Foreword—I spent more than half of 2013 at Pendle Hill in Walling- ford, 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 impres- sive 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.
About the Author—Paul Buckley belongs to Clear Creek Friends Mee- ting in Richmond, IN. He enrolled in the Quaker Studies Program at the Earlham School of Religion. He has been a traveling minister and writer. He has pub- lished 3 works and written several dozen articles on Quaker history and con- temporary. This pamphlet is the product of 12 years of thought and contempla- tion, beginning with the address The Origin of SPICE. In 2011.
… Dwell in [and act in] the power of God and the Light of Christ Jesus; that you may answer that of God in every one [with everything that you do, and everything you say, by] being right, just, and true.
The purpose of this pamphlet is to explore historic and recent roles played by testimony in the Religious Society of Friends. What is a Quaker testimony? I provide history and then you and I will examine a set of testimonies known as S.P.I.C.E.S. (simplicity, peace, integrity, community, stewardship) and how their use distorts the meaning of Quakerism.
Part 1: The 1st 200 Years
Definition and Characteristics of Testimony—What is a Testimony? [In the past. “testimony” has had legal and religious definitions]; they don’t fit with Quaker usage. Quaker testimony is an act that publicly witnesses or testi- fies to an aspect of our basic spiritual beliefs, and is linked to something re- vealed by Inward Light.
I believe there are 5 essential characteristics that define a behavior as a Quaker testimony A Testimony:
1. Originates in God—The behavior in question must be something we are divinely called or led to. The Divine had many names; our actions came from the Divine and not our reason, tradition, and preferences.
3. Is Communal, not Personal—What one does personally due to
4. Is Challenging—A testimony must be challenging to the person
5. Is Rooted in Love—John Wool said: “… Love was the first motion,
1. Stage 1: The Lamb’s War—There are 3 distinct stages in the evolu-
James Nayler also wrote: “The [Lamb] covers them with love, gentle-
The vague directions of the Lamb’s War were replaced with specific in-
The leadership of the Society, most prominently William Penn, undertook a lobbying campaign for toleration. George Fox and Robert Barclay helped re- define the distinctive practices of the Society. William Penn, who had access to the king, highlighted how nonviolent and unthreatening Quakers were. In the 1650s, the Quakers [were adamant] about reviving Primitive Christianity, being God’s chosen people, and converting the whole world to Quakerism. In order to gain toleration, they had to tolerate others’ practices. What was divinely inspired and required became “just our way of doing things.” The change provided hu- mility and aided the young movement in its survival.
Stage 3: Being in the World, but Not of it—In 1689, Parliament enac-
The Trajectories of the First Testimonies—The 1660 “Declaration of Friends to King Charles II” assured the king that “we would fight only with spiri- tual weapons.” Statements about personal participation in warfare developed into being “Against All War Among Christians” to resistance to other forms of state-sponsored violence and intimidation to today’s Peace Testimony.
Because “plain clothes and speech” became required behaviors, they became like rituals. And just because a creed exists in clothing worn rather than words spoken, it is still a creed. The 1800s began with yearly meeting books containing detailed external obligations. By this century’s end, these had been removed by nearly all yearly meetings. Early Friends’ “peculiarities” have no direct or necessary relationship to testimonies we recognize today.
Part 2: S.P.I.C.E.S.
The Origin of S.P.I.C.E.S.—In the middle of the 20th century newly deve-
It appears to have spread through a peer network of religion teachers in Friends; they agree that it dated from 1990s. It didn't begin as a list of testimo- nies to memorize, but as a discussion tool to get students to think about what testimonies might start with each letter. Focusing on how each testimony is an expression of “that of God in everyone” helped to get this across.
John Punshon—In his 1990 Swarthmore Lecture England’s YM, he writes: “[Quakers] practice peace work, simplicity of life, and integrity, and call them testimonies … They are what Quakers stand for. They are vague, which allows flexibility … but they have to be evaluated against Quaker religious tra- dition.” There is no authoritative statement about testimonies; peace, simplicity, and integrity are examples of them; the examples are oversimplifications; they are not pragmatic nor political; they are responses to “what God is asking of them."
Wilmer Cooper—In 1991, he wrote the PH pamphlet Testimony of Inte- grity in the Religions Society of Friends. Testimonies are responses to divine leadings, and the “moral and ethical fruit of the inward leading of the Spirit." In an integrated life all aspects of our lives are consistent with each other, and each person is guided by obedience to one’s “conscience illuminated by the Light of Christ within.” God’s Truth guides us into integrity [which is]: “… ground in a living faith and experience of the present moment.
