The Basics about George Fox

The BCW-Project has an article about George Fox. So far I have quoted him without introducing him, but now the reader can become acquainted with him too. Here are a few quotes:

"The son of a prosperous Puritan weaver of Leicestershire, George Fox was apprenticed to a shoemaker around 1635. During his youth, he was plagued by periods of melancholy and religious torment, which led him to adopt an itinerant life as a travelling shoemaker. He travelled around Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire seeking out clergymen and others for spiritual guidance, but broke away from the established church when he found it unable to meet his needs.
At some time in 1647, Fox experienced a spiritual revelation which convinced him that all earthly authority (church or state) was corrupt; God's message came to individuals directly through the Inner Light of their personal inspiration. Fox proclaimed his message as he travelled around the Midlands and the North, attracting small groups of followers who called themselves Friends of the Truth, but became popularly known as Quakers."

"During the mid-1650s, the Quaker movement spread to Bristol, London and southern England. When Fox came to London in March 1655, he was personally interviewed by Lord Protector Cromwell, whom he impressed with his plain speaking and religious sincerity. Despite Cromwell's broadly sympathetic view, however, many Quakers were imprisoned by local magistrates for causing disturbances in their regions. Fox himself was imprisoned under harsh conditions at Launceston in Cornwall from January to September 1656 when he travelled to the West Country."

"During the reigns of Charles II and James II, Fox struggled to consolidate the Quaker movement in the face of persecution from the government and internal divisions within the movement itself. He travelled to the West Indies and the American colonies and visited Ireland, Holland and Germany, but his health was weakened by fourteen months' imprisonment at Worcester for refusing to take the oath required by the Test Act of 1673. While at Worcester, he began dictating his autobiography, also known as his "Journal", which was published posthumously in 1694. George Fox's Autobiography is regarded as a classic of inspirational religious literature, though it tends to downplay or ignore the controversies within the early Quaker movement."

Source:The BCW-project's homepage <http://bcw-project.org/biography/george-fox>27.03.2017.

Through the eye of a needle

"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:23-24

The Basics about James Nayler

Some Basic information about the influential Quaker James Nayler is to be found at the BCW-project's page http://bcw-project.org/biography/james-nayler

Here's some quotes:

"Born at Ardsley near Wakefield in the West Riding of Yorkshire, James Nayler was a farmer until the outbreak of the First Civil War when he left his farm in the care of his wife and daughters and enlisted in the Parliamentarian army. He served under the Fairfaxes in Yorkshire and later became a quartermaster in John Lambert's regiment of horse in the New Model Army. [...] He left the army in 1651 owing to ill health, returned to Yorkshire and resumed farming. According to his own account, however, a heavenly voice interrupted him whilst ploughing one day and commanded him to leave home and take to the road as an itinerant preacher. Nayler became associated with the Children of the Light, the sect popularly known as the Quakers."

"Nayler [...] travelled to Bristol in company with seven Friends, including Martha Simmonds. The group travelled in procession through Glastonbury and Wells and entered Bristol on 24 October. Nayler went on horseback while his companions sang hosannas and cast garments before him in what many regarded as a blasphemous imitation of Christ's entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The Bristol Quakers immediately disassociated themselves from Nayler and his followers, who were arrested and charged under the Blasphemy Act of 1650. Although Nayler maintained it was a symbolic act, he was accused of impersonating Christ and claiming divine status. The case came to the attention of the Second Protectorate Parliament. Despite legal doubts regarding Parliament's authority to conduct a trial, Nayler was taken to London to answer to the House of Commons. "

And :

"Many MPs were suspicious of the religious freedom granted under the Protectorate and regarded Nayler's case as an example of the worst excesses of toleration. In December 1656, a majority declared him guilty of blasphemy and a fierce debate ensued regarding the extent of his punishment, with some MPs demanding that he should be stoned to death in accordance with the Old Testament penalty for blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16). Despite Cromwell's call for leniency, Nayler was sentenced to be whipped through the streets, exposed in the pillory, have his tongue bored through with a red-hot iron and to have the letter "B" for blasphemer branded on his forehead. He was then returned to Bristol and made to repeat his ride in reverse while facing the rear of his horse. Finally, he was taken back to London and committed to solitary confinement in Bridewell for an indefinite period. His supporters proclaimed Nayler's Christ-like suffering during his ordeal."

