Posted: September 19, 2023 • Posted in: Essay, Faith
‘Take heed dear Friends…’
Take heed, dear Friends, to the promptings of love and truth in your hearts. (from Quaker faith & practice 1.02)
We need to look at the past in order to understand the present. We need to look at lessons learned by those who have gone before.
George Fox
We can recognise that the 17th century was a time of intense ferment. The king was dead, executed, though appointed by ‘divine right’. Where was authority to be found? Groups arose, claiming to know the way forward, including Quakers. George Fox made his statement at Ulverston:
You will say, Christ saith this, and the apostles say this; but what canst thou say? (Quaker faith & practice 19.07)
This speaks of individualism; of who we really are. It is easily said but difficult to understand.
Polonius
Life did settle, and became more organised, but the basic point remained, ‘Who are you, really, deeply? The usually foolish Polonius says in ‘Hamlet’, ‘Above all be true yourself, and then it follows as the night the day you cannot be false to any man’.
What is the challenge implied in being true to myself?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer asked the same question. As a prisoner he knew there was something about appearance. He understood that his fellow prisoners, and guards probably saw him as gentle and good. ‘Who am I?’ he asks, as he questions his deepest feelings. ‘They mock me, these lonely thoughts of mine’.
The journey to one’s deepest self is never going to be easy, whatever the context. Led to his execution, it may not be too fanciful to think that Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s final thoughts may have been ‘Father, forgive’ and that his deepest self had been found.
Jesus
The pattern is set by the life and death of Jesus. Our deepest self expresses itself in love even to those who mean us harm, ‘Love your neighbour, do good to those who despitefully use you and persecute you, then you will be the children of your Father’. (Bible: Matthew 5: 44-45)
Today’s challenges and the need for Love
The challenges our world faces today are immense, and at every level. The need for Love is not diminished. Throughout time since the 17th century Quakers have endured persecution. They have made stands of conscience, and have thought beyond themselves. Quakers have endeavoured to be true to their deepest selves, regardless of personal cost. Our history is key to where we stand today. Certainly we can cherish belonging to a loving community whose care for the world around is deep and active. There is also the joy of hearing, and experiencing the wisdom of others which acts as a reinforcement to our learning about ourselves.
The Light beckons, as it has always done, and unites us to the universal sense of Love. This in an age which demonstrates so clearly that while there is Light, there is also Darkness, and that struggle will go on, and on, and on,
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