Faithfulness is the Root—[The author] disagrees with integrity being the single source that testimonies are an expression of. William Penn writes: “The Light of Christ [within us] is the manifestation of God’s love for our hap- piness … all aspects of true religion grow out of this Divine Principle.” Authentic witness is an expression of faithfulness to a divine calling. Separate testimonies are different flowerings from the same root. It produces S.P.I.C.E.S. and so much more.
The Role of Discernment/ Fruits not Roots—We may want to act quickly when we feel the Inner Light, but this leaves us open to acting from our own will or ego. John Woolman in the 1700s recognized this and laid his leading or concern before his Friends community. His leading to visit slaveholders grew to include Friends throughout the North American meetings. James Nayler al- lowed the enthusiasm of those immediately surrounding him to lead him astray, but dependence on guidance from the Holy Spirit as it acted on the whole com- munity enabled the Society to act in unity.
In the 1940s, a testimony was understood to be a religious statement. Because of this understanding, in the 1950s, Howard Brinton adjusted his ter- minology from “social testi- monies” to “social concerns.” In the 1990s, it be- came important to distinguish between society’s secular values and Quaker testimonies, which are derived from religious faith and an active prayer, devo- tional and worship life. Today, the word “testimony” has been largely set aside and narrowed to refer to a small set of values—S.P.I.C.E.S. Too often, testi- monies are described as roots of Quakerism. This turns Quaker practice upside down, by putting the moral and ethical fruits of the inward leading of the Spirit before the divine inspiration that led to those fruits.
The Dangers of S.P.I.C.E.S—Dependence on S.P.I.C.E.S. represents 6 dangers to the Religious Society of Friends.
1. Is a Secular Creed—Wilmer Cooper feels that S.P.I.C.E.S. have come
We need to answer George Fox’s queries, “What canst thou say? Art thou a child of light, and hast walked in the light? What thou spea- kest, is it inwardly from God? He is not asking “What do you think?” We need to ask, “How do I testify?” Fox said: “I live in the virtue [influence of a divine being] that took away the occasion of all wars. I act as I do, not because of tes- timonies, but because the Light Within points the way and I follow my guide. Whatever the right words are, if you do the work, you will find the ones that speak to your condition and of your condition. Those words will be truer than S.P.I.C.E.S. for teaching children or answering newcomers. They will be your testimony.
Queries—What truth or new light did you find in reading it? How do you testify to the power of the Inward Light? How does your life speak? What role do the testimonies play in the life of your Quaker community? Where have you seen testimonies being lived out? How are they a creed or not a creed? What are the challenges as a commu- nity of living testimony rather than creed? How do we meet those chal- lenges? How do you find the pamphlet’s testimonies challenging or not challenging? How do you share or not share the author’s statement that how S.P.I.C.E.S. is used “distorts the meaning of Quakerism?”
www.facebook.com/pendlehill
[Introduction]—On winter solstice 2019, I had less than my normal energy. David and I sat by our wood stove and I read “darkness” poems, including Wendell Berry’s “To know the Dark:”
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light./ To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,/
And find that the dark too blooms and sings. And is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
I find guidance in my Inner Light and the light of others. Why does Berry tell us: “To know the dark go dark? For me the dark symbolizes uncertainty and great challenges; I see it as a time when God’s presence can still be felt. The night is best explored when the moon is full. I once led a group of adults and children down a rather steep ridge by moonlight. I became over-committed and interacted with too many people in my retirement. Once ill, I slowed down; I had hours to be in solitude. The illnesses I suffered had no diagnoses and were a form of darkness. “Not knowing” eventually led to a deeper shift in awareness.
I first imagined the poem’s “dark feet and dark wings” as night animals and birds. I now picture all my human and angelic spiritual guides and health workers. Their “dark feet and wings” remind me that dark times are moving forward. I am exploring this time of uncertainty and mystery; I hope that you will join me, and that it will help with your next time of darkness.
The Family Unconscious—My mother’s struggle with ALS came at an already challenging time in my 40’s. I am now the same age as Mom was then; I compare my time of illness with hers. I sought to bring it out of the shadows of family unconscious, namely that families keep repeating patterns until they are brought to fuller awareness. I may have been trying hard to come to terms with forces and patterns of my family’s women becoming ill, and sometimes dying.
