I am filled to overflowing with the grief: overwhelmed with a deep and incredible pain - struggling to find the words to express it. I am not grieving for any individual in particular but for many who call themselves Children of the Light; members of the Religious Society of Friends.
There is a Spirit that can so fill us; so enrich our lives and bring us incredible Joy. I yearn for everyone to know that Spirit. For most of us it does not happen without both yearning and an openness - without faith. Without the understanding that we must be willing to give of ourselves - to commit ourselves to walk in the Light. Receiving also means being willing to give of ourselves.
I know all of this sounds very vague - "What on earth is she talking about?" I'm talking about the core of our faith that so many Friends seem to have somehow lost sight of - lost faith in. I'm talking about "divine unmediated revelation" (Rufus Jones). That belief that God can and will speak directly to us and through us. That when we are able to say "Yes!", to give over our will to God/Spirit/All/That which is Unknowable/The Divine, than we become God's eyes, ears, hands, and voice in the world. Our will is given over to God's Will. How utterly amazing! How completely joy filled! I have had this experience. I say this not because it makes me any more but so that everyone knows that they too can have this experience. There have been occasions in my life when I have said "yes" to God's clear voice. I believe it is what we are all called to. I will not say it has always been easy but for each time I say "yes" it gets easier the next time. I now know that God will walk with me guiding me every step of the way and that there is nothing on earth to compare with the Joy and the Peace which passes all understanding that I experience. So how can I not grieve when I know what so many are missing?
Many of today's Children of the Light have yet to experience this Joy. Indeed they do not accept that it is possible - for them, I weep.
Quaker Gem,
ReplyDeleteYou are one who has helped me reorient myself toward that Joy. My own experience was not that I did not have experience, but that over time, I had begun to devalue my experience under the weight of others' dismissive incredulity. I had, in short, trusted my experience less than others' lack of it.