Source: BCW-project's homepage <http://bcw-project.org/biography/james-nayler>25.03.2017

More on Prayer

Consider now the prayer-life of Jesus. It comes out most clearly in the record of St Luke, who leaves us with the impression that prayer was the most vital element in our Lord’s life. He rises a great while before day that he may have some hours alone with His Father. He continues all night in prayer to God. Incident after incident is introduced by the statement that Jesus was praying. Are we so much nearer God that we can afford to dispense with that which to Him was of such vital moment? But apart from this, it seems to me that this prayer-habit of Jesus throws light upon the purpose of prayer.

I think of those long hours alone with God. Quite obviously petition can have had a very small place in our Lord’s thoughts. We cannot suppose that He whose chief desire was that God’s will should be done in all things could have been incessantly asking, asking. There must have been a sacred interchange far deeper than this. Especially are we sure that He was not praying for material blessings to be enjoyed by Himself alone. On the only occasion recorded in which He asked (in perfect submission) something for Himself, at Gethsemane, His request was not granted.

My own belief is that outward circumstances are not often (I will not say never) directly altered as a result of prayer. That is to say, God is not always interfering with the working of the natural order. But indirectly by the working of mind upon mind great changes may be wrought. We live and move and have our being in God; we are bound up in the bundle of life in Him, and it is reasonable to believe that prayer may often find its answer, even in outward things, by the reaction of mind upon mind. Prayer is not given us to make life easy for us, or to coddle us, but to make us strong … to make us masters of circumstance and not its slaves. We pray, not to change God’s will, but to bring our wills into correspondence with His.

William Littleboy, 1937

Source: Quaker Faith and Practice<http://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/2/>23.03.2017. 

A Quote on Prayer

"Be still and cool in thy own mind and spirit from thy own thoughts, and then thou wilt feel the principle of God to turn thy mind to the Lord God, whereby thou wilt receive his strength and power from whence life comes, to allay all tempests, against blusterings and storms. That is it which moulds up into patience, into innocency, into soberness, into stillness, into stayedness, into quietness, up to God, with his power."
George Fox, 1658

Source: Quaker Faith and Practice <http://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/2/>22.03.2017.

Feeling inspired again

In this short article I will analyse how George Fox talks about the world and worldly things in his epistles. “For those who have their conversation in this world, and only mind the things of this world, profess godliness in vain.” He says in epistle number two: “But the children of God, who are conceived and begotten of him, are not of this world, neither do they mind only the things of this world, but the things which are eternal.” The things of the world are thus not eternal but temporary and the children of God focus their energies on the things which are eternal since they are not of this world. In the next sentence in the same letter he says “But the children of this world do mostly mind the external things, and their love is in them, and the others live by faith; the one is sanctified by the word, the other painted with the words.” The things of the world are not just temporary as opposed to eternal they are also external as opposed to internal. They are on the outside. He continues “The children of God are pure in heart, not looking only at the outside.” This is opposed to the children of the world who look only at the outside. He says in the same letter “So, marvel not if the world hates you; for the world lies in hatred and wickedness.” “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.” (1 John 3:13) and “[...] the whole world lieth in wickedness.”(1 John 5:19) The world lies in hatred and wickedness and sin. He continues “Whoever loves this world, are enemies to Christ; and whoever loves the Lord Jesus Christ, and have him for their Lord over them, they are redeemed out of the world. “He says and referring thus to 1 John 2:15 – 16 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” We are redeemed out of the world as it says in Titus 2:14 “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

