testimonies, refers to God’s Spirit, but makes no mention of Christianity. Henry J. Cadbury [denied] that Quakerism & Christianity are mutually exclusive, & suggested that Quakerism is “merely a foci of an ellipse; Christianity goes around us in great big swings outside our immediate focus… You don’t have to choose between being Chris- tian & Quaker.”
Quakerism: A View from the Back Benches (1966) omits all reference to Christ & Christianity. The American Quaker Today’s essay “Unaffiliated Friends Meeings” stresses the need to live up to Quaker testimonies, refers to God’s Spirit, but makes no mention of Christianity. Henry J. Cadbury [denied] that Quakerism & Christianity are mutually exclusive, & suggested that Quakerism is “merely a foci of an ellipse; Christianity goes around us in great big swings outside our immediate focus… You don’t have to choose between being Chris- tian & Quaker.”
How should we Respond/Witness into Action—How should we re- spond to “non-Christians” with the Society of Friends? None of us should say that these people aren’t Quakers. It could be said that some are more faithful to Christ’s teachings than many carrying the Christian label. We must face the fact that what these Friends have seen of Christianity hasn’t convinced them to be a part of the Christian church. We must be responsive to them while we remain true to our own conviction.
London YM writes: “We shall need to put ourselves beside our hearers, & use active imagination in the use of words… We must always be willing to learn … trusting always the Spirit of God, in the belief that He is still speaking both to ourselves and to those whom we would reach.” It is up to us to maintain that relationship, and make this relationship meaningful to those who do not recognize it.
We can carry our Christian witness into action in the Society of Friends. [We can witness without judgment]. Everett Cattell said that if we truly accep- ted Christ in our lives we can let Him judge others, & need not go around denouncing those who disagree. We must become more sensitive to the gap between the affluence of our society & the world’s needs. While Great Britain & European Friends have had a concern in this area, American Quakers are just beginning to understand that the affluence of the western world carries with it a burden of responsibility for God’s children in other parts of the earth. We must take responsibility for carrying out our testimonies.
We can carry our Christian witness into action in the Society of Friends. [We can witness without judgment]. Everett Cattell said that if we truly accep- ted Christ in our lives we can let Him judge others, & need not go around denouncing those who disagree. We must become more sensitive to the gap between the affluence of our society & the world’s needs. While Great Britain & European Friends have had a concern in this area, American Quakers are just beginning to understand that the affluence of the western world carries with it a burden of responsibility for God’s children in other parts of the earth. We must take responsibility for carrying out our testimonies.
Christ Can Make a Difference—Douglas Steere said: “I think that the Religious Society of Friends will meet the religious needs of its present and its future members only when it lives in the Christian stream of life and when it crosses the Society’s accent on personal experience of the Inward Teacher with what is going on in the universe ... The Quaker experience of the centuries, joined with that of other Christians over the years has found this windowing of God’s own nature in Jesus Christ of compelling significance.”
Elton Trueblood writes: “Quakerism is at its best when it is passionately loyal to the Church Universal, yet fully aware that it isn’t identical with that grand totality, but is an order in the great Church coming into being.” Thomas Kelly writes: “The Inward Christ is the center & source of action, not the endpoint of thought. He is the locus of commitment, not a problem for debate. Practice comes 1st in religion, not theory or dogma.
On the Use of Words/Not in Our Own Power—The mouthing of Jesus Christ and familiar terms, will not prove sufficient in themselves. There were Friends who were reluctant to use the name of Jesus, or of God, especially in the quietist period. It is not the use of words, or the lack of the use of words which is important. What is important is that we discover that we cannot get along without [knowing] the presence of Christ in our lives.
[One] can't save one’s self or bring the Kingdom of God on Earth one’s self. We need the transforming power of the Christ Within, both to give us strength, and to change the hearts of those we would persuade. Men and women of good will [believe now and have believed in the past] that they can change society in their own might and make it in their own image. It takes a certain amount of humility to recognize that we cannot change the world by our own efforts. How many of us can love our enemies without guidance and support from the Christ within? We need the all encompassing love in our lives, and in the lives of those around us.
Elton Trueblood writes: “Quakerism is at its best when it is passionately loyal to the Church Universal, yet fully aware that it isn’t identical with that grand totality, but is an order in the great Church coming into being.” Thomas Kelly writes: “The Inward Christ is the center & source of action, not the endpoint of thought. He is the locus of commitment, not a problem for debate. Practice comes 1st in religion, not theory or dogma.
On the Use of Words/Not in Our Own Power—The mouthing of Jesus Christ and familiar terms, will not prove sufficient in themselves. There were Friends who were reluctant to use the name of Jesus, or of God, especially in the quietist period. It is not the use of words, or the lack of the use of words which is important. What is important is that we discover that we cannot get along without [knowing] the presence of Christ in our lives.
[One] can't save one’s self or bring the Kingdom of God on Earth one’s self. We need the transforming power of the Christ Within, both to give us strength, and to change the hearts of those we would persuade. Men and women of good will [believe now and have believed in the past] that they can change society in their own might and make it in their own image. It takes a certain amount of humility to recognize that we cannot change the world by our own efforts. How many of us can love our enemies without guidance and support from the Christ within? We need the all encompassing love in our lives, and in the lives of those around us.
The Society of Friends need not: demand a creedal statement from members; require the same belief from all; refuse membership to those who find it impossible to declare their allegiance to Christ. I believe that the Soci- ety of Friends has no real future in God’s plan unless it maintains its position in the Christian faith. We need to hold firm to the Christian Faith which has been at the center of our beings through more than 3 centuries.
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153. The Mayer Boulding dialogue on peace research (by Kenneth
Boulding; 1967)
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153. The Mayer Boulding dialogue on peace research (by Kenneth
Boulding; 1967)
About the Authors: Kenneth Boulding—He was Professor of Econo- mics at the University of Michigan; a founder and sustainer of the Center for Research on Conflict Resolution; major contributor to peace research.
Milton Mayer—Consultant to Great Books Foundation; writes and lec- tures independently and controversially. He is Jewish and a member of the Society of Friends. This is a transcript of their dialogue in April of 1966.
Foreword (by Cynthia Kerman and Carol R. Murphy)—These 2 men are well known for their sparkling wit, deep devotion to pacifism & the Society of Friends. “Peace Research” is the study of the causes of social and interna- tional conflict, and the conditions for its peaceful, non-violent resolution. The 2 disputants addressed themselves to the question: Is peace research a way to peace? On what shall we rely as the aribiter of Truth: relentless intellectual honesty and science, or the distilled wisdom of the ages informed by the Light Within? As Matthew 10:16 says: “Be as wise as ser- pents and innocent as doves.”
The Place of Peace Research—MILTON MAYER: Of my own know- ledge I only know that man is corrupt unto death, [born corrupt & corrupted by life]. I know of no evidence that man can think himself out of his big, [endless] troubles. [Is reason such that] it will move men to their salvation? [Does] the “executive power of the will lie in the passions, regulated by moral & spiritual virtues? I submit that the peace researcher’s role in relation to the peacemaker, is more modest than that of the general contractor to one building a house.
I want a peaceable world. The building blocks of a peaceable world are peaceable men. Since I know in general how to build peace, the researcher [is more of a] subcontractor. The peace researcher may think that his role is more consequential because the world is changing. The special complexities of our age are so demanding, that they are leaving less and less time for the cultiva- tion of general [understanding].
Learning is an Evolutionary Process—KENNETH BOULDING: There is a certain amount of truth in this talk about corruption and original sin, but the plain fact is, we do learn things. There is an evolutionary process which goes on in social systems. Evolution is a learning process, and learning is an evolu- tionary process. I would guess that in the Paleolithic, knowledge doubled every 50,000 years. Today knowledge doubles about every 15 years. When you have a rate of change of human knowledge as rapid as we have now, this alters your values too. It introduces profound changes into the learning pro- cess by which we learn our values. What we think of as human nature deve- lops out of the experience of the individual.
The social sciences represent a fundamental change in the image of man & his society. They mean the development of social self-conscious- ness. This is a universe in profound disequilibrium, in constant change, and at the present moment this part of the universe is in explosive change.
Different Kinds of Knowledge—KENNETH BOULDING: There's a dis- tinction between methods of acquiring knowledge which involves the system’s complexity. The more experience you have the better off you are; but this is not adequate for complex systems. In social systems, we are often trying to do “social astronautics” with a flat-earth image. Some at the State Department are seeking ancient, classical solutions to modern-day war.
One of the international system's great problems is that it is operated by folk knowledge, and by very haphazard images of the world. I think people ought to discover what their own business is & mind it. The progress isn't all due to economics, but some of it is. Some of it is just a plain increase in know- ledge. We know how to get a reasonable rate of economic development. But in the international system, this knowledge is not there. There is no system of careful collection and processing and world-wide coding. I am optimistic enough to think this can happen in the international system. I don’t really think the problem of war & peace is any more intrinsically difficult than the problem of unemployment. I am sure there are a lot of things like this in which know- ledge, or the use of it is the crucial factor.
Knowledge and Moral Understanding—MILTON MAYER: What are the kinds of knowledge I need in order to contribute to the making of peace? I don’t see any point at which more knowledge would have enabled me better to confront crises. What Kenneth is telling us is that there isn’t very much that we can learn about man from the past. If I accept this view, it seems to me that I eliminate the only body of knowledge that might conceivably be of any use to me in the moral & emotional crises. What are the raw materials I need for peace research, that I could turn over to peace research or social science, [and expect a concrete, useful answer].
What is it that I could teach or that I could learn that would be of some use to me in my world peacemaking efforts? I need peace research to tell me how to influence politics. This is the knowledge I need; this is the knowledge that I haven’t found or that I haven’t even heard about.
Systems and Society—KENNETH BOULDING: Never underestimate the power of a saint and of a sacred history. These are things which create the great symbolic movements, and which affect politics. Sacred histories, which really write the history of the world, are very hard to detect in the early stages. I am in favor of [“useless”] knowledge; the pursuit of it has been very important in human history, and the scientific revolution arises out of it.
Most of what we know about the human organism comes from reflection, poetry, insight, empathy, and imagination. Because of the failure to understand [some of society’s principles], very often goodness produces very different effects from what it thinks it is going to. This could be true likewise in the peace movement. If we want to operate in a social system we have to understand it, because a social system represents the interaction of people at an abstract level.
Decisions which people are going to make depend on their image of the social system & the way it operates. [People are dealing with the present-day world using lessons learned in the early decades of their lives]. Unless you can develop more subtle and realistic images of the world, we’ll just go on doing this. The willingness to do things today that we weren’t willing to do 30 years ago, is a result of a perverse learning process; the only answer to a perverse learning process is a better learning process.
MILTON MAYER: So far you’ve been assuming that the moral element [we] needed was already there. Isn’t [it rather] that no matter how much morality [and knowledge there] is around, there is a kind of gap between them that we don’t understand and are not likely to fill merely by more knowledge?