I was hoping that I could help Mom heal her spirit, so that her body might remain strong enough to stick around. On a trip to Sedona with my mom and daughter, mom had atypical emotional outbursts. [Journal entry]:
“From
watching my mother, I see more clearly the patterns I was taught, my
childhood responses of fear, getting quiet, and
avoidance, and my adult response of being organized and on top of
every moment rather than being in the
moment. I think I am showing Megan another way."
In facing uncertainty and difficult illness, I could see how easy it would be to stay in darkness if I didn’t confront engrained family patterns (e.g. view certain emotions as a sign of weakness or mental illness). I relied on journaling and seeking guidance through time spent in nature to move through despair and uncertainty.
A Premonition—I discovered that I have the gift of hands-on-healing, After learning about Reiki, I realized that healing can occur spiritually, without physical contact. I would focus a healing intention on the image of the person I wished to assist. From a Sedona mountain, I began sending healing thoughts to Mom.
[Journal entry]: “... I felt how free of confusion and incredibly clear it seemed here, where I felt like I could soar in the wonderful air currents.
When experiencing a new state of awareness through nature, we are simply one with all that is around us, and we can meet God in a new way. I found a journal entry with a premonition of Mom’s serious illness before we had the ALS diagnosis and I experienced some of my deepest grief. When she informed me of the diagnosis, she was just informing me of the illness’ label. [See PHP #457: A Natural Unfolding] One of the gifts of traversing the dark is that some healing is only possible by journeying into center.
Moving into the Dark—I bought food besides my own in an airport; I had a very strong allergic reaction. I felt like my body was under attack. My doctor eventually found that I had: thyroid autoimmune disease; high liver enzymes, infectious mononucleosis; & a cyst on my pancreas. As a child I had a serious stomach virus, and what was diagnosed much later as infectious mononucleosis. I spent 10 days in the hospital, during which I had a hopeful vision of walking near our creek, listening to birds on a sunny spring day. I had awareness then that illness is often partially spiritual and that it benefits from spiritual intervention.
Devoted Guides—Guidance for my healing during illness often came through dreams. William Shetter writes: “A dream doesn't tell you what to do, it tells you where you are; awakening to the mystery is then up to you.” In Fe- bruary 2020, near the end of my first series of illnesses, I had a short dream, which had 2 guide figures: our dog Cai and my dad, nearly 20 years after his death. I ask key questions about the dream, and have a dialogue in writing with each character or symbol; it reveals a message or piece of wisdom from deep inside of me. Cai told me: “I came to rescue you from despair. Dad told me: “The shortcut is the immediate return to centering” and “Devoted guides get us back to our center more quickly; there are other ways as well.
We lived next to Mt. Gilead Friends Retreat and had Oliver, an English springer spaniel. He became the perfect retreat dog, accompanying people, sometimes all on the same day, on the maze of trails over 60 acres of wooded ridges and creek valleys. Person after person reported how Oliver appeared when he was needed. We were all taught to be more open to where our gui- dance might come from; it could come from an animal. This lesson stayed with me and helped during my most recent darkness.
Learning to be Receptive—In my time of darkness, I received guidance on how to keep from resisting the reality of my many health limitations. I hope to view my challenges as one aspect of the natural process of aging. In one dream vision, I am scooped up with the Creator’s ladle, which represents letting go and allowing the Divine to take me to a more spiritual place. My spiritual director, who asks questions and offers counsel, believes my body is saying “stop giving out—be open to be the receiver; relax and sit in the spoon … delight in recei- ving.” Receptivity is not something I can control. [I need to] stop doing so much and to start being myself in a more relaxed manner. Living life in a mode of re-ceptivity is a state of gratitude and full-fledged joy.
Meeting for worship in Berea was also important for me, as I was able to go inward during these times of silence. I shared my dream about the wooden ladle and I talked about the circle we sat in, how it felt like the ladle. “Waiting worship” was one way I could allow myself to rest in the here and now. Another learning was that divine timing would often bring me new healer, just when one was most needed. I found Joanna, an energy healer to help me prepare for a CAT scan. She emphasized the spiritual aspects of healing and mindfulness. My healers included: Joanna, 2 doctors, and several other health care providers. My job was to remain receptive to what each new healer could offer.
Returning to a Place of Deep Trust/ More Health Uncertainty—Spending time in nature also provided a means of healing. I came close to a state of union of all spirits. I immersed myself in the flow of the present, feeling [a touch of] the past and the future, and in the flow of life. Gerald May writes: “Our own nature and the world’s nature lives in the Presence instead of “in the present.” It simply exists in cycles, successions, [and opposites]. Everything is rhythms.”
