Companions Along the Way

Spiritual Formation Within the Quaker Tradition

A Resource for Adult Religious Education

Edited by Florence Ruth Kline with Marty Grundy Workshops Parts IV and V Bible and A Final Piece for Reflection

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Fifteenth and Cherry Streets Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102-1479 The publication of this book was made possible by grants from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Publications Granting Group, the Shoemaker Fund, and Friends General Conference.

We want to express our appreciation to Patricia Loring for permission to reprint excerpts from her book, Listening Spirituality, vol. 1, Personal Spiritual Practices Among Friends, to the Family Relations Concerns Group of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for permission to reprint its Pastoral Care Newsletter and to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for permission to reprint excerpts from The Journal o f George Fox.

Please contact the following for permission to order or reprint their material: PYM Family Relations Concerns Group for its Pastoral Care Newsletter Renee-Noelle Felice for her workshop (copyright Renee-Noelle Felice)

All the other material in this publication may be reprinted without permission. We ask that you acknowledge the authors and not charge for the material.

A cataloging-in-publication record is available from the Library of Congress.

Copyright © 2000 by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

Alison Anderson, Copy Editor Bruce McNeel, Layout and Cover Design Loma Kent, Cover Illustration J-A \ s Friends our way is to companion one another humbly, joyfully, and gratefully. We lived fully into this at the Companions Along the Way con­ ference; seasoned Friends felt privileged to be given the opportunity to pass on what they knew and those who received their teachings did so in the same spirit. There was the sense that we are making our spiritual journeys together and that ultimately we will all arrive at the same place. This kind of companioning hap­ pens when we, in turn, are companioned by God. The more that we are present to this Divine Companion, the more we are present to one another. It is in this spirit that this book is dedicated.

Dedicated to those Friends who teach Quakerism by the conduct of their lives ■ B W o rksh o p s

P art IV:

Bible In this essay Paul Anderson discusses how to approach the Bible and how to use it for spiritual formation. Individual and group approaches are suggested for your use and exploration.

Paul Anderson is Associate Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies at George Fox University, having served as visiting professor from 1998 to 1999 at Yale Divinity School. He is editor of Quaker Religious Thought and served as editor of the Evangelical Friend from 1990 to 1994. His Ph.D. in New Testament is from Glasgow University, and his graduate and undergraduate degrees are from the Earlham School of Religion and Malone College. He is author of The Christology of the Fourth Gospel and is working on a book of essays on Quaker testi­ monies and convictions entitled Following Jesus - Essays on Radical Discipleship. Paul is also preparing the New Testament essays of Henry Cadbury for publication. Paul Anderson can be contacted at 503-538-8383 (day), 503- 537-0196 (evening) and [email protected].

How do we make good use of the Bible? We would Bible could have been reconstructed from his memo­ probably like to if we could, but at times we wonder ry alone. One can rightly ask where the spiritual for­ how to go about it. We may have known parts of the mations and contributions of Fox, Barclay, Woolman, Bible earlier in our lives and wonder where to start. and others would have been had they not been steeped Or, we may have been scared off from using the Bible in knowledge of the Scriptures, and the answer has a by persons claiming greater certainty than their ideas great deal of relevance for Friends today. All sectors merited. And yet, the Bible has been the single most of the Quaker family would benefit from a concerted important collection of writings in world history, and effort to make good use of the Bible for spiritual for­ it continues to be a major source of influence in the mation and this workshop will explore several ways to world today. Friends have always valued the spiritual­ do this. First, however, considering some basic ques­ ly formative effect the Bible has had on the reader, and tions may help. this workshop will explore several ways we might make use of the Bible for spiritual formation as well as answer some basic questions about the Bible. What is the Bible? Friends and the The Bible is the selected and canonized (approved) col­ . V' lection of Jewish and Christian writings experienced Friends have emphasized reading other good books as inspired, valued as useful, and esteemed as authori­ along with the Bible, but the Bible has long been the tative by believers. These factors contributed to the primary written source of inspiration and guidance for canonization process, which distinguish these writings the people called Quakers. Central to the Quaker from other helpful or religious writings. approach to Scripture has been a prayerful approach to the Scriptures. How do we choose a good translation?