There is a worldly nature within us and there is a struggle between Christ in us and the worldly nature in us “The world would have a Christ, but not to rule over them; the nature of the world chains down Christ in man, until Christ has subdued that nature in man.” He continues:” While the nature of the world rules in man, oh, the deaf ears and blind eyes, and the understandings, that are all shut up among them, with which they judge! But those who love the Lord Jesus Christ, do not mind the world's judgment, nor are troubled at it; but consider all our brethren, who have gone before us.” This worldly nature will make one spiritually blind and deaf. The worldly nature is probably the same as the carnal mind as he writes in letter seven “Love that which judges the carnal mind, and crosses it, “ referring to Romans 8:6 – 8 “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

The truth will lead one out of the world as he writes in another letter. Letter 13: “And so, walk in the truth, and all of you be servants to it, and it will lead you out of the world. The world would have the truth to serve them, to talk of, to trade with, and to contend with; these are the wells without water, these are the trees without fruit. “ He continues writing that “those who dwell in the spirit of the Lord” [...] “see all these things, and are separated from them.” Life in the world is fulfillment of the lusts of the flesh. He writes:  “So if you live in the spirit, and walk in it, you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, which will lead into uncleanness, and into adultery, and into that which despises dignity, which defiles the flesh, and goes from the pure.” In letter fifteen he writes “Every one in particular, who are of God, and not of the world, walk out of the world's vain customs, ordinances, and commands; and stand a witness against them all, in the testimony of Jesus,[...]” The world’s customs, ordinances and commands refer to Mark chapter 7:6 - 8 where Jesus says “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.” Furthermore he says in the same letter that “And be famous in his light, and bold in his strength, which will carry you above the world, and above all the deceits of it.” The world is full of deceits but God’s strength and light will carry one above all this. He also writes “But as you dwell in that which is of God, it guides you up out of the elementary life, and out of the mortal into the immortal, which is hidden from all the fleshly ones, where is peace and joy eternal to all who can witness the new birth.” The fleshly ones must mean those who follow the carnal mind, that is the worldly nature.

In letter sixteen he writes “To all you, my dear friends, who have tasted of the immediate, working power of the Lord, and find an alteration in your minds, and see from where virtue comes, and strength, that renews the inward man, and refreshes you; which draws you in love to forsake the world, and that which has form and beauty in it to the eye of the world; and has turned your minds within, [...]” The world and that which has form an beauty in the eye of the world is to be forsaken in the new life of the believer who turns their mind within. Here we find that he is contrasting the external with the internal. The external world contrasted to the Spirit within. In letter seventeen he writes “The light checks you, when you speak an evil word, and tells you that you should not be proud or unrestrained, nor fashion yourselves like the world; for the fashion of this world passes away.” The fashions of the world are temporary as explained above, and since the fashions of this world are temporary one need not concern oneself with them but concentrate on the things which are eternal. One final quote from the same letter and then I’m done “If you hearken to the light in you, it will not allow you to conform to the evil ways, customs, fashions, delights, and vanities of the world; but lead you to purity, to holiness, to uprightness, even up to the Lord.” In short I think George Fox is saying that purity, holiness and uprightness are what one should aim for not conforming to the ways of the world but doing what is right. That we should look critically at the ways of the world and not automatically follow every trend, fashion and custom. That we must have the courage to question our own customs and habits and ask ourselves if we are doing the right thing in following them. That we must not judge people based on their external appearance or their social status only but try to look beyond the surface. What is external and temporary then? -  Your clothes, your jewels, your possessions your worldly goods all the external things people use to signal status, but in the new life in Christ we are not supposed to judge people based on their possessions or their looks.  

Source:

A Collection of Many Select Epistles to Friends of That Ancient, Eminent, and Faithful Minister of Jesus Christ George Fox <http://www.hallvworthington.com/Letters/gfsection1.html> 19.03.2017.