I had a dream linking the darkness I shared with my Mom in her illness, with my own journey through illness and darkness. In the dream I returned to an earlier shelter. Throughout 2 years of uncertainty, I felt calm, and had trust in the Divine. I was able to turn the Mt. Gilead retreat project over to the Divine for gui-dance. This deep trust was evident in a personal retreat I took in March 2020 at Loretto in KY. Being in the place where I sensed all the prayers of all who had stayed there filled me with joy; I was able to embrace the joy of being back at this special place, even though I was still recovering from illness. Mother Ber- nadette from Gabon Africa says that diseases come to us to encourage us make important spiritual changes. I thought that making spiritual changes was about letting go and learning to be more receptive. I was soon to see that more chan-ges would be needed.
COVID-19 was a growing concern at this time. I was not as fearful as many around me. But I also knew my time of health uncertainty was being ex- tended. Yet more darkness, though this time the entire country and world would be on a similar path. It caused long separations, in my case from my daughter’s family. I felt a bit relieved to be able to continue contemplation with fewer social activities. Although our governor encouraged everyone [to show neighborly concern], COVID-19 was to become more divisive that it was unifying. The news of armed right-wing radicals in the state capitol felt like a terrible threat. I had both pneumonia and pericarditis, in which my spiritual director saw emotional and spiritual causes and weakened heart energy.
Knowing
from the Heart—I
strengthened my heart energy by phoning my long-term female friends
on a regular basis. The stability of these friendships was
comforting in this dark time of uncertainty. I had a dream about
a retreat with women, which
showed me that I could benefit from an even greater spiritual focus.
The woman of my dream said:
You’ll be happy here given the focus on spiritual feminine bonds, living out our underlying sense of union ...Trust that God walks with us all the time—in sickness, health, and eventually toward death.
I switched from reading news to listening to music, and sought other ways of knowing, such as knowing from the heart, body awareness, and kno- wing based on the Light. The idea of body awareness was reinforced by the yoga teacher Angela Farmer, who says she now slows down to see what wis- dom her body is offering. It is crucial to listen to our bodies, heart and Inner Light. Katherine May says that We who have wintered, and whose leaves grow again, have learned things, and we sing it out; our voices fill the air.
One of the [author’s] “learned things” is to trust that divine helpers and those on earth are here to help. Macrina Wiederkehr says we have the capacity to transform all our thoughts and experiences, once we embrace the darkness and inner chaos. My own transformation would not have happened [had I not done just that]. I cannot will my Self to be receptive, but only relax, sit back, and be transported to a new awareness. Lastly, one of the benefits of times of dark-ness is learning to go inward. Creative expression can help heal hearts that have been broken by loss. A journey through darkness can lead to new mea-nings and a realization that God is in our weaknesses, not just our strengths. God’s Love is there in the depths of the world’s pain.
Dreams in which I am again traveling in the dark, help me integrate all that happened during my times of darkness. I am now at a new place of confi- dence should I encounter darkness again. A Quaker friend said: “With your Inner Light, divine guidance, and a companion, you can get through anything.” Those of us who have gone through dark periods have much to offer those now trave- ling in the dark; we can put dark shoes on Wendell Berry’s “dark feet” and be present to those traveling in darkness. We are all on journeys from illness to recovery, from despair to hope and from the unconscious to greater awareness.
Queries: What truth or new
insight did you find in reading it? What has your experience of
darkness been like, and what have you learned? What companions
have donned “dark feet” and accompanied you in darkness? How
have dreams played a part in your spiritual journey? How has
knowing from: heart; body; solitude; “wintering”; and
transformation been important to your journey? What gifts can
come from darkness?
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
483. The Fundamental Principle of Quaker Spirituality: Light in the Conscience (by David Johnson; 2023)
About the Author—David Johnson is a convinced Quaker of Conser- vative nature who is well versed in early Christian and early Quaker writings. He feels that early Quakers, based on early Christian writings, left us a spiritual gift. He has 5 publications, including PHP #459. The Workings of the the Spirit of God Within: The Offices of Christ (2019). David is a member of Queensland Regional Meeting of Australia YM, & is affiliated with Marlborough MM, OH YM (Conservative).
Introduction—Where did the early Quakers find the life and power to do the things they did? I found that early Friends’ writings, where they described foundational experiences, spoke to my own experiences, and “preached to me off the page.” 1St, 2nd, and 3rd, generation Quakers had very clear answers to: What do you believe in? What is the fundamental belief of a Quaker? The first Quakers had true discernment of what God required and exercised the power to live faithful lives. This is powerfully relevant to contem- porary Quakers, and spiritual seekers universally.
