Irregardless of what we call it, listening to, learning, and living the truth are the central activities to the Quaker tradition of truth. These practices of the truth what we see in God’s own acts: when God speaks, God speaks truth, when God acts (as we see in the life of Jesus), God acts truthfully, and when we build communities based on the Holy Spirit these communities become learning communities of truth.
While Mary was offended, as I certainly would have been, Isaac was willing to engage in conversation. He was a seeker, he deeply longed to find truth and therefore he had a deep seated curiosity that drove him. So even when someone came along and said something to him that was offensive, ridiculous, even downright mean he was able to keep a posture that was both open and curious.
I’m not going to be writing about much of anything else in the next six months, I won’t be posting my sermons as much, and will shy away from academics. This is really just going to be about my experience as a Quaker preacher. I want to sit with the tension this calling holds for me, share the aspects of my life where the paradox is evident, and show where I strike a balance between these two things, and where the scales get tipped.
When I first heard that Quakers had testimonies I was immediately drawn back to my more Charismatic days when we would stand up and give “testimony to the Lord because of something he’d done.” Or when someone would stand up and share personal “testimonies” about how they became a Christian. Both of which refer to a kind of personal transformation that one has experienced in his or her life. The quaker understanding of testimony is actually close to this because Quaker testimonies deal with how Quakers have personally witnessed and experienced God’s guidance on various issues like war, taking oaths, plainness, truth telling, trade, slavery, parenting, taverns, education, etc.
There is no way to really be prepared for each circumstance. I can only be present in that moment and listening for the Light of Christ there and then. I learned that I need to be open and compassionate and willing to “do to the least of these,” and that bureaucracies can certainly be helpful at times but are often just a distraction from us doing the work ourselves.
In Jesus’ command to “hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters,” there is an utterance that breathes into existence a new family, one that is not bound by blood, protection, patriarchalism, or possessions, but one that is completely voluntary, rooted in practices of the kingdom of God like hospitality and generosity, and marked by love for enemies. This is truly a love without measure.
Especially as Friends we should change this behavior. We believe all people are created in the image of God, male and female, Greek and Jew, slave and free. We are all beloved children of God. We can all hear God and respond in faithfulness. Some of us seem to hear God “better” than others, or have a special sense of God that others don’t, but this is not based on gender—it’s based on the way the Spirit works in us as unique individuals.