Reading Scripture on First Day after meeting Choosing a good translation is important. I would was a very formative event in the life of young John recommend getting the study Bible edition of a ver­ Woolman, for instance, and Friends have long empha­ sion where you can. The New Revised Standard sized Bible reading as part of one’s regular devotional Version has the advantage of using gender-neutral life. W iliam Penn said of George Fox that the entire pronouns as much as is fitting with the original lan­

157 guages, and it is presently preferred by most scholars. The Torah (the Pentateuch: Genesis to Evangelicals have used with appreciation the New Deuteronomy) is called “the five books of Moses” International Version, and I might even suggest using because it contains the Mosaic Law. These five books these two versions side by side at times. were the first of the 66 books to be gathered.

One of the best (and underrated) translations of The Writings contain books of history, poetry, the New Testament is Heinz Cassirer’s God’s New wisdom, and worship. Covenant. All of the New Testament writers, of course, The Prophets contain writings of major and were Jewish, and in this lucid version, Cassirer, a minor prophets, as well as the prophetic communities Jewish philosopher, has produced a translation that which preserved their traditions. sheds fascinating light on the nuance and meaning of the material - from a Jewish perspective. I recommend The Apocrypha it highly! The Jerusalem Bible, a translation organized The Apocrypha consists of later Jewish and pre- by Catholic scholars, is also excellent, and Today’s Christian writings. As intertestamental writings, they English Version is also helpful. For more traditional are considered of secondary authority within Catholic versions, see the New King James Version and the Bibles, and they are not included in Protestant Bibles. New American Standard Version, both of which make The New Testament (27 books) use of text-critical findings absent in older versions. Gospels and Acts describe the ministry of Jesus Several excellent paraphrases have also come and the beginning of the church. out recently: the newly revised Living Bible is very The Letters of Paul and other letters portray readable, as is Eugene Peterson’s The Message. In the counsel and encouragement provided by early these two paraphrases (as with J. B. Phillips’s version a Christian leaders to individuals and groups as the generation ago) the authors aim at linguistic equiva­ movement grows. lents designed to convey the thrust of an idea in mod­ ern English rather than focusing on the narrow ren­ The Apocalypse of John (Revelation) portrays derings of particular words. God’s sovereignty in human affairs and the eventual triumph of justice in the world.

How Do We Approach the Bibley / j Therefore, you might well ask questions like these: ...... V.-' • What sort of material is this? As you begin your approach to Scripture, remember • To whom was it first addressed and by whom? to consider the genre of a piece. There are poems, • What are the sorts of things going on in the situa­ parables, royal histories, laments, prophetic narratives, tion of the audience(s)? and psalms, to name a few. A poem will function dif­ ferently from a parable, and a royal history will betray • Are there particular literary features in this book? emphases different from a prophetic narrative. Some­ • Are there connections with other texts we know of? times you will also find different kinds of material • Are there any clues to the development of the within the same book, so take note as to when a Psalm material (and its pre-finalization functions) that moves into a lament, or whether you have poetic con­ would be helpful to know? In other words, structions within the context of a narrative. how did the form of the material affect its earlier It is also helpful to realize that there are many functions and meanings? smaller canons within the larger canon as well as par­ These sorts of explorations alert one to how the ticular ways in which the material is organized. text says what it says, therefore clarifying particular Consider these groupings: meanings along the way. The Hebrew Scriptures (39 books) To summarize: In interpreting any of these books,

158 understanding the context out of which they Approaches to reading the Bible emerged helps one appreciate their message and for spiritual formation: meaning. Likewise, the form of the writing relates to There are many good ways to approach reading the the function, and familiarity with how different forms Bible for spiritual formation, and if the endeavor is work also enhances one’s appreciation of the scriptur­ approached meaningfully, you cannot go wrong! al message. Then again, the best approach will always involve reading the text, thoughtfully and meaningful­ The most important thing is to get into the text ly. Getting immersed in the material - however you and wresde with it. Read it prayerfully, open to what choose to do it - is the most effective way forward. the Spirit who inspired the writing of the Scriptures might have to say to one now reading them. You might use a journal to record your thoughts and musings.