The first Friends discovered that waiting in silence, allowing [worldly] thoughts to pass without comment, allowed the Spirit of God to communicate directly with them. William Penn wrote: God, through Christ, hath placed a prin-ciple in every man to inform him of his duty, and to enable him to do it; those who live up to this principle are the people of God; those that live in disobedi- ence to it are not. [John 1:9 cited]. George Fox wrote: Christ has enlightened … the Turk, Jews, and Moors … all men and women of the world … Indians, Christians, and Gentiles.
The Greek word Christos describes a spiritual experience, what Qua- kers describe as the Inward Light. [1 John 2:27 cited]. You have no need that any should teach you; his anointing teaches you about everything. We learn the difference between what to do and what not to do by testing our leadings with experienced spiritual Friends. There is a difference between “child of God,” which we all are and “people of God,” those who do God’s will and act with the love, charity and forgiveness exemplified by Jesus.
Obedience to the Inward Light is the primary Quaker testimony—some say the only Quaker testimony; all other testimonies derive from this. Persecu- tion came partly from Quakers affirming an equality that denied an upper class, and paying deference to it. They would not attend Church of England worship, or pay any church demands for money. They followed Jesus’ command to not swear. In 1727, Joseph Besse began 26 years of documenting the sufferings and imprisonment of Friends from 1650-1689. An estimated 15,000 people were imprisoned and 450 died in the jails’ abysmal condition. The title of the summary [read more like a paragraph, with one long sentence of 48 words, and a short one of 12 words]. Part of the title was: For the Testimony of a Good Conscience. Following the Light, rather than our own self-centered ways, is a testimony to the presence of God within each of us.
Conscience/ Where Does the Experience of Conscience Occur in Scripture—George Fox wrote: “Thou shalt have thy rewards according to thy works … The Lord’s righteous judgment will find thee out, and the witness of God in thy conscience shall answer it.” Our awareness of all the ways [we have not followed God’s desires for us] will have the sting of Truth. If we do follow God’s nudges, promptings, and leadings, the “reward” is inner peace and warmth, and things falling into place. The first Friends saw this awareness as the presence of the Anointed One. It will show the [loveless, immoral, wrong- ness] of what our cultural training or duty calls on us to do as wrong in the sight of God. Through repeated wrongdoing the conscience becomes darkened and people cease to notice the conscience’s promptings.
[1 Chronicles 28:9; Psalm 139:1-4; Proverb 20:27; Jeremiah 31:33 cited] George Fox wrote: [In epistles to Timothy and to the Hebrews], I find the duty of all believers is to see to the law of the new covenant written in the heart, where-by all may know God. When Paul was standing before the Judean Council, his first statement was: “Brethren, I have lived before God in all good conscience up to this day. He made a similar statement of conscience to the Roman governor Felix. Our inner Self’s reaction to what the conscience reveals is to try to justify its Self; in effect, we argue with God.
Testimony to “Conscience” in Early Quaker Writings—The writings of William Dewsbury, John Banks, Edward Burrough, James Nayler, Margaret Fell, and William Smith that follow attest to a measure of Light in the conscien- ces; they obeyed this instruction because they knew it came from God, and their consciences became stronger. They learned to just sit with what the Light reveals, don’t argue, and gradually you will be shown what to do; some repara-tion or healing will occur.
William Dewsbury (1621-1688) was a shepherd, a weaver and a soldier in Cromwell’s New Model Army. His adherence to conscience meant many years in prison. He writes: “I declared to souls where their Teacher is, the Light in their conscience … God would lead them up to the living fountains of water, where their souls would find refreshment in the Lord’s presence.”
John Banks (1637-1710) was a glover and wool-gatherer. He spent 6 years in Carlisle Prison, from which he could be heard to preach. In a letter to his children he wrote: “God … hath given thee a measure of his Good Spirit in thy Heart and Conscience, [which is] against every Evil … If thou shouldst act contrary, pure Light will reprove & judge thee.
Edward Burrough (1634-1663) engaged in pamphlet debate over Quakerism and had audiences with Charles II. He was imprisoned & died in Newgate prison under the Quaker Act: Everyone must cease to pro- voke the Lord, & no longer vex his Spirit within them; everyone must love the Light of Christ in their conscience; everyone must put off transgres- sions, and lay down enmity … he hath against Persons.
