SpeakingTruth.org program: Quaker Thought

Our Oneness With God

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:15:50 -0800

Read and Written by W. Norman Cooper

One of the greatest statements of truth which Christ Jesus made about himself is the one in which he said: "I and my Father are one." But this statement does not apply to Jesus alone. Like Jesus, each of us should declare: "I and my Father are one."

This divine, fathering Power lives through you, in you and as you. This divine, fathering Power is your source of enlightened intelligence, your source of true love, your source of great power. Since you are one with this great Power, you are aware of love, of peace and of joy; and you express the love, peace and joy in your relationship to others.

You can see yourself at one with the divine, fathering Power; and therefore, you can see yourself as this Power sees you--selflessly loving, peaceful and joyous in all your relationships with others.

Surrender and Spiritual Hunger

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:09:05 -0800

Read and written by Stephen Travis Pope

I have received a variety of very interesting responses over the past year to my email signature. The line I use is, "Faith, surrender, and hope are only as important to life as, say, breathing."

The people who have responded (among them several Friends) have invariably asked specifically about my interpretation of the word "surrender," (as though faith and hope were themselves well-understood). There are several quotes I'd like to contribute here.

St. Francis prayer opens with, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love." Psalm 19, in the recent translation by Stephen Mitchell, begs, "Let me keep surrendering myself until I am utterly transparent." A landmark song with the title "Awaken" by one of my all-time favorite rock bands, who are called Yes, has the line (shouted at full volume) "Oh closely guided plan, awaken in our hearts!"

It feels as though everywhere I look, I hear artists and seekers crying out in surrender, not simply asking for God's intervention, but asking to be led, asking to be made instruments of God's will, and recognizing that it involves our listening better, not God's yelling louder.

If only it were easy for us to arrange for our lives to be taken over by the spirit. We have to make a place for it; the process requires slowing down, letting go of our momentary attachments, listening, making an explicit place for divinity in our lives. In one of her books on angels, Doreen Virtue presents the following rules for bringing Angels into your life: (1) Live your life with full integrity; (2) Acknowledge (explicitly) your faith in Angels; and (3) Have the silence to hear what they’re saying.

In the end, returning to my email quote, I actually have a much harder time defining and staying in touch with faith and hope than maintaining an attitude of surrender and spiritual hunger.

Ordering Our Mental Life

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:04:46 -0800

Read by Martha Churchyard from Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelley

There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings.

Between these two levels is fruitful interplay, but ever the accent must be upon the deeper level, where the soul dwells in the presence of the Holy One, forever bringing all affairs of the first level down into the Light, holding them there in the Presence, reseeing them in a new and more overturning way and responding to them in spontaneous, incisive, and simple ways of love and faith.

How then shall we lay hold of that Life and Power and live the life of prayer without ceasing? By quiet, persistent practice in turning all of our being, day and night, in prayer and inward worship and surrender, toward him who calls in the deeps of our souls.

Mental habits of inward orientation must be established. An inner, secret turning to God can be made fairly steady after weeks and months and year of practice and lapses and failures and returns.

Begin now, as you read these words, as you sit in your chair, to offer your whole selves, utterly and in joyful abandon, in quiet, glad surrender to him who is within. In secret ejaculations of praise, turn in humble wonder to the Light, faint though it may be. Keep contact with the outer world of sense and meanings. Here is no discipline in absentmindedness. Walk and talk and work and laugh with your friends. But behind the scenes, keep up the life of simple prayer and inward worship. Let inward prayer be your last act before you fall asleep and the first act when you awake.

An Amazing Inner Sanctuary

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:48:48 -0800

Read by Martha Churchyard from the Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly

Meister Eckhart wrote, “As thou art in church or cell, that same frame of mind carry out into the world; into its turmoils and fitfulness.” Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn loves, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto itself.

It is a light within which illumines the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories upon our faces…Here is the slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, to become the soul we clothe in earthly form and action. And he is within us all.