KENNETH BOULDING: I am saying that on the whole people tend to want very much the same sort of right things. They’re just ignorant, they don’t know how to get what they want [or agree on how to get it]. Government is going to be sensitive in the long run to strong and well-founded intellectual criticism.
MILTON MAYER: “Governments rather depend on men than men upon governments [William Penn].” What do the findings of such peace research as we now have in hand indicate that we should do?
KENNETH BOULDING: The most important thing we did at the Con- flict Resolution Center
The diagram of the phases of ice and water has striking parallels to that for peace and war. There is a pressure aspect to it [i.e. arms race], and the temperature corresponds to the warmth of the international system. If you’re close to the boundary of ice and water [war and peace], and there is evidence we are, How do you get over the boundary between war and peace? [You can] reduce the pressure (disarmament) or increase the temperature (cultural exchange). We need studies of how we got personal disarmament in various societies.
I think the most important thing a man can do is to believe that peace is possible; and the second is to say to other people that this is so. It is a social problem of the same order of magnitude as unemployment. Under certain circumstances, relatively small changes in what we call the parameters of a system produce enormous changes in the system itself. There is a social watershed between systems of stable peace and systems of unstable peace. We may be much closer to the watershed on this than we think. What I advo- cate on Viet Nam
Do we Know Enough? Is it enough to Know?—BOULDING: What is it that we know that is enough?
MAYER:
1. If you keep moving, they can’t hit you.
2. It is better to be a live lion than a dead rabbit.
3. Of the 3 goods in life, the most dispensable is reputation, and the least
dispensable is money [the other is health].
4. It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.
5. There being no social organism, but only morally responsible persons
[means] there are no social sciences, and the social revolution will
be a moral revolution or it will not be at all.
6. The kingdom of Satan
7. It is not a moral, but a scientific assertion, to say that evil should not be
done that good may come of it; evil is certain; good is contingent.
8. The unexamined life is not worth living.
9. He who would follow Christ must also do the things that Christ does, if
he can.
BOULDING:
10. Nothing fails like success
11. Nothing succeeds like failure.
12. God is love.
KENNETH BOULDING: To make use of these truths we need a new language. How do we persuade people to take the trouble to learn a lan- guage? In applying our intelligence to anything, do we apply enough intel- ligence & in what direction? Insight is the origin of knowledge; insights are mutations, without which you don’t get knowledge. Why did Quakerism fail? They got inward peace, but inward peace isn’t the same as knowledge and outward peace. Truth is both the opposite of lies, and the opposite of error. There’s an enormous need for the marriage of these 2 concepts of truth. Love is not enough. Love without knowledge will destroy us.
MILTON MAYER: I too think love is not enough; it is only the greatest of these. Inward peace is not the same as world peace, but it is better than no peace at all. The ends of man are moral, determined by will. The means are moral, because of their power to pervert the end, or divert it altogether. If a peace research project proves Kenneth to be right about defeat being the best thing that could happen to a country, what is to be done with the findings of this project?
One of the things peace research might do is to measure the effective- ness of action. Which project shall we do if the effectiveness of a morally right project is smaller than that of a morally wrong one? [We shall choose the morally right project regardless of effectiveness]. Whether we are at the beginning or the end of human history is God’s determination to make and not ours. We are always at the beginning and always at the end. Under these circumstances I say that I know what to do, and what I need is to do it.
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154. The reality of God; thoughts on the “death of God” controversy
(by Alexander C. Purdy; 1967)
About the Author—Hoemer Professor of New Testament (NT) & Dean at Hartford Connecticut School
1.—Much of the present-day discussion [involves] outgrown images of God that have been abandoned without necessarily affecting God's essential reality. [The ancient] creeds may be likened to trenches dug in to secure ground gained. They help hold the line, but it is hard to move out of these trenches when new ground needs to be gained. The phrase “death of God” covers a wide range of meaning. [Saying] that there is no God is by no means new. [In] a vast & complex universe, the temptation to deny all meaning is inevitable, not surprising.
Agnosticism may mean that one doesn’t claim to know God’s ultimate reality, or that man cannot know God or anything about him. [When faced with the mystery of the universe], most of us find ourselves in the [former form] of agnosticism. [Scientists echo this sentiment. Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington writes: “If our so-called facts are changing shadows, they are shadows cast by the light of constant truth. . . So too in religion we need not turn aside from the light that comes in our experience showing us a Way through the unseen world.” [An imperfect understanding of the universe] doesn't mean that defi- nite, blessed meanings are excluded from the relationship.
2.—The “death of God” phrase covers some genuine atheists both in- side & outside the churches; the “death of God” covers many other ideas. It is the importance of rethinking our conception of God that attracts me. Much of the recent discussion revolves around Rudolf Bultmann, Paul Tillich, & Die- trich Bonhoeffer. Bultmann was made to rethink his Christian position as a chaplain in WW I. Most German soldiers were pretty much untouched by their religion. Bultmann proposed to demythologize the records. [What is left after that process?]
Myth may express truth on another deeper level than the more prosaic ways. [Truth can also be presented in formulas and syllogisms]. A formula is true “if it represents correctly the way in which certain physical elements act in relation to one another.” A syllogism is true “when the final statement is derived by rational necessity from the others in a series.” Most will agree, not all of rea lity can be expressed in formula or syllogism.
[We say that the sun “rises” & “sets,” when we know that] the sun itself does not move. But the appearance and disappearance of the sun are not illusions, even if we misperceive what happens. When we say NT records is presented as figures of speech and in myths, we are not dismissing these re- cords as mere fiction. The forms in which the NT writers set forth their con- victions were those appropriate to their time and readers.
Paul Tillich holds that to relegate religion to the realm outside or above nature is doomed to failure. [Religion fills the gaps left in scientific knowledge; more and more of those gaps are closing. What’s left is mysticism and the narrow, ritualistic performance in the churches passing for worship.] Tillich undertook to interpret the Christian religion as inside the realm of being. The prevalent religious vocabulary must be radically revised.
Doesn't the accumulative effect of traditional phrases tend to make God remote and unessential to life as we know it? God is neither “up there” or “out there.” A power not our own exists and man can and ought to respond personally with all his mind and heart to this Depth and Ground of reality. [“Ground of reality” says that] God is intimately related to the system of reality accepted by the sciences. This “God” includes the personal area of existence [but is not a “Person.”]
3.—Dietrich Bonhoeffer paid for his allegiance to his faith with his life. “Religion” is used in 2 main ways. When “religion” stands for the inescapable urge to find a meaningful relationship with the universe and with other human beings it has a positive & creative meaning. Bonhoeffer’s rejection of “religion” is a protest against the organized, systematized, institutionalized ways of the churches as a substitute for genuine worship. [In] this protest against the formality and externality of much worship,
[Bonhoeffer stands in the tradition of many Old Testament (OT) prophets (e.g. Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah)]. Jeremiah asked: Will you steal, mur- der, commit adultery, swear falsely... and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘we are delivered’ ... Has this house . . . become a den of robbers in your eyes? Micah asked: What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kind- ness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
The sting of Jesus’ word is in his repudiation of these worship exercises as outward, formal patterns of worship “to be seen of men.” [Jesus rejects the Pharisee’s meticulous observances, respectability and self-righteousness, and embraces] the brokenhearted cry of the Tax Collector, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” [It is] deeds of mercy and kindness [that will be judged worthy in the end]. The highest moment of formal worship must wait upon & be informed by an act of reconciliation before it is meaningful.
[It is easy to imagine that] the real life [events] of a Galilean village fur- nishes the setting for the Sermon on Mount. No kind of “religion” which is ab- stracted from the rough and tumble of actuality finds any justification in Jesus’ teaching. Martin Buber said: “What the Bible says isn't religious but holy. The holy means simply to let everything in social, economic, political life, all life, be subjected to the kingly rule of God.”
4.—Can the forms and institutions of religion be scrapped? Should ours be the role of iconoclasts? Each fresh reformation has produced new forms when it cooled. Even George Fox concerned himself in the last years of his life with organizing the new society. People cannot worship together without some kind of order. The apostle Paul said: “God isn't a God of confusion but of peace.” (I Corinthians 14:33). Speaking immediately at the meeting’s beginning or after a very short wait after the last speaker is not according to the order of Friends.
Bishop Robinson said: The presence of Christ with his people is tied to a right receiving of the communion, to a right relationship with one’s neighbor.” The acid test of every form, every ceremony, is its relevance to the common life we live. It is not likely that any one form is valid for and will meet the needs of all. I do not fear that religion will cease to be. Dag Hammarskjold writes in Markings: “God doesn't die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity. . . We die when our lives cease to be illumined by the source of [rad- iance and wonder] which is beyond all reason.” Howard Brinton says that if a man finds the Holy of Holies, [& all that is there is] himself, he is not likely to go there again. A revival of authentic religion is inevitable.
We need to be hesitant about defining God. The Bible vividly illustrates its writers’ changing views. The Hebrew concept developed in the opposite di- rection from the Greek, who moved to monotheism by emptying the idea of God of everything human, [and arriving at an] Absolute Being. The Hebrew mind progressively theomorphized man by using loftier and loftier views of human capacity; the Greeks arrived at philosophy; the Hebrews at ethical monotheism. Will we be able to arrive at a satisfying conception of God? Is there any other direction for our thinking to take? Can God be thought of as a Person, as a Person unlimited by the personal, or as Impersonal? I am completely certain that my response is to be for the right as I am given to know it.
5.—The most meaningful way to think of the reality of God is in terms of Spirit. Saying “God is spirit” stresses that there's that in the God of the universe that makes true worship a possibility for man. The winds of heaven are myste- rious, being in themselves invisible but in their effect quite observable, and the breath of man is coexistent with his life. It isn't far to go to correlate this breath with a man’s thoughts and feelings, & to reflect on spirit as the ultimate reality, the soul stuff of God and man.
For the Hebrews, spirit was the word for the way God acts and the way man responds rather than as describing the nature of either God or man. The Spirit of God in the OT is the [extraordinary] agency producing a wide variety of effects, an ad hoc endowment rather than a permanent possession. Spirit is used primarily of the prophets' inspiration. The great prophets’ message came to them directly and immediately without the mediation of the spirit.
6.—In the Synoptic Gospels it's clear that Spirit was increasingly regar- ded as characteristic of the coming Messianic age. [On the other hand], the Book of Acts is filled with evidence of the guidance and motivation of the Spirit. What may be new in Acts is the recovery of the group experience, “they were all together in one place.” Is the koinonia also a result of the Spirit's gift? According to Paul, the Spirit motivates all the leaders of the church, however lofty or humble their status, including mere “helpers.” The supreme gift of the Spirit is not a classifiable function but the way in which all functions must be exercised. In the Gospel of John Jesus is reported as saying, “God is Spirit, & those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
The Spirit moves men to do & be what they couldn't otherwise achieve. A power not their own moves but does not obliterate their personalities. Amos Wilder sees false spirituality as “the kind of dualism which locates Christian experience in the soul rather than in the whole man.” In the Bible the “heart” designates the intimate center and the totality of the human personality where intelligence, feeling and will reside.” Spirit is the energizing power, purging our whole creaturely and practical being, involving all our natural & moral relation- ship. We ought to say the God’s Spirit comes through rather than comes down. [Being] gathered into the worshipping company brings a new sense of human situations and human relationships.