James Nayler (1618-1660) was a powerful early preacher of Qua- ker spirituality who suffered cruel punishments by the Church of England and Parliament: Art thou in the Darkness? Mind it not, for if thou dost it will fill thee more; stand still and act not and wait in patience till Light ari- ses out of Darkness to lead thee … to Grace & Truth, which teaches to deny … and removes the cause.
Margaret Fell (1614-1702) was Judge Thomas Fell’s wife. Her home, Swarthmoor Hall, became a Quaker center. In her 1660 Declara- tion to the King and Parliament, she writes: Now, if every one would turn to the witnesse in their Consciences, … [they would be] children of the Lord,[who] are taught of the Lord, are established in Righteousnesse, and are far from oppression. She later writes: “Be faithful to your Mea- sure of the Light, which shines in your Consciences … the Lamb is the Light of the Holy City from above, the Mother of us all.
William Smith (?-1673) was well versed in Christian theology and a voluminous Quaker writer. He was imprisoned many times for non- payment of tithes and refusing the oath of allegiance. He writes: Mind … the Light which shews sin in the Conscience, and reproves the evil- doer in all his wayes … in the Light you receive the wisdom that is pure, and which orders all things you have in charge, to the glory and praise of Almighty God.
2 Early Quaker Young People: John Whitehead and Elizabeth Bathurst—The spirituality of the first Quakers was preached mainly by young people. Older people soon joined the movement, but it started with inspired, courageous, and faithful young people. They quickly found that the established worldly teaching about spiritual life didn't satisfy their inner yearnings, while the Inward Light gave them guidance and understandings.
John Whitehead (1630-1696)—had experienced the inner reproving as a child; he did not then understand the source. He had spiritual visitation at 15; he heard and met Williams Dewsbury preach. He began to understand Inward Light’s role in his conscience.
Early Quakers Preached This Message Widely—Because the gift of understanding the Light in the Conscience of every person and its direct revela- tion with spurious Church doctrine, Quakers felt inwardly encouraged to spread this message. We have to encounter the Spirit of God within ourselves, that we may be continually taught in our hearts, in every moment.
Stephen Crisp (1828?-1892): eminent early Quaker preacher & traveling minister. [From “God’s Wonderful Love to Mankind”]: You may read this in a book, and you may read this in your heart, [by the light], the difference between good and evil. If you do good … this will be the testimony of your conscience; if you do evil, though all justify you and commend you, you will be condemned in yourselves. If you go on in a way displeasing to God, God will at length be too hard for you.
John Butcher (a.k.a. Boucher: 1666-1721): began ministry at the age of 15. [From “… Come to the Knowledge of Christ (within you) …”]: The labor of [the first Quakers was to turn people from darkness to light … that they might [not] be … children of disobedience, rebelling against the Light that shine in their hearts and consciences.
William Penn (1644-1718): aristocrat, son of a British admiral. [From the preface to The Journal of George Fox]: … What people had been vainly seeking [outside themselves] … By this ministry found light within ... the right way to peace with God … and a true witness, just monitor … It appears to all, though few regard it.
Modern Examples of Faithful Living to the Light in the Conscience All people can follow the Light in the conscience. There are contemporary people who have attained transformation. The Light in our conscience changes us inwardly and deeply, beyond what we could do for ourselves. [More than that], we are called to perfection in this life. [an early Quaker query]: Why would Jesus have come to preach the Gospel if perfection were impossible to attain? Saying it’s impossible may be a convenient excuse to continue evading God’s guidance in one’s conscience.
Charles Freer Andrews (1871-1940): A British clergyman raised in the Catholic Church. In India, Andrews came face to face with institu- tionalized racism and legalized slavery in the British colonies of South Africa, and Asia. [From What I Owe to Christ]: It became clear to me that I must make a firm stand, even against my countrymen and other Christians. I had to do what conscience told me to be right, fearless of human consequences; doing God’s will was the ultimate test. We can observe this Light in conscientious objectors (CO), and “prisoners of conscience.”
Paul Lacey [from PHP #264 Leading and Being Led]: I was try- ing to determine whether I could call myself a CO, recognizing that such a step would mean forswearing violence for the rest of my life. [Finally], after a sleepless night, I had somehow changed … I would have to declare myself a CO and give up force as an acceptable op- tion for the rest of my life.
When we start down the path on a daily basis, not just in crisis, and allow ourselves to notice the Light working, the more at peace we become. Our measure of grace and light increases, and we notice the errant temptations more quickly and find them easier to resist. Discerning the difference between self-will and interest and divine requiring becomes easier. Daily practice means there is less mental debris for the Light to find its way through.