It might also be helpful to identify a particular What is spiritual formation and how does place and time to do your study. The familiarity of a reading the Bible further it? devotional pattern creates a sacred space within the home or elsewhere. Spiritual formation involves the process of growing spiritually, wherein one grows deeper in relationship Spend time in prayerful reflection - or silent with God and broader in spiritual knowledge and wis­ worship - before and after your reading. dom, and whereby one becomes a source of inspira­ You might also wish to organize a Bible-reading tion and encouragement to others. We become deep­ discussion group and either read and discuss a passage ened through the lifelong sojourn of faith, and yet, together, or read independently and come together to that fabric is woven one strand at a time, and this is share your explorations. where the regular reading of the Bible comes in. Building a completion date into the plan makes There are lots of ways of weaving this fabric, but the it a more do-able matter. This way a plan becomes best thing to do is to choose a plan by which to engage more manageable and less of a long-term obligation. the text experimentally and to find a way to involve meaningful discussion with others as you learn. Again, you cannot go wrong with any earnest Exploring a biblical text in community can be one of approach, and you should feel free to consider and the most rewarding spiritual experiences one can have. experiment with a variety of approaches. The most Here is what happens to us, as we read the Bible important thing, however, is to choose a plan and stick meaningfully: to it. Designing your own is a good way to go, but here are some possibilities for you to consider - both • We realize we are not alone. group studies and individual ones. • We find ourselves addressed existentially as we read how God worked in times past, and this leads to the Group studies: formation of wisdom. 1. John 15. Read this chapter together in your • We grow in spiritual knowledge and develop a discussion group. You might even pick up a Bible now keener sense of the origin of most of Quaker faith and and read this chapter and then read it again with your practice. study group. John 15 is the passage containing the “You shall be my friends theme.” Try reading this • We become challenged personally - convicted and chapter and asking what is meant to “abide” in Christ, comforted by the Truth (see John 16). and what it means to be a “friend” of Jesus. N ot bad • We develop a resource which continues to speak to questions for members of the Religious Society of the needs of the world in ongoing ways. Friends to consider, by the way, and you might

159 encourage people to go ahead and read for themselves becoming a follower of Jesus? Perhaps the followers of the rest of the Gospel of John on their own. Paul and the followers ofJames experienced some ten­ sion with each other, and this may be reflected in the 2. The callings of the Prophets . . . and ourselves. letters of James and Galatians. Notice how James also What are your callings in life, and are they informed picks up on the Abraham and justification motifs used at all by the callings of the biblical Prophets? Read in by Paul. Then again, they may have been saying simi­ a discussion group these passages: Exodus 3:1-12, lar things, while using different language. Consider Isaiah 6:1-13, Jeremiah 1:4-19, Ezekiel 1:1-2:10, Acts this question: does James mean the same thing by the 9:1-18, and Revelation 1:9-20. After reading these word “religion” that Paul does by the word “faith”? passages, discuss whether there is a common pattern in what happens to these people. It seems to me that For your third session, consider similarities and a five-fold sequence emerges with amazing common­ differences between the two letters and discuss appli­ ality: a spiritual encounter with God or Christ, a sense cations for modern settings. of awe and unworthiness (true “quaking” as with 4. Christ hymns (worship material) of the early Friends of old), God redeems people and gives them a church. What did the first Christians believe about sense of wholeness, people receive a message to pro­ Christ? Were they of a singular, narrow perspective, or claim, and they are sent on a mission. did they hold a multiplicity of views? What sorts of Discussion: what have been your “Aha!” experi­ things are represented in the views they did hold - ences or turning points in life? Any experience, no especially in their worship material? Read these four matter how small, bears within itself the seeds of voca­ passages, which are dense with christological content tion. How have earlier spiritual encounters been and probably represent early Christian “hymns”: John formative in later callings and vocations in your hfe? 1:1-18, Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians 1:15-21, and What are your present callings, and what message do Hebrews 1:1-4. Then discuss what these descriptions you have to bring to the world? of Christ and his work would have meant for early Christians and what they imply for later generations. 3. Works and faith - a dialogue between Galatians and James. This exercise will require at least Individual studies: three or four sessions. It is best conducted on a Bible- 1. A single book of the Bible in one sitting. While it study weekend retreat, although gathering on a regu­ is good to break daily reading into units short enough lar basis can also work well, especially if attendance to allow focus and meditation, another helpful shows continuity. approach is to choose a particular book of the Bible In the first session, begin by reading Galatians. and to read it in one sitting or two. Sometimes there is Ask who was the party of James in chapter 2 and ask great value in taking a book in all at once. You get the why Paul confronted Peter to his face. Consider also feel for main themes and the structure of the material the issues related to Paul’s emphasis on grace received that way. You also see the ways different parts of the through faith - not works - and consider what was at material relate to each other. You might start with one stake with the “works” alluded to here. of the gospels, or an epistle, or one of the minor In the second session, read the book of James and prophets (from Hosea forward). Take notes, if you care notice the places where James emphasizes that faith to, on major themes or literary traits that come to your without works is dead. Was James an “anti-Pauline” attention, and consider prayerfully what the message of circular? The question raised here by Martin Hengel this book might be saying to you spiritually just now. and other scholars is to what degree might there have 2. A month with Proverbs. Proverbs has 31 chap­ been disputes within the early church regarding what ters, and a fun way to approach it is to read a chapter it means to be a Christian. Does one need to become a day over a month. Try journaling, especially attuned a Jew first, and to be circumcised (see Acts 15) before to the aspects of wisdom and guidance you need for

