What can love do today?

The Judeo-Christian texts are filled with instructions to care for the neighbor and the stranger.  Jesus, the healer and teacher did just so.  He was pan-tribal, and perhaps one could equally write he was anti-tribal.  His teachings and behavior were about illuminating that bit of God in everyone, and illuminating that a better life, based on love practiced as a verb, is powerful and is our hope.  Of course, this rocked the established authorities.

Of course it did.  Established authorities are nearly always covetous and controlling of power to maintain what they, personally, have – even while they may say: It is all for you.  Discernment is necessary for each to comprehend, for each to seek and find the Light.

Quakers know this.  Quakers have practiced this from the start.  Indeed, we would not be here today were it not so, for Quakers were drawn out of the bondage of the English monarchy and sent forth to release the captives, bind up the wounded, care for the poor in spirit and in worldly means.  And it is so today.

There is great hope in this experience today.  So many people here and abroad are alienated, that is turned into the experience of an alien while living in their own homeland.  Yet, we are spiritual creatures attempting to find an earthly existence with which we can live (Teilhard de Chardin).  Spiritual Quakers seek the Light – to learn the truth and to act upon it. As Douglas Gwyn and Howard Brinton, among others, have written – our experience is no longer mediated through and by others; it is direct. That sets us apart. That motivates and challenges us.

The hope: In our communities and meetings of trust, faith, love, and witness – we can welcome the stranger, the alien, and be present to them as lovers of souls, advocates for justice, and be helpful companions along the way.

For some, such requires changing behavior, perceptions, and ways of thinking.  Such is the Quaker life-long journey. The journey is one of transformation.  Just as two in marriage leave their family of origin as their primary family and begin a new family – so too as we jettison our anchor in this culture we are transformed. We leave the culture around us, bit by bit, and move toward the blessed community.  The Light leads us, teaches us, and experienced ones assist.  We move toward communities of Light-led service and transformation.