Frederick Buechner says: “The Christian faith flatly contradicts [the notion that life does not care what we make of it]. Whether you call it the Spirit of God or the life force, its most basic characteristic is that it wishes us well & is at work toward that end. Deep within [wherever] the hidden spring that life wells up from there comes a power to heal, to breathe new life into us. I believe that for our sakes this Spirit beneath our spirit will make Christs of us before we are done, or for our sakes will destroy us.”
7.—We are under obligation as thinking, reasoning beings to understand, in as far as we are able, the nature and character of the Ultimate Reality which makes a Universe. Can it be that we have been engaged in the wrong quest, [seeking God as the object of it, rather than seeing God as the divine mover in our search for something more]? The quest which has a thing as an end, must leave us dissatisfied; only that quest which can lead us through a doorway into ever deeper exploration can sustain us. We can only be satisfied at the end of our quest if we have met a person not a thing. God is not the ends, but the moving power which inspires us to continue the quest for abundant life for us and for all people everywhere.
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155. On Being Real: a Quest for Personal and Religious Wholeness
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155. On Being Real: a Quest for Personal and Religious Wholeness
(by Scot Crom;
1967)
About
the Author—Scott
Crom's undergraduate work was math; his doc tor's degree at Yale was
philosophy. He is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Beloit
College, &
clerks Beloit Preparative Meeting. He participates in American
Friends Service Committee work camps. He
came last fall to serve as dean of studies. He wrote Obstacles
to Mystical Experience (PHP
#132).
In
the present pamphlet he discusses personal & religious wholeness,
reconceiving truth as fidelity of consciousness to a fluid, evolving
reality.
FOREWORD—There
are gross oversimplifications in this paper, particu larly in
comparison of East &
West religious ways. [I have sacrificed writing] an acceptable work
of scholarship [in favor of preserving] the developing argu- ment's thread.
Relatively
few
of
my
ideas
are
original.
I
absorb
an
idea
&
it
be- comes
comfortable
to
me;
I
forget
where
it
came
from.
I'm
not
describing
fami- liar
landmarks;
I'm
trying
to
detect
what
lies
ahead
on
the
way
I
hope
I
have
entered.
The
following
essay
grows
out
of
my
attempt
to
be
a
faithful
Friend.
Many
Friends
will
have
little
sympathy
with
some
of
my
conclusions.
I:
[Wrong & Right Questions]—How
can I become an authentic, 3- dimensional, integral & grounded
human being instead of a bundle of fragments hiding behind a facade?
How can I come to the real know- ledge and service of God? How can I
share in the light, illumination of the transcendent, holy, divine?
These
questions
all
grow
out
of
a
sense
of unfulfillment; there's more to life than we have yet encountered
or created. Life is not the wasteland it seems to be. These
questions, these pleas must be met & the response lived with by
each individual in each generation. If
our
spiritual
and
psychological
nostrums
only
momentarily
ease
the
worst
of
our
symptoms
and
leave
the
illness
untouched,
perhaps
we
have
been
asking
the
wrong
questions.
Instead,
the
questions
should
be:
Why
am I not real, & free? Why am I estranged from myself
&
that reality without which I can't exist?
Ques- tioning
our
unreality
is
meaningless;
speaking
of
being
cut
off
from
God
makes
no
sense.
Yet
obviously,
such
meaningless
language
speaks
to
us.
[Paradox- ical
language]
serves
a
purpose
other
than
communicating
literal
sense;
it
can
effect
our
deeper
centers
of
experience.
[Western
Disobedience,
Eastern
Ignorance]—We
are
born
real,
&
then
become
unreal.
The
infant
[&
a
cat]
have
a
greater
authenticity
than
we feel in
ourselves.
The
integrity
of
cat
or
infant
isn't
one
to
which
we
can
return.
They
don't
have
a
conscious
self
to
be
estranged.
Salvation
presupposes that we
see
&
acknowledge
we
are
lost,
cast
out.
What
keeps us from fulfill- ment, from authenticity, from grace, from
enlightenment?
Eastern
&
Western
religious
traditions
give
different
answers
[from
different
questions].
Western
questions
are:Why
have
we
fallen
from
grace
[into
self-gratifi- cation]?
Why
don't
we
know
&
serve
God?
The
answer is: we are disobe- dient. Eastern questions are: Why
are
we
bound
to
a
ceaseless
cycle
of
re- turn,
of
a
rebirth
of
old
fear?
Why
do
we
find ourselves enslaved by suf- fering of which we are the author?
The
answer
is:
we
are
ignorant.
In
the
West
we
are
lost
because
we
have
disobeyed,
followed
our
own
wills,
made
new
gods,
made
ourselves
into
gods.
Self-indulgence
takes
many
forms,
[gross
and
subtle,
tangible and intangible].
We
are
called
on
to
obey,
to
love
the
Lord
and
our
neighbor.
[In
any
interpretation
of
salvation
and
grace],
there
is
something
within
our
power
which
we
must
do
before
grace
can
be
received
or
salvation
can
take
place.
Worship,
praise,
[and
mediation]
are
ultimately
brought
to
bear
on
the
turning
of
the
willful heart.
The
religious
East
believes
we
are
in
bondage
and
in
darkness
because
we
are
ignorant.
We
mistake
the
Maya-illusion
for
the
Brahma-reality.
We
are
in
bondage
to
suffering
because
we
do
not
know
enough.
The
Eastern
way
of
enlightenment
lays
much
stress
on
preparation
through
obedience,
moral
discipline,
and
self-purification.
In
their
content,
Eastern
moral
insights
reach
heights
that
we
in
the
West
can
respect
and
aspire
to.
The
will
and
the
mind
which
distort
the
truth
and
which
attach
themselves
to
falsehood
and
delusion
must
be
disarmed
and
put
to
rest
before
the
liberating
truth
[&
saving
wisdom],
can
flood
and
release
the
whole
person.
The
Western
way
of
obedience
lays
much
stress
on
knowledge.
One
may
suspect
that
Christianity
has
the
most
highly
developed
systematic
theo- logy of
any
major
world
religions.
Christian
theologians
seek
to
extend
&
dee- pen their
attempts
to
understand
God's
nature.
The
joint
heritage
of
Greek thought &
modern
science
makes
it
impossible
to
achieve
an
obedient heart and will unless
the
questing
mind
is
somehow
disarmed
and
put
to
rest.
[Lessons
for East and West]—East
and
West
are
still
living
in
a
tra- dition
of
thought
forms
and
social
and
cultural
practices
which
must
be
tremen- dously stretched,
if
not
broken,
before
the
value
of
each
tradition
can
genu- inely
inform the
other.
[The
East
has
assimilated
Western
technology,
and
Western
culture
is accepting
the
influence
of]
Eastern
literature
and art. [Be- yond the scholars in both cultures],
Western philosophy and moral configu- ration, and Eastern views of man,
time, and experience's nature have yet to reach the other culture's
man in the street.
There
are
encouraging
signs
that
a
genuine
interpenetration
of
traditions
has
begun
to
take
place
over
the
last
generation
or
two.
The
Western
way
of
obedience
must
reconceive
&
radically
integrate
the
way
of
knowledge
[of
true
self]
into
its
obedience.
The
Eastern
way
of
knowledge
[of
true
self]
must
re- conceive
and
radically
apply
its
way
of
obedience
into
its
own
knowledge.
Although
the
West
is
looking
freshly
at
the
problem
of
knowing
God
&
the
East
is
taking
with
new
seriousness
the
need
for
action
in
this
world,
both
run
the
danger
of
a
real
split
between
their
respective
ways
of
knowledge & obedience.
II:[New
Conception of Truth &
Reality]—In
Greek
thought,
objective
reality
is
an
absolute,
timeless
system
of
structure
&
relationships.
Leslie
De- wart
has
suggested
rethinking
the
whole
nature
of
truth
&
reality.
Conscious- ness
isn't
a
human
faculty,
but
constitutes
one's
very
being.
It
increases by qualitative
intensification
as
consciousness further differentiates itself from the rest of reality
while it relates to reality as subject to object. We must reject Plato's view that there can be a final discovery of some fixed armature on which the universe is built.
Truth
re-conceived
as
the
fidelity
of
consciousness
to
reality
is
suscep- tible
to
continued
growth
&
development,
&
to
being
perceived
more
&
more
sensitively,
receptively,
&
consciously.
[There
are
several
belief
systems
which
are]
protests
against
conceiving
God
(or
truth)
in
a way which
doesn't
heighten
consciousness
but
stultifies
it.
God
isn't
to
be
conceived
as
a
being,
or
being
itself;
God
isn't
to
be
regarded
as
a
person,
or
as
personal.
God
is
to
be
con- ceived
as
the
open
background
out
of
which
emerge
consciousness
&
being.
Let
us
say
that
God
is
the
flavor
of
all
our
experience,
the
new
smell
that
the
world
took
on
for
George
Fox.
Two
ways
of
experiencing
the
world
are
possible,
God-flavored
&
God-less.
If
we
aren't
to
conceive
God
as
a
person,
then
of
course
we
could not
conceive
God
as
having
a
will.
The
whole
notion
of
discovering
&
obeying
the will
of
God
becomes
meaningless.
There
are
several
forms
in
the
East
where
there
is
no
concept
and
therefore
no
experience
of
God
as
personal.
Some
Christians
have
experienced
discovering
&
obeying
the
will
of
God.
Just
what is it about their experience which enabled them to be open to
reality and power?
An
approach
in
terms
of
what
religion
does,
rather
than
in
terms
of
what
it
is,
permits
a
drawing
together
of
East
and West,
of
the
ways
of
enlightenment
&
obedience.
We
are
estranged
from
God
and
ourselves
because
of
self-will;
we
are
in
darkness
and
in
suffering
because
of
self-ignorance.
We
must
let
go
and
let
God's
will
and
the
cosmic
consciousness
shine
through
us.
The
letting- go
must
be
by
the
whole
person
in
that
wholeness of presence to one's self that makes one human. [To do
otherwise is to cling] to something partial, something fixed,
something narrow [based on] self-will and self-ignorance.
III:
[Fear
and Trust]—Why
are we unable to let go, or why do we re- fuse to let go of self-will
& self-ignorance?