Another Quaker Blog

I have found another Quaker blog at http://aquakerstew.blogspot.fi/
 It seems really promising at first glance especially the article "The Early Quaker Movement: Pauline Christianity Revived" is very interesting. A quote:

"Spiritual Death and New Birth

“May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14) “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The apostle Paul describes the cross as the transformative power of God which, through an inward and spiritual process of crucifixion and resurrection, could put to death the evil and darkness in each human heart and give birth to a new life in harmony with God, with other human beings and with the rest of creation. Early Friends interpreted their life-changing convincement experiences in these terms. What Jesus had been through in the flesh in the old covenant, all people could now experience inwardly, and spiritually in the new covenant. In this sense, the early Quaker movement was very much a ‘born-again’ movement."

Spiritually dry

I'm having something of a dry period spiritually speaking. I have nothing to say to the world about spiritual things at the moment. I have been reading Fox's letters and they don't speak to me like they used to. Secular things are constantly demanding my attention and I must concentrate on them for some time. I'll be back tomorrow hopefully I will regain my inspiration during my worship.

On Prayer

I went to church yesterday. The priest gave a sermon on prayer, the role and importance of prayer in a Christian's life. I want to talk about prayer too. I have a story to tell you about prayer and answers to prayer. I hope I remember it correctly:

Once upon a time there was a girl whose mother was sick with cancer. I prayed for the mother that she would become well again. While praying I saw in my imagination a tree that was blooming and in my imagination I heard a voice that said the mother would die. I prayed even harder and the vision repeated itself. I was deeply troubled by this since I sincerely wished the mother would be well again. I confessed this to a friend and told her about the voice and we concluded that I would not tell the girl since I may just be imagining things. Besides: Nobody wants to bring such news to anyone. It just happened that the very same spring when the trees were blooming the girl’s mother died. Prayer is communion with God. The answer to our prayers may be negative. God is not Santa Claus giving gifts to good children. God heals some sick people and others God doesn’t heal.

That would be all for today.

Deeds not Creeds

"The peace testimony is about deeds not creeds; not a form of words but a way of living. It is the cumulative lived witness of generations of Quakers… The peace testimony is not about being nice to people and living so that everyone likes us. It will remain a stumbling block and will itself cause conflict and disagreement. The peace testimony is a tough demand that we should not automatically accept the categories, definitions and priorities of the world. We look to the Spirit, rather than to prescriptive hypothetical statements. The peace testimony, today, is seen in what we do, severally and together, with our lives. We pray for the involvement of the Spirit with us, that we may work for a more just world. We need to train to wage peace."
London Yearly Meeting, 1993

Source: Quaker Faith and Practice <http://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/24/>11.03.2017.

Don't Conform

George Fox writes:
"If you hearken to the light in you,
it will not allow you to conform to the evil ways,
customs, fashions, delights, and vanities of the world; but lead you to purity, to holiness, to uprightness, even up to the Lord.
Dear hearts, listen to it, to be guided by it.
For if you love the light, you love Christ;
if you hate that, you hate Christ.
Therefore in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ consider it;
and the Lord open your understandings to know him."

Don't conform to the ways of the world, but rather follow the inner Light. Don't be fashionable, be rather honest.

Source: Collection of Many Select Epistles to Friends of That Ancient, Eminent,and Faithful Minister of Jesus Christ, George Fox, <http://www.hallvworthington.com/Letters/gfsection1.html>10.03.2017.

