Have you heard or read this quote from Howard Thurman? “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
Thurman’s quote came to mind on a recent Wednesday evening, listening to Colin Saxton deliver his message for the Perkins Family Lecture hosted by Earlham School of Religion. Colin repeatedly invited us to think about the question George Fox raised: Friends all everywhere, in the life and power of God live and dwell, and spread the truth abroad. Quench not the spirit, but live in love and unity one with another; that with the wisdom of God ye may all be ordered to God's glory... And live all as the family of God in love, in life, in truth, in power…George Fox, Epistle 150
Saxton wrote in his essay: “Do I live in the Life and Power? Do you? Do we, as the Religious Society of Friends? I want this reality to become radically true in my experience. Even more, I long to belong to a community that hungers and thirsts for this same reality, as we proclaim and demonstrate the peaceable kingdom.”
This is an important challenge and invitation for this moment. It is possible to articulate that sentiment as important at this moment as any moment. I believe in this moment it is a particularly important invitation. The invitation of God for relationship and fellowship through Christ is an invitation to something larger than ourselves. It is not the only reason, certainly there is practicality, but we gather in our meetings as individuals to participate in something larger than ourselves, knowing the value of a broader community. Then we would gather our meetings into quarterly meetings, so we would have our meetings participate in things which were larger than themselves. Beyond that we gather our quarterly meetings into yearly meetings and our yearly meetings gathered themselves into even larger organizations originally called Five Years Meeting. Each step a reminder of place and witness and the capacity of individual lights, witnesses gathered together to make an even brighter light.
Human beings, especially traumatized human beings, tend to shrink, diminish and hide in the presence of trauma. We need the reminder of “not my will, but Thine” in this moment. We crave evenness. We don’t live in that world. We have never lived in that world, to be honest. We want the valleys filled in with the mountain tops, but still have mountaintops on which to stand. What we want is simply unreasonable.
I stand with Colin’s statement here as he wraps up his invitation to the Religious Society of Friends. “I believe we need and our world needs Friends who will hasten unto God, sinking down so deeply into that Life and Power, that we arise empowered and directed to be the people of God, able to discern and do the work and witness needed in the world.”
There is a quote from Martin Luther King Jr on the wall in my office. It was given to me in a moment of newness and transition as I moved from one job to another. It reads, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” My faithful posture in that Life and Power is at this moment. I intend to stand. It is not about my stance it is about a willingness to be lead by God’s Holy Spirit. Saying, to the best of my ability, wherever God’s Spirit leads me I will follow.
Can we collectively live faithfully in the Life and Power? Can we do so together? Individually we aren’t responsible to answer those questions. Individually we can answer for ourselves. Can you say with me, yes? Yes, I will begin in this moment and this place to be transformed from the inward depths of my heart outward.
Michael Sherman
FUM Coordinator of North American and Caribbean Ministries
You can read Colin Saxton's original text for his talk here.