It
is
an
intellectual
fear,
ran- ging
from
complacency
to
cynicism
to
skepticism
to
agnosticism
to
a despe- rate,
frightened
refusal
to
accept
an
insight
that
will
shatter
one's
tiny, partial, beloved
corner
where
one
stands.
Fear
is
at
the
root
of
disobedience.
It may be
that
a
sudden
&
drastic
threat
shows
that
underneath
worldly
comfort and security
there
is
a
fearful
clinging
as
desperate
as
that
of
one
with
only
a shred to
sustain
one.
Fear
is
countered
by
trust.
For
the
present
purposes,
the
concept
of
trust
may
be
more
helpful
or
fruitful
than
"love."
Whereas
love
is
often
thought
of
as
an
emotion,
trust
is
more
easily
thought
of
as
a
total
response
of
the
person,
an
attitude
of
receptive
openness.
It
is
easier
to
think
of
trust
as
relevant
alike
to
mind
and
heart
and
will.
Trust
does
not
seem
drastically
incomplete
without
a
specified
object.
In
Eastern
mysticism,
the
development
of
trust
seems
to
proceed
nega- tively
by
showing
that
the
narrow
self
we
cling
to,
is
not
something
ultimately real.
The
Eastern
difficulty
in
letting
go
of
[self-experience]
is
comparable to the Christian's difficulty in letting
go of [self-will].
[Trust
&
obedience is depen- dent
on
having]
a
creator,
a
father,
a
redeemer,
a
being
in
whom power and loving
mercy
are
combined,
[a
being
who
is
seeking
our
trust
& reconciliation with
God].
This
undergirding
of
trust
means
that
faithful
Christians over the generations
have
not
been
ultimately
deluded,
and
it
grounds
the reality of the power
and
freedom
and
the
grace
of
their
lives.
[Just
as
we
can
re-think
truth,
reality,
&
God,
we
can
reconceive
trust
as]
the
healing
&
redeeming
flavor
of
our
experience
&
as
having
a
ground
in
reality
outside
our
own
psyches.
Wholeness
is
the
seamless
garment
of
a
free
&
vital
personality;
it
is
that
nondual
world
in
which
we
live
&
move
&
have
our
being.
The
way
of
wholeness,
the
way
of
letting
go,
of
trusting
is
nothing
new.
Our
wholeness
can
reach
heights
faithful
to,
but
going
beyond
those
of
the
past.
The
richer
the
possibilities
&
the
more
various
the
strands making up the new fabric of consciousness &
life the greater are the chances of going astray &
of taking something partial for the whole.
IV: [Becoming
Real or Whole]—How
can I become real or whole?
We
are
told
that
we
get
there
by
being
there.
We
learn
to
love
by
loving,
to
be
free
by
exercising
our
freedom,
&
to
trust
by
trusting.
They
tell
us
to
do
that
very
thing
we
are
asking
help
to
do.
These
answers
are
true,
&
they
are
the
only
safe
answers.
There
are
many
answers
more
immediately
helpful
and
satisfying,
but
they
are
dangerous
because
they
are
ultimately
partial.
The
more
that
partiality
approaches
genuine
wholeness,
the
more
difficult
it
will
be
to
see
its
remaining
inadequacy.
It
is
the
one
on
the
verge
of
enlightenment
who
is
most
trapped
by
one's
craving
for
enlightenment.
By
an
intrinsic
&
obvious
necessity,
the
way
of
wholeness
must
be
whole,
but
not
all
at
once.
Each
pair
of wholeness/
fragmentation,
reality/ unre- ality, freedom/ bondage, saint/ sinner marks
not a set of static &
polar oppo- sites,
but
2
different
directions.
The
whole
person
must
be
involved
in
every
advance
toward
wholeness.
Language
seems
to
falsify
reality;
any
expression
pointing
towards
truth
seems
also
to
point
in
the
opposite
direction.
We
mustn't
mistake
the
finger
for
the
moon
it
points
at,
or
the
raft
with
the
farther
shore
to
which
it
carries
us.
Some
fragmented
people
need
part-by-part
healing.
There
are
some
whose
life
of
services
takes
up
such
a
large
part
of
their
attention
that
their
inward
life
is
stinted,
or
those
with
spiritual
senses
so
keen
that
they
seem
to
miss
the
needs
of
those
around
them.
Any
catalog
of
our
fragmentation
is
virtually
endless
and
each
of
us
has
a
unique
configuration
of
them.
When
we
can
recognize
our
own
partialities,
we
can
begin
consciously
to
counter
them.
[Focusing
on
what
most
needs]
growth
runs
the
danger
of
a
partial
way,
which
in its
very
helpfulness
tends
to
take
the
place
of
wholeness,
and
which
uses
only temporarily
helpful
[concepts
which
later
become
obstacles].
One
can only return to
the
classical
answers
that
tell
us
to
do
that
very
thing
we
are asking help to do.
[We
may
have
a
vision
of
our
goal],
but
we
must
not
let
it
so
intensify
the
difference
between
what
we
are
and
what
we
want
to
be
that
it
hardens into reality the distinction between goal and journey, ends
& means. Wholeness
is
appropriate
because
it
can
be
applied
in
2
directions,
in
the
wholeness
of
a
person,
the
unity
of
a
single
center,
&
in
the
universe
as
a
single
whole, with- out
ultimate
clefts
or
chasms.
With
these
two
put
together,
we
see
ourselves
as
continuous
with
the
rest
of
reality.
In
our
present
[reconceiving],
present- ness refers
to
the
actual-ness,
the
there-ness,
the
is-ness,
[the
now-ness] of reality. Present-ness,
trust,
wholeness
abide.
Yet
they
do
not
abide;
they are fingers, not
the
moon;
they
are
rafts,
not
the
shore.
V:
[Making
ourselves Partial &
Whole]—[For
some],
the
integrity
of
life
consists
of
a
harmony
in
which
different
elements
are
in
good
proportions, ra ther
than
genuine
present
wholeness
where
consciousness
is
faithful
to
rea- lity.
We
label,
fragment,
&
distort
our
already
whole
reality.
We
make
ourselves
partial
by
being
partial,
and
we
become
whole by being whole. The
freedom
available
to
us
is
not
one
that
can be achieved
by
taking
conscious
thought,
which
can
only
be
partial.
Nor
is
what
is
required
merely
a
change
in
attitude.
All
such
procedures
and changes,
necessary
as
they
can
be,
are
only
baby- steps
and
one
fragment
working
against
another.
We
need
to
change
our
total
selves,
yet
we
cannot
because
there
is
no
place
to
stand
in
order
to
get
leverage
within
one's self;
too
often
we
find
our- selves
back
in
the
conflict
of
part
against
part.
No
other
can
change
us
either,
in
the
way
required;
any
outside
impact
depends
on
what
we
make
of
it.
We
cannot
lift
and
heal
&
grow
ourselves
to
wholeness,
nor
can
anyone
else.
Yet
lifting,
healing
and
growth
do
take
place.
[However
we
speak
of
change,
we
are
comparing
fragments
with
one
another];
fragments
are
unfaithful
to
reality.
We can be open and present to another in ways going beyond those in which we are open to ourselves. As we mediate presentness and love for another we find them returning to ourselves many-fold. Wholeness and pre- sentness are already at work; we can become sensitive to the ways we are blocking them. We must exercise suspicion, forgiveness and letting go. Our experience of reality is no optical illusion, nor a subjective hallucination. Our experience of reality is itself real; it is neither cause nor effect; and it is both cause and effect.
We can be open and present to another in ways going beyond those in which we are open to ourselves. As we mediate presentness and love for another we find them returning to ourselves many-fold. Wholeness and pre- sentness are already at work; we can become sensitive to the ways we are blocking them. We must exercise suspicion, forgiveness and letting go. Our experience of reality is no optical illusion, nor a subjective hallucination. Our experience of reality is itself real; it is neither cause nor effect; and it is both cause and effect.
In
a
God-flavored
world
one
does
not
to
look
at
some
neutral
world
through
God-colored
glasses.
We
can
point
our
natural
and
growing
wholeness
in
the
direction
of
the
sun
which
calls
it
forth.
We
can
align
ourselves
with
the
creative
and
redeeming
power
which
is
divinity
in
action.
Any
prayer
is
not
a
petition,
it
isn't
an
addressing,
not
a
calling
from
one
center
to
another.
It
is
the
opening
of
depth
to
background,
the
pervasive
flavor
of every moment, where mindful consciousness is present
to
Presentness.
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156. Ethical mysticism in the Society of Friends (by Howard Haines
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156. Ethical mysticism in the Society of Friends (by Howard Haines
Brinton; 1967)
About the Author/[Pamphlet]—Howard & Anna Brinton came to Pendle Hill in 1936 with a background of academic achievement from Mills & Earlham Colleges, & became co-directors of a Quaker fusion of school & community. They retired in the 1950s & lived on campus as Directors Emeriti. Anna died in 1969; Howard continues to lecture, write, and be [present with us]. Ethical Mysticism is “an effort to classify & characterize Quaker religious experience throughout their history,” with a depth & perspective which is a hallmark of his work.INTRODUCTION—This pamphlet has intimate bearing on the present. Recent writing contains 3 misconceptions: Quakers are not mystics; Quakers were radical Protestants; Quietism was different from the activism of the pre- ceding or subsequent centuries. The following pages deal primarily with essen tial Quaker beliefs. The Spirit of Truth works through historical research into the origins of our religion and through inward experience.
[Things may change but one thing should not]. Quakers shouldn’t aban- don their basic method, which is to wait in silence for leadings of the Spirit & to treat other persons as if they had, or could have, the same awareness of divine truth. Quakerism is derived largely from Jesus' ethical teachings, Paul's Christ-mysticism, & John's Logos-mysticism. We should cherish the mystical element of primitive Christianity & Quakerism.
God’s works within and without, even the least of plants, preaches forth the power & wisdom of the Creator and eyed in the spaces of eternity humbles man. Thomas Lawson (1630-1691)
[Quaker] Mysticism—By ethical Mysticism, I mean that type of mysti- cism which 1st withdraws from the world revealed by the senses to the inward Divine Source of Light, Truth & Power, & then returns to the world with strength renewed. [The bonds of love binding all life together] are discovered by this process. Quaker mysticism is a philosophy or perhaps a theology which also has a non-mystical aspect in being based on historical events & ethical con- cepts. I shall use Rufus Jones’ sense of “mysticism” as that “religion which puts the emphasis on immediate awareness of relation with God, on direct and intimate consciousness of the Divine Presence.”
The non-mystic is the over-intellectualized person who sees the world in sharp outlines grinding on like a soulless machine. [Without his business or profession], he finds in his world [no height, depth, or signs of life]. The Neo- Platoism of Meister Eckhart, Saint Teresa of Avila, & St. John of the Cross is contemplation of & unity with, the Absolute, the One above & beyond the many. Such mysticism experiences or philosophies exist in Quakers, but Quaker writers don’t resort to paradoxes to describe it. John Woolman says, “my mind was covered with a feeling of awe-fullness.” The most common experience of this sensing of God’s presence is meeting for worship.