The basic response of the soul to the Light is internal adoration and joy, thanksgiving and worship, self-surrender and listening. The secret places of the heart cease to be our noisy workshop. They become a holy sanctuary of adoration…where we are kept in perfect peace if our minds be stayed on Him who has found us in the inward springs of our life. And in the brief intervals of overpowering visitation we are able to carry the sanctuary frame of mind out into the world, into its turmoil and fitfulness. Power fully are the springs of our will moved to an abandon of singing love toward God; powerfully are we moved to a new and overcoming love toward time-blinded me and all creation.

Christmas More Than a Single Day

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:34:47 -0800

read by W. Norman Cooper from his book, Seize the Day

This week we are celebrating Christmas. For one full day our attitudes, and in many cases even our surroundings, will seem quite different. We ourselves--and so many with whom we come in contact--will seem transformed--will be transformed with and into the spirit of Christmas.

How pathetic though, that this transformation will last but a day. We should realize that the message of "on earth peace, good will toward men" was not a message for one day each year; but the spirit of Christmas, with its love, its gift-giving, its sacred message of peace and loving understanding, should be expressed every day.

Christmas should be taken out of the confines of the limitations of a day and be loved and lived every day. And so, right now, let us resolve to make every day a Christmas Day.

Surrender and Spiritual Hunger

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:30:02 -0800

read and written by Stephen Travis Pope

I have received a variety of very interesting responses over the past year to my email signature. The line I use is, "Faith, surrender, and hope are only as important to life as, say, breathing."

In the end, returning to my email quote, I actually have a much harder time defining and staying in touch with faith and hope than maintaining an attitude of surrender and spiritual hunger.

The Burning Bush

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:03:35 -0800

Read by W. Norman Cooper from his book, Seize the Day 01-12

In the Bible, the story is told of Moses seeing a bush which was burning but was not consumed. What did he do when he saw the burning bush? Did he just ignore it and go on his way? No, he turned aside to see why the bush was not consumed.

Symbolically speaking, the bush which glows with light and gives warmth, stands for Spirit, which, while it glows and enlightens, cannot be consumed. Matter, because it is matter, can be and is consumed. But Spirit and the things of Spirit cannot be consumed.

Like Moses, let us frequently turn aside from the activities of material living and our too frequent desire for material things, to view and appreciate Spirit and the things of Spirit. If we do, we will have learned a great lesson--the lesson Moses learned so long ago when he saw the burning bush.

Then we will behold divine Spirit which ever burns brightly to enlighten our pathway, but which will never be consumed and which enables us to help others.

Becoming As a Little Child

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 13:33:58 -0800

Read by W. Norman Cooper from his book, Seize the Day 01-10

Only those who express the qualities of childlikeness can find and enter the kingdom of God. Christ Jesus said: "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein."

The kingdom of God is the awareness of your divinely created Self. This kingdom is gained only as a little child with all his trust, freedom, spontaneity and enthusiasm. In fact, such awareness is not only the means of entering the kingdom, but such qualities are the kingdom itself. Think back to your childhood with its trust, freedom, spontaneity and enthusiasm and you will see that such qualities are synonymous with childhood.

The poet Wordsworth wrote: "Heaven lies about us in our infancy." Cultivate the childlike qualities, and if you do, you will have found your divine Self which is the kingdom of God.

Being Truly Thankful

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 12:58:28 -0800

Read by W. Norman Cooper from his book Seize the Day

Thanksgiving Day is being celebrated this week and so our message deals with the importance of being thankful.

Thanksgiving Day is all too frequently thought of as merely a feast day. In fact, it is sometimes referred to humorously as "turkey day." But Thanksgiving Day should have a holier meaning for us. It should remind us of the great love of divine Love which for so long has fed us spiritually with love, joy and compassion.

Let us be thankful to divine Love for all the good received; but let's also remember the warning given in the Bible which says: "Beware...lest when thou hast eaten and art full... thou forget the Lord thy God." Let's resolve not to forget, but to remember, the divine Giver of all good, and be truly thankful. Then, and only then, we will have a blessed and holy Thanksgiving Day.