Christ is within you

George Fox writes:
"But keep within.
And when they shall say, 'lo here,' or 'lo there is Christ,'
go not forth; for Christ is within you.
And they are seducers and antichrists,
who draw your minds out from the teaching within you.
For the measure is within,
and the light of God is within,
and the pearl is within you, which is hid;
and the word of God is within you,
and you are the temples of God;
and God has said, he will dwell in you, and walk in you.
And then what need do you have to go to the idols' temples without you?
The true church (the saints) is in God;"

The Bible says: Christ is within you. It is written "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love," Ephesians 3:16 - 17. and "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2 Corinthians 13:5. The Bible teaches thus that Christ is within us Christians, He dwells in our hearts by faith. The measure of Grace is within. It's written "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Ephesians 4:7. Christ is the Light of God and the Light of God is within. "The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."John 1:7 - 9 The kingdom of God is within us. "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:21 it is like a pearl of great price "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." Matthew 13: 45 - 46 We are the temples of God. It is written "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16 Christ is within us, He is the light that "[...] shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." John 1:5. And what to do with this light? - "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men [...]"Matthew 5: 15 - 16.

Source: Collection of Many Select Epistles to Friends of That Ancient, Eminent,and Faithful Minister of Jesus Christ, George Fox, <http://www.hallvworthington.com/Letters/gfsection1.html>09.03.2017.

Bow Down to Nothing but the Lord God!

George Fox writes:
"Babes in Christ, born again of the immortal seed, in it wait,
my life is with you in perfect unity;
bow down to nothing but the Lord God.
Satan would have had Christ to have bowed down, but he would not;
the same seed now, the same birth born in you now,
which is the same today, yesterday, and forever.
The tempter will come to you;
and if you look forth, and hearken to his words, and let them in,
then you bow down under him, and worship him.
But I say unto you, and charge you in the presence of the Lord,
mind the pure seed of God in you,
and the mighty power of God will cherish you up to the Lord God above all temptations,
not to bow down to anything;
but feeding upon the immortal food,
you will feel yourselves supported, and carried over him by your Father and your God,
who is over all, blessed forever!
Who is the virtue of all creatures,
the wisdom of all things;
all holy praises be unto the holy, glorious Lord God forever!"

Bow down to nothing but the Lord God!

Source: A Collection of Many Select Epistles to Friends of That Ancient, Eminent,and Faithful Minister of Jesus Christ, George Fox,  <http://www.hallvworthington.com/Letters/gfsection1.html> 07.03.2017.

Gambling in the Faith and Practice

I used to gamble sometimes when I still lived in Turku. I learned my lesson. Never again!

Gambling disregards our belief that possessions are a trust. The persistent appeal to covetousness evident, for example, in football pool propaganda is fundamentally opposed to the unselfishness which was taught by Jesus Christ and by the New Testament as a whole. The attempt, which is inseparable from gambling, to make a profit out of the inevitable loss and possible suffering of others is the antithesis of that love of one’s neighbour on which Jesus insisted.
1959; 1994

We are faced at every hand with enticements to risk money in anticipation of disproportionate gain through gambling. Some governments employ gambling as a means of raising revenue, even presenting it as a civic virtue. The Religious Society of Friends continues to bear testimony against betting, gambling, lotteries, speculation, or any other endeavour to receive material gain without equivalent exchange, believing that we owe an honest return for what we receive.

Faith and practice, Baltimore Yearly Meeting, 1988

Quaker Faith and Practice, Chapter 20, <http://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/20/>06.03.2017.

The poetry of John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)

The poetry of John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892), a Massachusetts journalist and anti-slavery campaigner, continues to find a place in modern hymn-books, far beyond the boundaries of the Religious Society of Friends. In The brewing of soma, of which the following are the final stanzas, the Quaker poet asks forgiveness for the Christian tendency to fall back on artificial stimulants to spiritual experience, which he likens to the drug-induced ecstasies of primitive religion in ‘the childhood of the world’ and contrasts with the true inspiration which we may experience in silent waiting upon God.

Dear Lord and Father of mankind

Forgive our foolish ways!

Reclothe us in our rightful mind,

In purer lives thy service find,

In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard

Beside the Syrian sea

The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,

Rise up and follow thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee!

