Sunday, June 21, 2009
Story will be central to my workshop on discerning leadings. I will tell at least twelve stories of following a spiritual leading, some from biblical and historical people and some from contemporary life.
It's been really a growth process for me to prepare for this workshop. I've realized how "love was the first motion" has worked in my own times of way opening and how much the Spirit has been active in the lives of those I know personally. I'm ready to testify to that but feel still confused about how to get all the stuff organized and presented.
Tomorrow is another day.
It's been really a growth process for me to prepare for this workshop. I've realized how "love was the first motion" has worked in my own times of way opening and how much the Spirit has been active in the lives of those I know personally. I'm ready to testify to that but feel still confused about how to get all the stuff organized and presented.
Tomorrow is another day.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Lucretia Mott and discerning call and leading
This seems an odd way to start a blog but I needed to extract the quote below, Google books said I could send it to a blog, and so I guess I was led to start down this path.
I'm preparing for a workshop called "Discerning and Supporting Our True Leadings" a the FGC Gathering in a few weeks and so have been doing lots of thinking about Quaker practice in that area - what did Friends do historically. Lucretia Mott is a favorite historical Friend of mine so here goes.
"For God had called her while she was a child as He did Samuel to do His work and to bear message to the people. And surely Samuel's work among his own self-willed people was not greater than her's in this land where braggarts shouted for liberty and slavery in the same breath and cruelty and Sodom-like blasphemously called for the blessing of the Father Christ upon their horrible deeds."
James and Lucretia Mott Life and letters By Anna Davis Hallowell:
This was written about Lucretia Mott upon her death by a niece. Lucretia herself does not talk much in her letters or writing about being "called" or "led." She didn't seem to spend much time mulling things over, discerning her actions or at least, again, she didn't write about it. She did say about herself:
"At twenty-five years of age, surrounded with a little family and many cares, I felt called to a more public life of devotion to duty, and engaged in the ministry in our Society, receiving every encouragement from those in authority, until a separation among us, in 1827, when my convictions led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within us, resting on truth as authority, rather than ‘taking authority for truth.’ The popular doctrine of human depravity never commended itself to my reason or conscience. I ‘searched the Scriptures daily,’ finding a construction of the text wholly different from that which was pressed upon our acceptance."
While this quote says much about "authority" and the rejection of it, Lucretia did use the scriptures daily as a way to her Inner Guide. She lived through some very difficult times within the RSOF in America where meeting support for her work was denied to her often. But few today would say she outran her Guide though she certainly didn't procrastinate, get muddled up in so much discernment, as I often do, that she missed much chance to act her truth.
I'm preparing for a workshop called "Discerning and Supporting Our True Leadings" a the FGC Gathering in a few weeks and so have been doing lots of thinking about Quaker practice in that area - what did Friends do historically. Lucretia Mott is a favorite historical Friend of mine so here goes.
"For God had called her while she was a child as He did Samuel to do His work and to bear message to the people. And surely Samuel's work among his own self-willed people was not greater than her's in this land where braggarts shouted for liberty and slavery in the same breath and cruelty and Sodom-like blasphemously called for the blessing of the Father Christ upon their horrible deeds."
James and Lucretia Mott Life and letters By Anna Davis Hallowell:
This was written about Lucretia Mott upon her death by a niece. Lucretia herself does not talk much in her letters or writing about being "called" or "led." She didn't seem to spend much time mulling things over, discerning her actions or at least, again, she didn't write about it. She did say about herself:
"At twenty-five years of age, surrounded with a little family and many cares, I felt called to a more public life of devotion to duty, and engaged in the ministry in our Society, receiving every encouragement from those in authority, until a separation among us, in 1827, when my convictions led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within us, resting on truth as authority, rather than ‘taking authority for truth.’ The popular doctrine of human depravity never commended itself to my reason or conscience. I ‘searched the Scriptures daily,’ finding a construction of the text wholly different from that which was pressed upon our acceptance."
While this quote says much about "authority" and the rejection of it, Lucretia did use the scriptures daily as a way to her Inner Guide. She lived through some very difficult times within the RSOF in America where meeting support for her work was denied to her often. But few today would say she outran her Guide though she certainly didn't procrastinate, get muddled up in so much discernment, as I often do, that she missed much chance to act her truth.
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