The Call to Service—Friends were not so likely to mention the sense of God’s presence as to mention the absence of it; meetings could also be dark & barren. The call to service can generally be described as a mystical experi- ence in the sense [I am using it (e.g. John Churchman, Job Scott, John Whi- ting, and Christopher Healy)]. The negative retreat into the Absolute is gene- rally followed by a positive return to the “world.” [Robert Barclay uses this return to distinguish Quakers from those who retreat to a monkish cell. The early Quaker who had a call to service has been mostly] replaced by committees. This increase in planning is in accord with the times but with it comes the serious danger of too much organized structure.
The Call to Service—Friends were not so likely to mention the sense of God’s presence as to mention the absence of it; meetings could also be dark & barren. The call to service can generally be described as a mystical experi- ence in the sense [I am using it (e.g. John Churchman, Job Scott, John Whi- ting, and Christopher Healy)]. The negative retreat into the Absolute is gene- rally followed by a positive return to the “world.” [Robert Barclay uses this return to distinguish Quakers from those who retreat to a monkish cell. The early Quaker who had a call to service has been mostly] replaced by committees. This increase in planning is in accord with the times but with it comes the serious danger of too much organized structure.
Group Mysticism—Another [distinctively Quaker characteristic in terms of mysticism], which differentiates it from solitary inward searching is the Quaker habit of meeting together in silence to realize Divine Presence. We know one another directly and intuitively, & not through our senses only, because we can share in the One Life, the Life of God. The retreat to communion with the Divine is an experience considered valuable less for its results than in itself. “Waiting upon the Lord” were the words most frequently used to describe a Quaker meeting. An unprogrammed Quaker meeting, though seemingly inept, may also surpass any prearranged result.
Nature Mysticism—Nature mysticism is the concept of nature as a spi- ritual reality rather than as a physical one. Modern philosophers like White- head, believe that in modern physics the conception of an organic nature had replaced older mechanistic conceptions. Thomas Shillitoe, George Fox, Job Scott, & Catherine Phillips found that mystical experiences [brought out a new smell in creation].
Nature Mysticism—Nature mysticism is the concept of nature as a spi- ritual reality rather than as a physical one. Modern philosophers like White- head, believe that in modern physics the conception of an organic nature had replaced older mechanistic conceptions. Thomas Shillitoe, George Fox, Job Scott, & Catherine Phillips found that mystical experiences [brought out a new smell in creation].
For Joshua Evans, Edward Stabler, Thomas Holme, Mary Alexander, John Woolman, & others, the Inward Light would sometimes seem to shine without. Bayard Taylor wrote: “[After meeting] all arose & moved into the open air where all things appeared to wear the same aspect of solemnity, the poplar trees, the stone wall, the bushes in the corners of the fence looked grave & respectful for a few minutes … Gradually however all [including nature] re- turned to the outdoor world & its interests.”
Quakerism and Protestantism—Some confusion has been created by the assertion that Quakerism is a form of Protestantism. Neither the early Qua- kers nor their Puritan opponents considered Quakerism to be a form a Protes- tantism. [Barclay equates the sources of authority for Catholicism, Protestan- tism, and Quakerism to reside in Church, Bible, and the Spirit respectively].
The words of Jesus presented no ideal impossible of fulfillment to the Catholic saint, nor to the Quaker immersed in the world but not of it. [In compa- ring Catholic and Quaker worship], Rudolph Otto points this out: “Both are solemn religious observances … and sacramental, both are communion, both exhibit an inner straining to realize the presence of God, and to attain a degree of oneness with God.
Protestantism until quite recently was a masculine religion, while Catho- licism & Quakerism are both masculine & feminine. Joseph Smith wrote: “The greatest adversaries the Society had to contend with in early days were Non- conformist divines [i.e. radical Protestant].” The controversy between 17th cen- tury Protestantism & 17th century Quakerism is a conflict as new as it is old —the ancient [OT] conflict between a authoritarian & a prophetic type of reli- gion. However much modern theologians exalt Christ, most are unwilling to accept the Sermon on the Mount as a practicable & attainable code of behavior for moral men immersed in an immoral society.
Quakers & Quietism—Almost all modern histories of Quakerism speak of a century of “Quietism” different in character from early Quakerism. Quietism means that the human mind must be quieted in order to permit Divine Light to enter the soul uncontaminated. Rufus Jones, [John Woolman & George Fox] use the word “pure” for the purely divine unmixed with the human. That which is pure is free from conventionalities & prejudices of society. It made them [social] pioneers because it freed them from conventional opinions.
Quakerism and Protestantism—Some confusion has been created by the assertion that Quakerism is a form of Protestantism. Neither the early Qua- kers nor their Puritan opponents considered Quakerism to be a form a Protes- tantism. [Barclay equates the sources of authority for Catholicism, Protestan- tism, and Quakerism to reside in Church, Bible, and the Spirit respectively].
The words of Jesus presented no ideal impossible of fulfillment to the Catholic saint, nor to the Quaker immersed in the world but not of it. [In compa- ring Catholic and Quaker worship], Rudolph Otto points this out: “Both are solemn religious observances … and sacramental, both are communion, both exhibit an inner straining to realize the presence of God, and to attain a degree of oneness with God.
Protestantism until quite recently was a masculine religion, while Catho- licism & Quakerism are both masculine & feminine. Joseph Smith wrote: “The greatest adversaries the Society had to contend with in early days were Non- conformist divines [i.e. radical Protestant].” The controversy between 17th cen- tury Protestantism & 17th century Quakerism is a conflict as new as it is old —the ancient [OT] conflict between a authoritarian & a prophetic type of reli- gion. However much modern theologians exalt Christ, most are unwilling to accept the Sermon on the Mount as a practicable & attainable code of behavior for moral men immersed in an immoral society.
Quakers & Quietism—Almost all modern histories of Quakerism speak of a century of “Quietism” different in character from early Quakerism. Quietism means that the human mind must be quieted in order to permit Divine Light to enter the soul uncontaminated. Rufus Jones, [John Woolman & George Fox] use the word “pure” for the purely divine unmixed with the human. That which is pure is free from conventionalities & prejudices of society. It made them [social] pioneers because it freed them from conventional opinions.
Barclay gives man a free choice between “the natural” & “the spiritual”; some good is in him if he makes the right choice. We are saved by the Christ “brought forth in the heart.” In almost every Quaker Journal we find a description of the conflict between what was sometimes called the “2 seeds.” The Journal writer feels himself to be a divided self, but eventually the inward Savior ap- pears, the Light is accepted as guide & peace is obtained, until some new & unfulfilled concern causes the tension to be renewed. [Job Scott speaks of this as a union of wills].
The Road Back to the World—Quietism’s negative road, leading away from the world, is followed by the positive road back to the world, where some requirement discovered in the withdrawal period is carried out. Friends had po- litical control at one time or another of 5 of the American colonies until an oath was imposed by the British government. Quakerism’s powerful influence on colonial America has never been fully assessed.
Friends carried the unquiet activities of maintaining peace with the Indians, opposition to slavery, reform in prisons & mental institution, & educa- tion. Thomas Shillitoe was very active in meeting with people, from the leaders of nations to those in taverns & prisons, in spite of being timid. Arnold Toynbee says that the Quakers could have been an “inward proletariat” [or guide] to civilization but missed it by a becoming a wealthy & prosperous part of Western culture. Although the Church gave up pacificism after 3 centuries, the Church continued to think of itself as potentially the King of God. Some lived at least theoretically by the Kingdom’s ethics.
Mysticism in the 19th Century—The 19th century was the darkest era in Quaker history. There were 3 separations: Orthodox-Hicksite (1828); Wilbu- rite-Gurneyite (mid-19th century); pastoral/non-pastoral (1875-1900). Wilbu- rites were mystics while Gurneyites were less so. Joseph John Gurney was a highly cultured distinguished and able Englishman [preaching] for 3 years in America the historical, outward Christ rather than the mystical inward Christ. Robert Barclay supported Gurney’s cause, while the Orthodox Jonathan Evans supported John Wilbur’s “mystical,” Spirit-led position.
In 1870, Gurneyites developed Protestant forms of worship, professional pastors, and programmed meetings. No part of Philadelphia adopted the “pas- toral system.” Those who in the 20th century carry on the practice of worship in silence are probably not as conscious as were their predecessors of the im- mediate guidance of the Spirit. Meetings which wait in silence for right gui- dance represent the “wave of the future” for the Society of Friends. There is an increase in silent meetings & intellectualism in modern Quakerism. Reason and spiritual intuition function better together than separately.
The Theological Basis of Unity—The Quaker withdrawal & return had a basis in mystical feeling and in thought. The Quaker believes that the Inward Light is One and not many, that the same Light illumines all. George Fox frequently speaks of the Light as leading from the one to the many. “If we walk in the Light as He is in the Light we have fellowship with one another.” [Puritans expected anarchy from Quakerism]. Quakers avoided anarchy in at least 2 ways: group mysticism; identification with Christ.
The Theological Basis of Unity—The Quaker withdrawal & return had a basis in mystical feeling and in thought. The Quaker believes that the Inward Light is One and not many, that the same Light illumines all. George Fox frequently speaks of the Light as leading from the one to the many. “If we walk in the Light as He is in the Light we have fellowship with one another.” [Puritans expected anarchy from Quakerism]. Quakers avoided anarchy in at least 2 ways: group mysticism; identification with Christ.
For Quakers the Atonement miracle was important as introducing the new covenant, dispensation, outburst of the Spirit, & epoch. The historic Jesus was to introduce a new epoch in which new ethics were provided by which the Kingdom of Heaven can be entered here & now through spiritual union with Christ.
This new epoch was an age of reconciliation of Christians with God. His death is only effective existentially if it is repeated in the Christian experi- ence with the death of “the old man” and the resurrection of the new. Salvation was by Christ’s life through Inward Light. Salvation is a word not often used by Quakers; they use reached or tendered. Paul Tillich wrote: “Christ isn’t an isolated event which happened once; he is the power of New Being, preparing his decisive manifestation in Jesus as the Christ in all preceding history & acknowledging himself in all subsequent history.
A Theology of Experience—Quaker theology is unsystematic. It is based largely on experience and on a variety of NT thought. We can find 6 different theologies in Fox’s epistle. The Light: is God; is from God; leads up to God; is Christ; is from Christ; leads up to Christ. We can say that the Light is both within man and also beyond him. Quaker theology is a combination of Paul’s Christ mysticism and John’s logos and God mysticism. The Christian is crucified in the flesh, or self-will, to be resurrected in the spirit. Their mysticism becomes ethical when it leads them to enter the Kingdom and live according to the teachings of Christ. Isaac Penington wrote: “Whensoever such a thing shall be brought forth in the world it must have a beginning before it can grow and be perfected. It should begin in some individuals in a nation and so spread by degrees.