O calm of hills above,

Where Jesus knelt to share with thee
The silence of eternity

Interpreted by love!

With that deep hush subduing all

Our words and works that drown

The tender whisper of thy call,
As noiseless let thy blessing fall

As fell thy manna down.

Drop thy still dews of quietness,

Till all our strivings cease;

Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess

The beauty of thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire

Thy coolness and thy balm;

Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,

O still, small voice of calm!

1872

Quaker Faith and Practice, Chapter 20,  <http://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/20/>06.03.2017.

Hirelings

I want to start by saying I have no quarrel with the Lutheran church though I did leave it for several reasons. I didn’t trust the priesthood anymore and that’s why I left. Oftentimes it seemed to me that the priests were just going through the motions in the liturgy like robots automatically doing what they had been programmed to do. Just going through the motions. I had also found a radical new alternative: The Quakers who could be spontaneous and gave everyone a chance to preach during meeting for worship. The Quakers seemed like a more attractive choice and I was disillusioned with church authorities since I had studied history and church history is so full of misuse of power that it’s overwhelming. All the violence done in the name of Christianity is disillusioning. I wanted a fresh new alternative Christianity that doesn’t have a history of violence and oppression and it seems to me that the Quakers have not been oppressing anyone at any time. Except for a few bad Quakers in the beginning who owned slaves but the bad Quakers are the exception not the norm, there were for example no Quaker inquisition cracking down on Jews and “Heretics”, no Quaker crusades slaughtering Muslims and so on. Pacifists don’t start wars or oppress natives in America. Generally Quakers take responsibility for their own actions even if they are misguided people like Richard Nixon they are expected to carry the burden of responsibility for their own actions on their own. They cannot argue that a Quaker authority demanded that they should choose a certain course of action since there is no Quaker hierarchy. No Quaker pope is encouraging crusades. That's in short why I left the church, it's ancient history by now, water under the bridge and so on. I have several friends who are priests and I guess they will find George Fox' anticlerical attitude problematic.  

George Fox talks about  priests as hirelings quite frequently. “And keep your testimony against the hireling priests, and their tithes, and maintenance.”[1] He means the priests of the Anglican Church. They were, and are still, preaching for money. The choice of words is inspired by the Gospel of John where Jesus says “ I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Joh 10:11 – 15 George Fox likens the priests to the hireling shepherds who didn’t genuinely care about the sheep enough to lay down their lives for the sheep. This is contrasted to Christ who genuinely cares about the sheep and lays down his life for them. A hireling is a person who performs a certain task for pay, they are hired and their work is for hire. Just like the priests in the church they perform their duties for pay and can, according to George Fox, not be expected to genuinely care about their task. What is missing from the hireling’s performance is genuine commitment.

"Hireling" priests are mentioned in the Bible in a negative light. “They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.” Micah 3:10 – 12 The Lord does not approve of priests who teach for hire or prophets who divine for money. God’s gifts are not for sale as is illustrated in Acts chapter eight: “Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” Acts 8:17 - 23 The gift of God cannot, according to Peter, be purchased with money. 

---

[1] A Collection of Many Select Epistles to Friends, of That Ancient, Eminent, and Faithful Minister of Jesus Christ, George Fox <http://www.hallvworthington.com/Letters/gfsection11a.html> 05.03.2017.

Poem by James Nayler

It is in my heart to praise thee, O my God;

let me never forget thee,

what thou hast been to me:

In the night, by thy presence in the

day of trial when I was beset in darkness,

when I was cast out as a wandering bird,

and when I was assaulted with strong temptations,

then thy presence in secret did preserve me,

and in a low estate I felt thee near me.