Prayer

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:32:05 -0800

Read by Martha Churchyard from Letters on Spiritual Virtues by 17th century Quaker Isaac Pennington

Friend, some questions about prayer may arise in your mind as you have begun to sense the Truth, or have been touched by the Truth from God’s Holy Spirit. Since you have operated so long from a fleshly mind and ungodly nature and not in the leading of the Spirit, you may have some doubts about the practice of prayer.

Those people who doubt the power of prayer will never have their questions answered until the Lord opens their spirits and teaches it to them. Herein is the truth: all true prayer is in and from the Holy Spirit.

The promise of God concerning prayer (that is, the certainty of prayer being answered) is referring to the kind of prayer that is in faith and to the Holy Spirit. It is not, however, dealing with the prayers that come from the flesh or will or human wisdom. Therefore, the great care and concern in prayer is that it be of God in the quickenings and motions of his own Spirit. For the dead cannot praise God, nor can the dead truly pray to him.

We must not pray in a way that lacks life, that lacks God’s Spirit (who calls us to pray, teaches us to pray, and makes intercessions for us). True prayer is not in the time, in the will, or in the power of the person praying. Rather, it is a gift of God that resides in his Spirit. It is not ours, but it is given to us. Therefore, it is ours to wait upon the Spirit, to wait for the Spirit to move and breathe in us, and to give us the ability to call upon the Father and give us the power of prevailing with the Father, in the name and through the life of the Son.

One's Own Home

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:41:02 -0800

Read by W. Norman Cooper from his book "Seize the Day" 01-14

We may travel to many lands and enjoy many beautiful, strange and ancient sights--only to realize that there is no joy like the joy of being in one's own home. As Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to John Armstrong, "The happiness of the domestic fireside is the first boon of heaven."

All of this reminds me of a sentence written by George Moore. He said, "A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."

If such is the joy of being back in his material home, think of the joy which can come when one finds and resides in his God-created, spiritual home. This spiritual home is where the love of God finds its dwelling place. Great joy is found when one finds that spiritual home which can be defined as his awareness of divine Love.

Accept and dwell in your awareness of selfless love. This God-given awareness is your true home and there you will find and enjoy all you truly need, so that you may be a better help in serving others.

How Can I Lead?

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:15:09 -0800

Read and written by Stephen Travis Pope.

Many people of faith feel challenged by recent events in the world. How can we respond to external forces that upset or anger us in an appropriate and loving manner? How can we let our faith speak to people whose actions we cannot accept?

Writing from prison, George Fox admonished us to "be valiant for Truth upon earth. [...] Be patterns, be examples in all places, [...] wherever you come, that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people [...] then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one."

Mahatma Gandhi instructed us to "be the change you wish to see in the world."

Well, these all sound like pretty tall orders. I, for one, often have a hard time feeling like I'm much of a "pattern" for others to copy. How can I set an example for anyone else?

Just as the Chinese proverb tells us, however, that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." We can each do something each day, in every interaction we have, in every thought we think, to "be the change we seek."

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr reminded us, "we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal." The life of faith is not just the goal we seek, it is also the path to that goal.

As a first step towards "answering that of God in every one," we can each work to treat the people we deal with in a way that respects their dignity. We can respond in a manner and using a language that encourages understanding and communication on a higher level. With a little bit of effort and concentration, we can each start today, in our own ways, to "be valiant for Truth upon earth."

Starting now, I can be a better pattern than I was able to be yesterday. I'm ready to let my life speak for my faith, even in the very small ways that I'm capable of today.

On The Integration of Our Spiritual Lives

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 06:42:08 -0700

Read and written by Stephen Travis Pope

Our recent reading of the "Advices and Queries on the Spiritual Life" led me to look into the Faith and Practice manuals of other Yearly Meetings for statements on the subject. I found the following.

