Friends. Of truth. Practice. Experience. Knowledge. Quakers.
In elementary school, as an unruly child, I was sent to a Quaker school to “sort things out.” I got sorted. Basic awareness and skills necessary for achieving a life of care for self and others developed. My young peers, having been in a healthy community for years ahead of me, were among the most powerful teachers. The culture of the school sank in as well. I discovered access to the inner Light that could open truths and re-direct me. I learned to listen.
Practice became important. Similar to graduate school in which practice was a necessity, practice in my spiritual life became a discipline as well. My spiritual practices educated me about the history of love. The combination of knowledge from teachings, and experience of the inner light led to significant changes in my life – for the better.
I became a convinced Friend, a Quaker. Recognizing that many of the most important aspects of community life, the really good aspects, are covenantal, the membership journey made sense. To me at least. (More broadly, formal membership is not a necessity to be in a covenantal relationship.)
Quakers are friends of truth. Not impulsive but listening. Listening to one another and to the inner guidance available to us all – with practice. Quakers have been historically, and are today, change agents in the places they live and work. Love is a verb, not an emotion. Justice, equality, invitation, and care – for the people around us, and for the ecology that supports us all, are active areas of concern. Such activity has transformed many places from devastation to thriving.
Quakers believe that there is that bit of truth and God in every single person. No one has the whole truth. Each of us can access what we need. We can develop, transform, and improve the lives of others even as we ourselves improve.
This is my experience. This is what I know to be true. I am Larry Newton, and I am a Quaker in the West.
What can love do today? 