What If It Is This Simple—How are ancient prophecies, the apostles’ teachings, and the first Quakers experiences the key to a deeper spiritual practice and truly faithful lives? How will we know that the laws truly are written on the tablets of our hearts? How will we put to use the Inward Anointing’s teachings? How will we recognize the Inward Light’s inspiration, reproval, guidance, and healing? What role can philosophies, creeds, doctrines, dogmas, play in our spiritual under- standing?
What does God require of people in order to hear and know the Way which is Holy? [How do we use the Light in our conscience to increase] our awareness, attentiveness, acceptance, and yielding to God’s presence in every moment? [How do we open ourselves] to growth into the mind of Christ? What helps to tune into the Light in your con-science? What gets in the way? [What is the difference between] early Quaker understanding of conscience & secular ideas of the consci- ence? What is the difference between the voice of Spirit-led conscience and the voice of cultural habits and duties? What happens when we do not follow where Spirit led?
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
About the Author—Ben Tousley served as an interfaith hospice chap-lain in Massachusetts for 20 years. He has offered concerts and various spiritual services at Pendle Hill, Powell House, and the colleges of Princeton, Earlham, Brandeis, and Guilford. Sharing his music and poetry is an important part of his vocation. He has published articles in Fellowship magazine, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and The Recorder in Greenfield, MA.
Etheral … Things semireal … require a greeting of the Spirit to make them wholly exist—and No Things are made great and dignified by an ardent pursuit. John Keats, 1818
[“A Greeting of the Spirit” in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)]—When client and counselor invite and yield to the spiritual presence that parts veils, brings near angels and whispered voices, we may experience a common being that encircles us, runs through us and between us.
[CPE patient: WW II Veteran]—He saw himself as having led an ordi-nary life, raising a family and working as a plumber. In the D-Day invasion at Normandy Beach, he was shot while wading ashore and fell into the water; hands reached out to hold him up. In this memory we were suspended within his lifetime. The time of near-drowning was the closest he felt to God, and reminded him that God might be close now. It seemed he had led an extraordinary life; he had been granted another 35 years. That memory brought him peace in his final days.
[TV Personality having Heart Surgery]—I felt intimidated by the po-lished presence of one many years my senior. He told me he was nervous and afraid and asked if I might offer a prayer; I was not prepared for that. I felt a power, presence moving between us. When I opened my mouth, the power spoke through me in words I could not have willfully conjured. It seemed as if his vulnerability had given me strength.
[An Irish Woman]—Near 80, she had no living family in the United States. One day she seemed unusually melancholy. She had a dream of flying to Ireland and going to a celebration in her old village. She wanted to go, but felt she could not, because of her condition and lack of money. The hospital had a travel fund, and with her doctor’s approval, she and a nurse flew to Ireland; she died there 2 weeks later.
“A greeting of the Spirit” is an opening to bringing the potential offering of soulful experiences like the above fully into presence. How does “A greeting of the Spirit” in spiritual counseling enable images and stories to be em- braced and affirmed into meaningful form? The difference between therapy and spiritual counseling is that therapy is a cognitive behavioral approach to alter thoughts beliefs and attitudes; spiritual counseling focuses on a healing spiritual center as our guiding strength. Spiritual counseling looks to a Greater Life that streams through Creation, and which connects us with each other. The “Soul Friend” form of spiritual counseling finds counselor and counselee on an equal plane of experience and mutual sharing. A chief goal is to help the coun- selee develop a relationship with their inner Counselor.
A Holy Time of Annunciation: The Realm of the Spirit—The spiritual counselor, like the poet, keeps vigil for the whispers of the Spirit that arise in a counseling session. Our creative encounter with another person can awaken the presence of their Inner Guide. There is soul commitment, a giving up of one’s heart and mind, a willingness to suspend the dictates of reason and utility, for what is for all the world formless and useless. In entering a special relationship with: our subconscious, a creative idea, a memory, another person, we enter a holy time of annunciation that beckons us to be still and listen with reverence.
We might say angels visit us and invite us to give earthly form and voice to their whisperings. Or it could be an encounter with a highly concentrated par- ticle of energy that hovers in our psychic sphere, and whirls out bits and pie-ces from its core that forms a fledgling constellation. A poet, dreamer, lover, or counselor returns to the center of the constellation’s first form, to help fashion the form the center intends, to bring the fragmented constellation into meaning-ful being.
I observed a talented clarinetist who improvised a passage, and seemed to be tapping into the ethereal sphere in order to produce the next notes, and to become their instrument. The spiritual counselor may at times offer a “greeting of the Spirit” that affirms a hovering truth of the heart.