The individual Friend should lead a life rooted in an awareness of God's presence in all times and places. [...] Faith in God finds its expression in a way of life based on spiritual rather than material values. We place authority of the Spirit above any outward authority. [...] The life of the spirit gains depth and vigor through devotional practices, prayer, study and meditation.

It has always been my feeling that the human experience is defined by physical, emotional, and intellectual aspects, which are being simultaneously lived through by our inner spirit-beings. It seems to me that the only way to "live the spiritual life" is to learn to integrate these aspects of life together, so that our spirits take part and rejoice in our emotional, physical, and intellectual lives, so that these components are so well integrated that we don't actually need to take special time for any one of them in particular.

Just as we don't stop thinking if we go to play our favorite sport, or stop breathing when we have a particular feeling, why should our spirit stop being fully involved at any time during our daily life? Prayer and meditation can and should still be central components of our daily routines, but it's important to remember that our spiritual life is meant to be as continuous as our emotional or physical lives are.

In the phases when I feel most integrated and focused, my favorite prayer is the one that I say on each breath when I inhale life and energy and joy and connection between the outer and inner worlds.

Spiritual Virtues

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:37:54 -0700

Read by Martha Churchyard from "Letters on Spiritual Virtues" by Isaac Penington

Friends, our life is love and peace and tenderness. We are called to bear one another’s burdens, forgive one another, and never judge or accuse one another. Instead, we must pray for one another, helping one another up with a tender hand if there has been any slip or fall. O! wait to feel this spirit. Wait to be guided and to walk in this spirit that you may enjoy the Lord in sweetness and walk meekly, tenderly, peaceably, and lovingly with one another. Then you will be able to praise the Lord, and anything that has hindered you, you will be able to overcome in the Lamb’s dominion. That which is contrary shall be trampled upon as his life rises and begins to rule in you.

So, watch your hearts and ways. Watch over one another in gentleness and tenderness. Know that we cannot help one another out of a snare of our own strength, for only the Lord, who must be waited upon, can do this in all and for all. So, attend to the Truth, to the service and enjoyment and possession of it in your hearts. Walk in such a way that you do not bring disgrace upon it, but instead, let the Truth be a good savor to others in the places where you live. May the meek, innocent, tender, righteous life that reigns within you and governs you, shine through you into the eyes of all with whom you speak.

Violence or Non-Violence?

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:32:54 -0700

Read by W. Norman Cooper from his book, "Seize the Day" 08/07

A nation that lives by military might eventually dies by military might. It has happened to every group, every nation and every civilization that has come upon the scene of history.

The writer Tolstoy said: "A great portion of the evils that afflict mankind is due to the erroneous belief that life can be made secure by violence." How true is that statement. A nation which attempts to defend itself by the preparation of means for violence only binds itself to that which is its eventual defeat.

Sooner or later individuals and nations must realize that they can have the nonviolent approach to situations. Christ Jesus had a nonviolent approach and he demanded this of his students. He said that if someone strikes you on one cheek, you are to turn the other cheek also. He told us what would happen to those who live by the sword--by violence. He said that those who live by the sword shall die by the sword.

To overcome violence by violence is evil. We seem to think that there is some violent way by which we can secure that which is right. That which is right is freely given by God and is defended by the God who freely gives.

Why We Can Have Faith

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:03:11 -0700

read by W. Norman Cooper from his book, "Seize the Day," 01-04

Why can you have faith in God? Because God Himself is ever bearing witness to Himself and to His existence. He does this through holy Teachers, through the smile of a baby, through the beauty of a rose and through countless other ways.

While you do not need intellectual understanding as the basis of faith, you have all around you the signs of the Power in which you can have faith. Faith is that gift of God which is always calling for a new beginning. All around you are these signs which are meant as a call to Him. It is to become new, to become aware of your oneness with the creative Source of your being.

You must have faith in your God-given selfhood and in the God-given selfhood of others.