When the floods sought to sweep me away

Thou set a compass for them,

how far they should pass over;

When my way was through the sea,

and when I passed under the mountains

there was thou present with me;

When the weight of the hills was upon me

thou upheld me, else had I sunk

under the earth;

When I was as one altogether helpless,

when tribulation and anguish was upon me

day and night, and the earth

without foundation;

When I went on the way of wrath,

and passed by the gates of hell,

when all comforts stood afar off,

and he that is mine enemy had dominion;

when I was cast into the pit,

and was as one appointed to death;

when I was between the millstones,

and as one crushed with the weight

of his adversary,

As a father thou was with me

and the rock of thy presence.

James Nayler, 1659

I ask for

I ask for daily bread, but not for wealth, lest I forget the poor.
I ask for strength, but not for power, lest I despise the meek.
I ask for wisdom, but not for learning, lest I scorn the simple.
I ask for a clean name, but not for fame, lest I contemn the lowly.
I ask for peace of mind, but not for idle hours, lest I fail to hearken to the call of duty.

Inazo Nitobe, 1909

First day thoughts

Today I decided not to go to church since I have a cold and don't want to spread the disease around me. I set aside some time for spiritual contemplation however. It is written regarding worship that "Worship is essentially an act of adoration, adoration of the one true God in whom we live and move and have our being. Forgetting our little selves, our petty ambitions, our puny triumphs, our foolish cares and fretful anxieties, we reach out towards the beauty and majesty of God. The religious life is not a dull, grim drive towards moral virtues, but a response to a vision of greatness." Quaker Faith and Practice 2.07 and "All true worship is inspired by God. The place of worship is the place of dependence, the place of wonder and of power, the place of fellowship and of communion… Worship links us to God and implies faith in a God who is in some sense personal. Personality is the highest category we know and we cannot worship a Being who is less than the highest of which we conceive… Thus the act of worship presupposes on our part a sense of dependence on God and the acknowledgment of our need of him, and this means that the element of adoration and thanksgiving should always be present in worship. Worship in Christian experience is our response to the God of Love." Quaker Faith and Practice 2.09. The most important thing is to set aside time for worship, whether one does it alone or together with others is of lesser significance.

"There are more important things in life than money, but I can't afford any of them" it said in a meme I shared on Facebook recently. I have been rather busy lately with worldly concerns such as getting an aquarium running and going to different events. There has been little time for contemplation. I have had the wrong priorities, I have concentrated on worldly matters when I could have concentrated on spiritual matters and this blog. There are more important things in life than money and I could have afforded them: spiritual things.  Or is it an expression of privilege that we think spiritual things are more important than money? Can we afford a spiritual life only when we have everything else? I don't have an abundance with money, but I have plenty of time and I'm rich therein. Where is spirituality in Maslow's hierarchy of needs? Who knows?

If you love the light

"If you love the light, and walk in it, you love Christ,
and will all walk in unity together.
And if you hate the light, you hate Christ.
Here is your teacher, who love the light;
here is your condemnation, who hate the light.
And the conscience being seared,
there is a returning to teachers without.
For the carnal will have its vain invented form;
but the spirit's form stands in the power.
Prove yourselves where you are. "

Source: The Missing Cross to Purity <http://www.hallvworthington.com/Letters/gfsection1.html > 05.03.2017.

God willing

"Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil." James 4:13 - 16
I shall use the expression, "God willing" more frequently from now on.

Teetotalism 2

I have replaced ordinary beer with non-alcoholic beer and my month as a teetotaler is going smoothly. I have no complaints so far. It doesn't require much self restraint to refrain from alcohol, it requires more to be vegan than it does to be a teetotaler. I have finally become a vegan teetotaler. I always imagined that ideally I should be a vegan teetotallr because alcohol brings many evils and because veganism is the most compassionate and environmentally friendly alternative diet. It's not as simple as that but anyway, I was reasoning in those lines.

Whose friends are we?

We Quakers call ourselves  the Religious Society of Friends, but whose friends are we? Each other's? We are each other's friends and we are friends of the Truth but we are also Christ's friends. It is written:
"This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." Joh 15:12 - 16 We are Christ's friends if we do whatsoever he commands us.