The “third force” of Soul is not only within and between partners in hea-ling, it is also around them, a circle of belonging. The presence of love in the client / counselor relationship is the Greek agape form of love. It describes the experience of God’s love for humans, and the reciprocal love for God and all beings. The yielding to a shared solitude and silence can likewise permit “the interim world in between … the world where angels live,” a sacred space. The encounter and dialogue taking place in the transcendent function of opposites can be stimulated and simulated in the encounter dialogue between client and counselor. The spiritual counselor may hold and help lift the scattered fragments of the client’s sharing into a coherent shape that may be story, an affirmation, a blessing, or a prayer.
I would identify a second function of psychic integration as the develo-ping partnership between the individual psyche and the Higher Self, which has many names, including inner Soul Friend or Holy Center. It is critical that the spiritual counselor seeks to identify and promote the emerging partnership be- tween the client and the client’s inner Soul Friend/ Counselor/ Constant Partner even as the counseling partnership continues to develop.
Abraham Maslow has written of “peak experiences,” in which subjects experience an acute sense of unity and oneness with their environment: total attention, egolessness, [immersion in mystery], transcending time and space, and a sense of thanksgiving. There one may dwell for a moment in the presence of Spirit and know the beauty and love of Creation. While peak experiences are possible in spiritual counseling, more often it involves a kind of redemptive medi- tation when the client/ counselor dialogue makes a journey across a varied land- scape of both valleys valleys and peaks. The presentation of a dream, an aspi- ration, a memory, or a vision in a counseling session can be enhanced by a “greeting of the Spirit,” to bring its meaning fully into being.
A Living Example—“Jim” had a childhood, evangelical, public confes-sion of faith. In college he struggled with reconciling the evangelical with the new scientific view he had adopted. He went to seminary, where he had a pro- longed crisis of doubt. Later on, Jim found a different kind of faith that married science with lived experience. I [introduced] the concept of reaching beyond polarities. “But the only way to do that is to have religious experience; [then you] experience fullness. Jim related for the first time to me, the experience of a pro- longed, exhausting trip to an archaeological dig. He explored the natural beauty in the area surrounding the site, and was overwhelmed by it. He was transpor- ted from the lows of his unpleasant travels to a mountaintop, where he experi- enced unity, a merging, joy, and God’s embrace.
One might call Jim’s encounter an “existential experience of Being,” an unambiguous life,” a “circle of belonging,” and his interpretation of it a “secon- dary revision.” Descents into the valley of questing and confusion, followed by being transported to a peak experience, and the subsequent illumination of the longer life journey are invaluable. They affirm and reaffirm one’s relationship to the Source of one’s life and meaning in Creation. These moments guide our true direction into the future. We are invited by [our own Guide], and the spiritual guides found in the wider world to keep spiritually awake, so that our “greeting of the spirit” is a “deed one does with one’s whole being,” and with “an infinite ex- pectation of the dawn.”
Grounding Spiritual Infusion into Daily Life—Another vital task is to encourage the reinforcement of the client’s awareness of the Spirit working in their daily life. Our counseling sessions and our daily lives are woven together in a coherent narrative that reflects both meaning and wholeness. [Counseling Queries]: What else have I not yet shared? What stands out for me in what we’ve shared today? The counselor can highlight the client’s sharing, which assures the client that they were heard, and is a kind of benediction that sends the client out into daily life. We are met with welcome and unwelcome visitations, in which meaning must be found.
Counselors may suggest the keeping of a journal to record insights from experience, dreams and reading. If we suggest prayer, it can be either the client praying, or our Creator sending a prayer to the client. The deepening relation- ship with their spiritual counselor may inspire the client to seek creative encoun- ters with other people and with nature. When they find themselves with an inner stirring and opening to a deeper place, the client may seize the moment to enter the sacred place. Through prayerful attention and intrepid engagement, we come upon & build upon the distinctive features of a world that would be made new if we would but hear and speak the word.
Queries: What has been your experience of sitting with another and feeling the Spirit present and active in that meeting? What factors make a “greeting of the Spirit” possible? In what other realms of life and art have you experienced creative encounters having a spiritual com- ponent, a sense of unity with the Divine? What parts of your spiritual journey are based upon personal experience of the Divine? What in- sight do you glean about how to support discernment by spiritual or my- stical means? How might such discernment inform a clearness committee process or meeting for worship with attention to business?
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
No comments:
Post a Comment