In 1662, the Book of Common Prayer defined faith as "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace."

Religious Freedom

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:16:00 -0700

read by W. Norman Cooper from Seize the Day 01-11

How often worldly might prevails, sometimes even over right. But we should realize that might is not genuine power.

We could learn a great lesson by remembering the exodus from Egypt of the Israelites. The Pharaoh had great material might, but the Israelites had a different type of might. They had might which comes from a united loyalty to a just cause. That just cause was their desire for religious freedom. The Israelites wanted to be free to worship their God. Not all the might of Egypt could permanently keep them in bondage when they had such a righteous cause.

The lesson should be clear to us today. We must be alert that we stand up for genuine religious freedom. We must stand up for such freedom with the same faith, devotion and certainty as did the Israelites who were captives in Egypt so long ago. If we do, we will prove that righteousness, that is, genuine right, is permanent might.

Spiritual Virtues

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:31:36 -0700

Read by Martha Churchyard

Quotation from Letters on Spiritual Virtues by 17th century Quaker Isaac Pennington

Friend, it is a wonderful thing to witness the power of God as it reaches to the heart and demonstrates to the soul the pure way to life. Surely the person who partakes of this power will be favored by the Lord. Therefore, we ought to wait diligently for the leadings of the Holy Spirit in everything we do. Thus we will be able to travel through all that is contrary to God and into the things that are of God.

It is also a wonderful thing to witness God's preservation that keeps us from sliding backwards and being entangled in the traps of the enemy. For the enemy has many ways and uses many devices to ensnare our minds and draw it away from the Truth. There our souls are lulled asleep with false hopes and we lose the feeling and enjoyment of the true life and power.

O Friend, do you not have a sense of the way to the Father? Then you must press your spirit to bow daily before God and wait for breathings to you from his Spirit. Pray that he will continue his mercy to you and make his way more and more clear before you every day. Yes, and also pray that he will give you strength in all the trials which may come your way. By his secret working in your spirit, giving you assistance from time to time, you will advance nearer and nearer towards the kingdom.

Having Faith

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:44:04 -0700

Read by W. Norman Cooper from his book, Seize the Day

Faith gives you access to the saving power of God and this saving power always begins with faith. To the woman whom Chirst Jesus encountered at Simon's house, he said: "Thy faith hath saved thee."

It is faith that starts us on the road to the saving power or unity with divine Love. It is faith and not human intellectuality or understanding which is needed. The woman probably didn't have an awareness of the greatness of what was being expressed by Jesus, but she had faith; and that faith became her saving power.

Faith opens the door to all the splendor of the saving power of God; and faith will open the grandeur of God's abundant love for you--so that you may help others.

What Do We Believe?

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:25:51 -0700

Read and written by Stephen Travis Pope

One of the best definitions of Quakers is people with no creed, but a very strong theology. The most recent edition of the "Faith and Practice" manual of the Pacific Yearly Meeting opens with a quote from the 1995 Britain Yearly Meeting's "Faith and Practice." The quote reads,

"We, like every generation, must find the Light and Life again for ourselves. Only what we have valued and truly made our own, not by assertion, but by lives of faithful commitment, can we hand on to the future. Even then, we must humbly acknowledge that our vision of the truth will, again and again, be amended."

There are several statements here that warrant closer reflection.

First is the widely accepted definition that Quakers are people who "come to know God experimentally" as George Fox put it. What's unique in the statement above is the notion that we do this not just as individuals, but as generations as well. Each generation of Friends is called upon to wrestle with the social and moral issues of their day, and to carefully discern their responses.

Second, it is worth repeating that the insights we have into the human condition, our living faith, are useless and cannot be passed on, unless we apply them in our own lives. We can only lead by example if our truths are based on mystical experiences.

Lastly, and I believe unique among the world's religions, is the notion that we must remain open for our most deeply held beliefs to be amended, to be amended again and again. If one accepts the notion of the continuing revelation, one also has to accept that it will indeed continue.