Following John, the Quakers used different words to designate “the Light which lighteth every man.” [And while] Paul’s union with Christ seems to be a psychological union of will, John seems to include a union of substance, a kind of divinization resulting from rebirth. This is ethical mysticism because it re- treats to the creative Source of Unity & returns to create unity in the world. The earth is a [good] form that God has made. Only those forms—[words & actions] —inspired by “godliness” are acceptable. [For Quakers there aren't stages on a heavenly ladder], but there were preliminary acts of purging, struggle, & sometimes long periods of seeking & waiting before the Light dawned.
Science and Mysticism—A [new] dualism or dichotomy has emerged. This is the dualism between science and mysticism. Arthur S. Eddingtion—an eminent scientist & devout Quaker—begins his discussion of mysticism by comparing a mathematical wave formula with a poem describing the “gladness of the waves dancing in the sunshine.” The scientist deals with abstract gene- ralities; the poet deals with concrete experience. The main difference is in the symbols used.
Science has great prestige because it enables us to acquire extraordi- nary control of the world. Many people are wandering about aimlessly in a mechanistic world devoid of meaning. The world we actually live in is the world of mystical experience which is both objective & subjective, the within which is also the beyond, the Divine Life coming from beyond our personal self- consciousness out of the depths of being.
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157. Facing and fulfilling the later years (by Elsie Marion Andrews;
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157. Facing and fulfilling the later years (by Elsie Marion Andrews;
1968)
About the Author—Much of the wisdom attributed to the wise women of the 16th century informs Elsie’s concern for enriching the lives of people in general, & older people in particular. [She started with children] at Farmham’s Girls’ Grammar School and later at a Senior High School in Indianapolis
Foreword (by Anna Cox Brinton)—The answer to the old age question depends on country, culture, diet, and method of reckoning. “If you would be old, you must start young.” There are areas in the world where youth and life are still brief. For bookish people whose sight and hearing suffice, reading & writing have always been favorite pastimes. The composition of the “Quaker Journal” has occupied the later years of uncounted Friends. Elsie Andrews describes a multitude of ways in which the later years can be both enjoyed and fulfilled.
Age in a Changing World—“Advance in medical science is self-defea- ting if we improve health . . . without giving them meaningful ways to use their capacities in their longer life. . . There needs to be an environment more favor- able to making use of people’s potential in the later years (Report of National Council on Aging).” My concern with the wise & happy use of the later years has arisen through elderly friends and their families that have come to grips with unexpected change. Adaptation is not easy to those grown used to an accepted way of life. [Even those starved for touch & attention], could show life and hope if only someone cared.
We need each other. [But] we live at a time when human contact and understanding is threatened by a mechanized world, where human beings were in danger of becoming like the automatons they invent. [Culture has changed and brought with it] the present climate of opinion that puts youth, glamour, vigor, and production in the spotlight of popularity and worth. The whole struc- ture of society today calls for fresh thinking on these concerns. The purpose of this essay is to consider the social and spiritual needs of the human being growing toward fruition.
Retirement in Prospect—One significant aspect of retirement is whe- ther it comes by choice or compulsion. Free choice [is no guarantee of] a fa- vorable attitude. Another significant factor is the degree of genuine interest [or disinterest] the individual has in his work. [Hobbies take the place of routine jobs in retirement]. [Skilled craftsmen with no hobbies in place &] being under the wife’s feet brings out the worst in the relationship of 2 people living in too close proximity for either one to appreciate the other. In cases like this some form of gradual retirement would be helpful.
Ideally there should be no categorical age for retirement, but rather a tapering off as the need arises. Future legislation [should] provide for a flexi- bility of opportunities and alternatives: to retire and find other occupation, or to continue in a graduated and possibly protected sphere of employment.
Where to Live—A place in the [3-generation] family of which one has always been a part must mean more than any other environment—a place where devotion is shared, where in adversity the deep springs of comfort will continue to flow. Due to many causes, British adolescents grow up earlier, & adults find themselves with family-free independence much sooner than they used to; some parents find it hard to part with their children.
[3-generation] families do not necessarily want to be split, but present- day trends practically force them apart. If [there are so few grandchildren around] it results as much from the uprooting of young families to new areas of employment as from this century’s lower birth rate. Grandparents are left alone in a place they may be reluctant to leave or taken to a place where they have no desire to go.
In England Britain America England
Responsibility for caring for old parents is likely to fall on the available family member, usually a middle-aged daughter. In close and constant rela- tionships some relief and variation of program is usually helpful. It requires real effort to come freshly to those we think we know well and forbear pre- judgment. In Britain America
Communal Residence—The time comes when some form of commu- nal residence has to be considered. Unhappily, a bleak picture of institutional care persists in the minds of those over 70, who cling to the freedom they feel they have in living alone through fear of losing it in residential homes. It is important that the success stories in residential care should be publicized in order to break down certain fears founded on an outmoded conception. Appre- ciation of individual characteristics and ideas immediately creates interest in the fabric being woven being woven together through social intercourse & interdependence.
The Society of Friends in Britain Gwynedd , Pennsylvania
Creativity—For the majority of healthy retirees, later life offers much that will complement the former years, [an almost endless scope]. Creativity comes in the simplest of everyday things: letter-writing; conversation; relation- ships; home management. Abraham Maslow said, “Not only is it fun to use our capacities; it is necessary for growth.” [In exploring new talents] D. H. Law- rence said, “We live too much from the head and [our] evil will. . .” [When talent is crippled by rheumatism, arthritis, and poor eyesight] new tools must be found, or some alternative offered which is meaningful and related to the individual’s interests.
But creativity need not require physical activity, nor preclude mental exercise. [A County Arcivist
Helping the Elderly—[In particular] Solitaries and lethargics need the stimulus that comes from a demonstrated enthusiasm or a helpful prod. Hel- ping the aged requires more than goodwill and common sense; training is also essential. No regular training pattern of instruction is yet established for - volunteers & amateurs. Materially conditions are easy to improve, given the money, but less easy to provide is the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual understanding between those involved. [After information sessions with experts], trainees learned something of self-identification through films, role playing, & the seminar method and had the chance to observe that every indi- vidual reacts in their own way to handicaps and poor health.
[An excess of] health-consciousness can be a disease of fear in itself. Where there is fear and bewilderment one must convey hope and confidence, where there is doubt, one must give strengthening toward resolution. The past is there and is a clue to present behavior. Strong characters of great age are sometimes better equipped to cope with problems than those of a softer generation. In every one-to-one or one-to-group situation, both sides learn from each other and interact.
Shaping a New Image—The most urgent need is to be understood—by others and by themselves, as to who they are, why they are as they are, and what they believe they are. [Not perceiving everything that went into the forming of this “old person”] is our loss. We cannot afford to waste the wisdom won with the years. Many older people are better at many things than their juniors. Unfortunately our present civilization tends to put a premium on pro- ductive work; strength, beauty, mental agility, sexual power, and attraction are accepted all too generally as the prime criteria.
Modern communication through film and advertisement have broadcast these values. In the search for a new formula for satisfying living we must look at life’s wares, its tools and possibilities. Science may serve as an unexpected ally to the old in developing their assurance of a valid reason for living not associated with the importance and status of work. Younger generations will prepare themselves for age only when they see signs of true growth in those of advanced years.
Faith and Fullfillment—Jung asserts, “When higher interests arise on the horizon insoluble problems lose their urgency . . . the greatest problems of life can never be solved but only outgrown.” Religion has to face the worst that happens to people and offer them love and understanding. Men and women looking back have seen that unexpected, stronger growth came from the place of trial and testing. Those who cope with serious limitations so cheerfully are called heroes.
Their achievement is neither magical nor instantaneous; they have over the years, built positive attitudes which make courageous effort possible and frequently unconscious. Even failing powers, by narrowing the scope of expe- rience, may serve to concentrate interest and deepen the understanding of that interest. At every level of service and ability there is something to share, something to give, some door to enter.
But let us not confuse creativity, or, creative service, with [constant] activity. Waiting, listening—these also represent a creative force. When there is openness of mind there is also expectancy lit with a belief in the allright-ness of the unknown. Though for some it is impossible to accept religious belief, the wonder and mystery of life is something all can ponder; contemplation is a form of worship.
To face life and aging calls for the courage of faith. Can we accept the sheer joy of being? To live with life is to live with death. Ultimately man can only contemplate the fact of being. He is here now. Let him absorb and give out in his very breath his feeling of at-one-ment. When men have lived openly, gathering the fruits of their experience through the adventures of youth and adulthood into the later adventure of age, there surely should be no resistance to sleep at last.
T.S. Eliot: “In my beginning is my end—In my end is my beginning.”
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158. Man: the Broken Image (by Carol R. Murphy; 1968)
T.S. Eliot: “In my beginning is my end—In my end is my beginning.”
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158. Man: the Broken Image (by Carol R. Murphy; 1968)
About the Author—Carol Murphy’s previous 7 pamphlets have ranged from counseling the mentally ill to abstract concepts of theology. This pamphlet [seeks to answer the questions]: Is man a naked ape? A Thinking reed? A Candle of the Lord? The understanding of both religion & science is brought to bear on the nature of this paradoxical being who inhabits both the natural & the spiritual dimensions.
[Inner Dialogue]
[Sinner:] How wonderful it would be to discover more relics of Shake-
speare’s, Plato’s, and Jesus’ life.
[Child of God (COG):] What more to we need to know than their
distilled thoughts? I guess it’s a matter of what you think is the real person
—a bodily presence that dies or a communication of the spirit that endures.
[Sinner:] We are meant to know each other in the flesh.
[COG :] What is man anyway—a naked ape, a thinking reed, or the
candle of the Lord?
[Sinner:] Man is more than naked ape, but he does live in natural envi-
ronment; the rain falls & the wind blows.
[COG :] Rain & wind generate ideas or become symbols. He reacts not
to the rain but to what it means to him.
[Sinner:] Without a body he would never know the rain, which is as wet to
him as to any creature.
[COG :] [Without] the mind’s meanings, he could [never] enter where the
rain becomes ‘the quality of mercy.’ He’s not a naked ape, but is clothed in
the texture of his thoughts.
[Sinner:] Can we say that man has a soul? How does he stand in
relation to God?
[COG :] It seems to me that if man helps weave the design, then he
reflects the nature of God.
[Sinner:] If God is that creative sensitivity we call love, then man is most
man when he loves, but when he is destructive he isn’t Godlike, yet he is still
man. Man’s nature includes the ability to fall away from his nature.
[COG :] Perhaps in some ideal sense we reflect the nature of God, but
the image is a very broken one. There’s something in and around man—a
living energy—which is actually at work healing the sin-sick soul and body. If
that stopped working, then man would not be man, nor would God be God.
[Sinner:] If man’s soul is a candle of the Lord, it is easily quenched. I’ll
settle for a qualified statement of the nature of man—that he is a sinner and
a child of God.
[COG:] A child that resembles his Father, even as germ cells of the body
mirror the likeness of an earthy father.”
[Sinner:] I can [say], ‘When I know myself I know thee’; but when I look in
the mirror I see only a man who needs a shave.
[COG :] I see more of man’s unlikeness to God in the mental mirror in
which I see my lack of love and response to others.
[Sinner:] I guess we can both agree how hard and necessary it is to ‘fall
in love outward.”
[COG:] Being fully human is an accomplishment, not a given fact; it is
God’s struggle in us. Good night, Sinner.
[Sinner:] Good night, Child of God.
Brother to Life—Man is at least brother to all life. No living thing is merely itself—it is always in relation to its surrounding; man loves and hates and hungers, and turns to [the world outside himself]. [One must be watchful both inside and outside one’s self]. Not only food, but the need to find and mate with a partner calls for an investment outside the self. [The primordial sea is reflected in our blood, and the earth’s turning in our diurnal rhythm].
The structure of things runs through him. Why then should he feel so orphaned & estranged? With the mastery of fire [from there of energy], humans became overlords rather than kin to nature. Humans are still depen- dent on a nature that his domination may yet destroy. We do animals injus- tice to call the [aggressive] uncontrolled aspects of human nature the “beast within us.” Animal aggression is strictly controlled by instinct. We humans in contrast, seem to lack instinctual regulation, and must depend on conscious learning to supply patterning.
Man as Maker of Culture—Man must control himself by means of symbolism and culture instead of instinctual response to signs and gestures. Throughout [animal behavior], passion is clothed in form which both arouses and controls. But man’s cerebral cortex has overlaid or displaced instinctual patterns with a plasticity of mind that makes learning important; [the learned meaning of symbols become somewhat fluid and unique to the individual].
Man begins life in a very unfinished state, as a bundle of non-specific impulse which must be taught to be human. [Symbolism’s growth is gradual and progressive]. [In terms of “innate” aggressiveness or sociability] the most we can say is that man has the capacity to move toward, move against, or move away from his environment. This environment must present neither too much solitude nor too much society. Nothing is more destructive to personality than to be an “invisible man,” unresponded to by one’s fellows, ignored as if one didn’t exist.
Perhaps equally destructive is the condition of extreme overcrowding. It is possible that humankind is adjusting to crowded urban life by losing some of his responsiveness; [someone needs to be excluded]. Without responsive- ness, how can there be responsibility? [Controlling human behavior by] reason alone is like controlling a ship by rudder without engines to give it steerage. [Using] taboo based only on unreason does not long frighten the skeptical modern man.
In the art of the dance, the passion to love or make war is given form & beauty and channeled into the service of the social order. In sports, football or baseball binds aggressiveness with arbitrary rules agreed on by all players. Artists too, need rules, either found in the stubborn nature of the wood and stone they work with, or in the forms they adopt (e.g. sonnet, haiku, sympho- ny). Man as artist enters the world of symbolism & communication, thus tran- scending the subhuman world of sign and innate response.
Man as Thinker—Man as communicator enters Teilhard de Chardin’s noösphere, the universe of mental responsiveness which has grown out of the biosphere. Symbols are signs, not of things, but ideas of things. Language is a code that embodies these thought-patterns & filters human experience through them. The idea of time is deeply affected by the cultural mindset. The subject- predicate structure of European languages has set the tone of our philosophy from the time of the Greeks. Chinese language does not have this structure; the resulting logic of their thought is profoundly different from ours; language can divide as well as unite.
In information-giving and receiving computers, a basic unit answers the question: Is the door open or shut? There must be a field of possibilities from which the content of the message is selected. Meaning also requires a tuned receiver. We can attune our minds to various kinds & systems of signals while filtering others out as being chaotic “noise” relative to our purposes. The one who receives the message responds to it by a change in behavior or an answering message. In the communication network of the noösphere, there are no hard and fast boundaries. The body is itself a pattern of intercommuni- cation. The more we study energy, the more we see it as intricate patterns of behavior (e.g. the dance of electrons, DNA, evolution, the dialogue of human relationships. Yeats wrote: How tell the dancer from the dance?
Man as Image of God—Man is patterned responsiveness, participant in the noösphere, and the mirror of the dance of creation. [Pronouncing man as] made in God's image sounds so preposterous that theologians tend to back away from it in embarrassment. [The Christian Scientist] Mary Baker Eddy says: “God is the Principle of man, and man is the idea of God.”
Is man a thing subject to non-human nature, or is he part of a wider and deeper pattern or responsiveness that created and continues to re-create him? All too often we experience only ourselves as subjects, but others appear as objects. We regard cancer cells or schizophrenia as if these were separate things unrelated to the whole of the body whose cells or brain give rise to them. To heal the personality can well heal the body too.
He who wishes to understand the nature of things must look beyond surface appearances to find the invisible order which accounts for their opera- tion and gives meaning to it. A living organism is a network of metabolism, self-maintenance and nervous reactions; dead, it is a corpse subject to the chemistry of decay. Physics & chemistry alone do not explain the working of the logos, but logos makes use of physical and chemical properties. What happens to man’s logos when he dies? How can man appear so alie- nated from God’s Logos?
Man as Mortal—Man has never been able to decide whether death is natural to man’s estate, or unnatural, an absurd contradiction. Philosophers and theologians have as much to say as biologists and psychologists as to man’s norm. We do well to remain hung up on this question of final reality. The truth is far too rich for anything but a paradoxical answer. Both aspects of our existence must have their place in our answer. There is phrase of John Woolman’s about the dead—that they are “centered in another state of being.”
Martin Luther worked out a geometry of the soul as being curvatus in se (life lived inward for self vs. outward for God); every attempt to go beyond oneself curves back into self. When [this happens] we cease to respond to the other but only to our own needs and sensations. Sin is unresponsiveness; sin tears the fabric of creation. There is talking at someone, to someone, or with someone. How rare is the third and highest form of communication—talking with someone as an equal, open to give and take, with maximum attention to the needs & feeling of the other person. In lying, the sin is in aiming to mani- pulate the other, replacing the intent to inform.
Neither cultures nor nations find it easy to listen to each other. Many try to flee from broken and manipulative lines of communication by turning to reli- gion; but there's no escape in religion. The very worship of God is corrupted by the incurved self; leading to the attempt to manipulate God. Easily blin- ded & never secure in our choices, we're still able to be guided step by step if we learn to listen and respond to the still small voice of the indwelling Spirit.
Good night, Sinner.
Good night, Child of God.
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159.America
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159.
About the Author—Edgar H. Brookes was born in Smethwick, Eng- land (1897). He attended South Africa University Zulu- land in Parliament. He was head of the Liberal Party until its dissolution. He was the black Adams College's principal 1933-1945. He was Professor of History and Political Science at Natal University
[Student Revolt and the Older Generation]—I speak as one who in this situation has had to fight for unpopular truths at some risk and amid many difficulties. The 2 things that strike me most in the America America
Campus rebels and Black Power supporters are both in the minority. All great changes are initiated by minorities. The revolt of youth represents a compelling and creative impatience with America
I personally found, on almost every campus I visited, a feeling of shame about America America
Now, these young people are not perfect, nor the revolt infallible. There is too little discipline in the American home, school, & university. Some of the student reactions are simply lack of discipline and of self-discipline, some are love of revolt for revolt’s sake. These are not angels, they are our sons and daughters. If they do not think exactly like us, thank God for it. When they defy us, it is youth’s way of expressing a despair of receiving help. We should min- gle the 2 themes of angry revolt and the timeless [truths] which belong to all humanity.
In the background is the love of men for women which has not greatly altered since the Garden of Eden. And, though we have been unworthy custo- dians of them, morality & faith remain. It is high time that we sought to arrive at a truce in the battle of the generations. [The “folly of youth”] is rather the wise folly of truth. Our young people won’t come back to us; we must go to them. [What matters more than them loving us] is that they love truth and that is a noble love. To youth I would say: “Don't give up the things you are fighting for. [There are particles of gold] in the loyalties and even the fears of your parents; they are worth finding.”
[Black Power & Complacent Whites]—The menacing, threatening speeches of Black Power leaders are fanning the flames in youthful hearts, which burst out into riots. The Black Power movement is substituting apart- heid for integration, which must surely remain the American, human ideal. Power, black or white, is the wrong goal; the ideal is service. Black Power is a people’s protest; they have [endured] on deferred hopes for over a century.
The protest is against whites who defend segregation, which includes assassination & which continues to despise the black man for his color. Openly & bitterly he attacks us white liberals who have failed to deliver the goods, & now blame him for using his methods when ours have failed. If we haven’t done our best to help, with sufficient urgency, then we are accessories to the black man’s crimes of riot & arson. Alan Paton [of South Africa] writes: “We are going to have to go on building while we are being hated. I doubt whether any nation has ever before been faced with such a task.” To this must be added that we shall suffer because we deserved to suffer.
Let us now address ourselves to the average complacent American, a man not very good nor very bad. You are the men who do not start riots, nor profess hatred toward Negroes, but who move away if one penetrates into your select suburb. You are the men who if you have to promote often do not pro- mote a black man lest his being put over the heads of white men cause diffi- culty. What are complacent white men to do with Black Power? [Using force] will lead to brutal force, secret police, a war with the world’s non-white majority.
Hatred must be met with love, violent revolution by prompt, honest and effective reform. It must be done now if America Alexandria US
[Black Power and Mature Response]—It would be better if the Negro community and the white community would join hands and defeat the white minority which so obstinately denies the black equal rights. Black Power is an emotion rather than a policy. Black Power, let white America America
I was astonished and saddened to find that so many young people in the universities had lost faith in America America America America
Where do we who are older stand in all this? We must above all things be willing to learn [from the young], while remaining ourselves. Many middle-aged and elderly people, in their desire not to be obsolete, try to work themselves up to accept what in fact they cannot accept. The one loyalty that must never fail is loyalty to one’s real inner self. Penitence for our failures is certainly called for, but not a maudlin remorse that inhibits action.
[Confronting Evil and Obsession]—The evil that youth generally and Black Power in particular see in modern America
[In obsession with sex, one] misses sex's real joy until one escapes from the obsession. Black may say to white, or white to black: “Sir, you have but 2 subjects, yourself & myself, & I am heartily sick of both,” in reaction against 1960’s universal race obsession. A certain type of Christian asks you if you are saved, & the very thought predisposes you in favor of damnation. He treats you as a potential scalp to be added to his collection. What truth he has might gain an entrance if he sometimes talked about something else. A new America
[Faith and Meeting Black Power]—If we are to live the abundant life we must have faith—some sort of faith. “What think ye of Christ? is as perti- nent a question now as it was when it was 1st raised. Formulate our faith as we will, a faith we must have if we are to face life. When will you let go of the thinking and gamble your whole life on this faith? Will you choose at 50; at 60; at 70? Without that faith which results in action, you cannot even have the quiet strength by which action is sustained. Let us not be satisfied to make processions, protests and placards a mere substitute for prayer, love, and quiet faith.
What kind of a world is it that young America South Africa America America America
[We can] surrender to Black Power, riots and arson, [and the idea] that color is fundamental. [We can] suppress Black Power and destroy forever the picture of the US US America America
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160. Behind the Gospels (by Henry J. Cadbury; 1968)
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160. Behind the Gospels (by Henry J. Cadbury; 1968)
About the Author—Emeritus Professor of Divinity of Harvard; one translator of the RSV; Pendle Hill weekly lecturer—“one part Puck and two parts Quaker with vast amounts or erudition.”
Foreword—Formgeschicte (form criticism) developed in Germany [before 1928] where gospel students realized that between the original events of Jesus’ career and the individual authors of the 4 familiar books, there had been an interim [& mainly oral] process. The short units were once uncollec- ted and separate, used for teaching by early Christians. “Form criticism” assumes that these units were best understood by analyzing literary form (e.g. parables, accounts of miracles, aphorism, etc.); a more profitable classi- fication might be according to motive.
They were loose, collected bits. Because they were in booklets, they acquired an arbitrary or editorial sequence. We must work backwards from the completed collection to the earlier materials. We can perhaps recover with guarded optimism less inaccurate pictures of the Jesus of history and the inte- rests of Jesus followers. The addresses combined in this pamphlet are from Studia Evangelica II (vol. 87) and Journal of Biblical Lit., vol. 83.
Looking at the Gospels Backwards—The title addresses both the order in which the gospels present the words and deeds of Jesus and the order of the probable date of writing which distinguishes canonical gospels from later uncanonical material. The form critic K. L. Schmidt supposed that the separate units had been detached from any authentic memory of their order. Papias, an early Christian writer (about 140 A.D.), stated that Mark wrote “not in order.”
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, & Luke so often agree in selection that some sort of common written relation can hardly be denied. They are not 2 or 3 independent witnesses. The outline of closing events gives us no presump- tion that elsewhere the writing down of tradition had more than the slenderest basis of historic sequence to go by. The intentional cross references in the gospels suggest writers that are not so much following historic sequence as editors that are consciously looking back from sequels to antecedents.
Imagined Evidence of Historical Sequence—Many attempts have been made to [find in] gospel order hints that the evangelists record sequen- ces or developments in a [semblance of historical sequence]. There simply is not enough basis to argue either for or against these imaginative reconstruc- tions. Such hints of the arrangement of their material as the evangelists them- selves give or unconsciously disclose are much more related to geography.
I wish we could recover the original time and place of Jesus’ words and deeds; using the present sequence is hardly justifiable, as they have been detached and put together in a new sequence. If we do take the sections as they stand, we can of course construct a reasonable sequence. There is much in the ministry which reads as well back-wards as forwards. Any new order, [even a random one] might be no more authentic but we would be sobered by discovering that by the same kind of ingenuity the new order might appear just as intelligible and reasonable.
The Order of Origin of the Gospels—While voices are still raised to challenge the consensus of scholars, it remains probable that Mark is older than Matthew & Luke, and is a source they used, and that John is later than all three. Form criticism has rightly assumed that even prior to the written re- cord the material experienced similar stages of selection, emphasis or change. By studying it in reverse order one can trace backward through them and even before them the course of their literary or ideological development.
What I want to propose is that late evidence now available from the non-canonical gospels suggests that a similar process has taken place in the canonical gospels. [I will focus on] the non-canonical Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Thomas, and the Egerton Papyrus. All these were written origi- nally in the 2nd century, probably well before its end. Peter was translated & published in 1892, Thomas in 1959, & Egerton in 1935. The copy of Thomas found was in Coptic and contained over 100 sayings or brief conservations of Jesus.
There in these 3 discoveries some hints or confirmation of the way in which the canonical gospels were composed. The Diatessaron of Tatian, also from the 2nd century, was not an independent gospel and not like a modern harmony, but a mosaic built up by selection and arrangement from our 4 cano- nical gospels interwoven, much as we suppose Mark was used along with what scholars call Q, L, and M(t). Do [the 3 I mentioned earlier] represent independent and preferable oral or written sources? Or do they rather disclose the freedom with which the writers retold the words and deeds of Jesus? If we should decide that in the 2nd century editorial freedom played a substantial role, have we any reason to assume greater fidelity in the 1st century?
Characteristics and Historic Value—One interesting feature of any writer is his tendency to transfer a motif from one part of the narrative to ano- ther. The inscription on the cross is different in all five gospels (counting Peter) as is the scourging and mocking of Jesus. The 7 “words from the cross” are collected from the 4 separate gospels. Luke was capable of transferring to Acts motifs from Mark he did not use in Luke.
It is quite clear that Jesus's teaching in Thomas is much closer to the synoptics than to John. John and Thomas omit reference to the exorcism of demons. Neither, except for the passion narrative have much direct reference to the Old Testament's fulfillment. Thomas finds the synoptic type of parable congenial while John doesn't. Terms characteristic in one gospel become rare in another, and vice versa. The recurrence of identical rare Greek words sug- gests mutual knowledge.
[Many of the earlier gospels' features are shared with the later ones, which] challenge the presupposition that what is familiar has special claim to authenticity. [In the later ones] the pious desire for more information about Jesus has conflicted with the prejudice in favor of the canon—2 quite subjec- tive rival factors. If the student could without prejudice test these later gospels he might proceed backwards with better practiced criteria for looking at the same questions in the older gospels. Bishop Irenaeus tells us that each of the four [“orthodox”] gospels appealed to its own constituency of “heretics.”
Alleged Authorship—Each canonical gospels’ value is based on Christians who “knew” that a certain early Christian was its author; such tradi- tion is of doubtful worth. Tradition that attaches apostles’ names to books is more suspect than tradition that attaches names like Mark & Luke. One can encourage students to examine secondary gospels so that they have better means of evaluating their predecessors than if they were innocent of the similar problems between the 2 groups. If uncanonical gospels were secondary to canonical, canonical were secondary to their sources. Nothing justifies giving gospels special treatment from historical or literary viewpoints.
So far I have dealt with the easy but unproved inference that the order of sections in [the synoptic gospels] is chronological and the easy & natural defe- rence to the 4 canonical gospels, solely because of their role in the church. In an effort at intellectual integrity, we must deliberately ignore their present se- quence. The antiquity or accuracy of the related episodes are not to be as- sessed by their absence or presence in gospels included in or excluded from our traditional New Testament.
Gospel Study and Our Image of Early Christianity—It has long been evident that one cannot entirely separate the New Testament writings into the gospels on one hand, and the events & letters of the early church on the other. Form criticism of the gospels began by trying to explain these books by assu- ming that form was determined by this material’s use within the early Christian movement.
The sources we have on early Christian life do not suggest that the life and teaching of Jesus or memory of his character and career played much part in the conscious thought of early Christians.It is a fact that neither
Paul’s letters nor those written later ever suggested a sizable
fraction of what the gospel story conveys to us, and that the focus
was on present and future, not the past. [Our actual problem] is why the Gospel of Mark & the others ever came to be written at all.
The Gospels as Revealing the Apostolic Age—What form criticism attempted to tell us is how the reminiscences were selected and altered if they were to be used at all. Form criticism has led us to observe in the separate gospel units a variety of motives easily attributed to the interests of post resur- rection Christians. Whenever these writings seem concerned with the future, or make Jesus sound self-conscious or egotistical, one suspects they [are re- flecting] the later interests of his followers. We might be tempted to alter our portrait of the early church to account for the seeming lack of trustworthiness and consistency of the gospels. [Instead], we can imagine that it was the [very diverse] church, not Jesus himself nor even one of the evangelists, that was both Judaistic and anti-Jewish as the Gospel of Matthew seems to be.
Unfortunately, current study of the earliest Christianity conceives a greater unity [rather than diversity] at the beginning. “Kerygma is the modern title of one of these assumed original agreements. They are said to be the recurrent themes, and to have represented a simple and satisfactory body of thought for the unity of the faith. This picture of early Christianity does not stem from a new appraisal of the gospels, but from a long-standing assump- tion of uniformity in the early church. The very idea of one Christian com- munity is more concrete than I think our sources warrant. The evangelists were spokesman for separate communities. The geographical and cultural expansion of the movement meant proliferation of difference.
The Danger of Modernizing—I am persuaded that much of our current image of early Christians reflects our own traditions & interests rather than the early Christian documents. There is as much danger in modernizing primitive Christianity as there is in modernizing Jesus. Avoid thinking of the gospel’s contents as connected with church worship or formal instruction. The words “liturgical” and “catechetical” are not very applicable to them.
The order in the gospel sections isn't much due to either the Christian calendar or the actual sequence of events in Jesus’ life. The gospels became a depository & later a quarry for the most diverse interests and occasions.[Be- cause] parts of their contents were useful for answering personal and social ethical problems of believers, or for keeping individuals courageous & faithful, [does not make those uses the original intent of the gospel].
The synoptic parables have lately been used particularly to guess the early Christian background. Yet they are very ambiguous. Parables are illu- strations, and illustrations are notoriously unanchored. The earliest known use of gospel recitation is described by Origen: “It is by the name of Jesus, accompanied by the recital of the narratives which relate to him that Christians seem to prevail over evil spirits.” The retention in Mark of Jesus’ words in Aramaic is probably preliterary evidence of the use of these traditions for early Christian cures.
The Link with the Historical Jesus—The gospels, [even while they] reflect the next generation, they disclose gospel writers, informants, and readers who kept the theory if not the substance of depending on the link with a historical person. The later forms tended to impose their ideas on the histo rical Jesus, and then to claim the kind of link that implied derivation from Jesus. I am not persuaded that any artificial or abnormal processes were at work to transmit with unexpected fullness or accuracy the historical facts of Jesus career & teaching.
Probably the attitudes & interests of the early Christians modified their memories of Jesus as much as the remembrance of Jesus determined the thoughts & interests of the early Christians. The appraisal of Jesus retrospec- tively was, in successive generations from the first, quite varied. To suppose that a present-day awareness of the miraculous unity of Christ with the church is an accurate revival or survival of the earliest Christian feelings, may be thoroughly unhistorical. The search for a proclamation about Jesus usable today may prove futile.
The interest in reconstructing the words and deeds of the historical Jesus separated from the picture of faith drawn by the early church is certainly our interest, which no one of the authors of the New Testament had. Biblical study passes naturally and unconsciously through successive stages. A recent pattern has been the transfer of scholarly interest to the preaching of Jesus’ followers. Our present purpose is to challenge where challenge is needed the image of early Christianity that is sometimes read into as well as out of the gospels.
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