160 your life. The material reflects perspectives from To summarize: ancient Israel, but it becomes remarkably contempo­ These are examples of engaging ways to read rary as we let it speak to our lives. the Bible as a means of deepening one’s spiritual life. 3. A fortnight with Ephesians - an experiment in If any of these seem intriguing, try it out. You have community. The book of Ephesians is one that is nothing to lose. Jump into it “experimentally” (to use designed to encourage one of the missionary earlier a good word from the Journal of George Fox) and see churches. This means the main interest of the writer what you learn from the experience. Also, engage the is to build up the readers in their faith, adding to their Bible with others if you can. That will be a great spiritual formation. Try getting a group who will meet source of encouragement, and it will likely be an two or three times over two weeks (with an introduc­ excellent catalyst for developing community and a tory meeting at the beginning) and agree to journal network of spiritual support within the meeting. daily about how they find themselves addressed, chal­ Despite the fact that the Bible may seem like a lenged, and edified by the reading. Ephesians divides daunting book to engage, again the best approach is itself nicely up into 14 daily-reading passages: 1:1-10, simply to mind the same leading as Augustine was led 11-23; 2:1-10, 11-22; 3:1-13, 14-21; 4:1-10, 11-24, to do: “Take up and read.” When we read the Bible 25-32; 5:1-10, 11-20, 21-33; 6:1-9, 10-24. prayerfully, openly, we find that the same Spirit who 4. A year with the Torah, Psalms, and/or New inspired the writing of the Scriptures also speaks to us as we Testament. A good thing to do now and then is to read them. When that happens, we not only become commit an entire year to sustained Bible study. If you better informed, we become spiritually reformed in proceed roughly at a chapter a day you can read the the process. entire New Testament in less than a year at that rate, and likewise the Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy) and the Psalms. Another suitable way to strike a balance is to read a chapter from the New Testament in the The Bible, various versions. morning and a chapter from the Old Testament in the Paul Anderson, The Christology of the Fourth Gospel: Its evening (or vice versa). Some groups encourage mak­ Unity and Disunity in the Light ofJohn 6. ing such commitments around the turn of the New Heinz W. Cassirer, trans., God's New Covenant: A New Year, for instance; committing to follow a plan along Testament Translation. with several others in the meeting can strengthen one’s efforts. I like to mark my Bible and to jot notes George Fox, The Journal of George Fox, ed. John L. in the margin that I may wish to come back to later. Nickalls. Make the text your own; you’ll be reminded of high­ Eugene H. Peterson, trans., The Message: The New lights later when you read that passage again. Testament in Contemporary Language.

161 Friendly Bible Study Joanne and Larry Spears

Larry, Joanne, and the Bismarck Friends Meeting developed this method of Bible study. It encourages significant discussion and community building on subjects that are important to all people. They welcome questions, comments, and reports about the use of this method.

Joanne and Larry Spears founded Bismarck Monthly Meeting when they moved there from the Raleigh, NC Meeting in 1976. They have participated in Northern Yearly Meeting, Friends General Conference, Friends Committee for National Legislation, Friends Journal Board, and Friends World Committee in a wide variety of ways. Currendy they have two Friendly Bible Study groups that meet in their home. For twenty years Joanne has been par­ ticipating in one composed of local clergy. Bismarck Meeting also has a weekly Faith and Practice study using the com­ panion study guide. Larry and Joanne Spears can be contacted at 15160 Sundown Dr., Bismarck, N D 58501-9206, 701-258-1899, and [email protected].

facilitator. Each person needs a Bible, pen or pencil, notebook or paper, and a copy of the questions.

This method of Bible study is designed to apply Before beginning, the group, or someone in the Quaker insights and beliefs to Bible study in the group, needs to select a short passage from the Bible, following four ways: usually only one paragraph or stanza. If the group is going to continue for a series of meetings (which is 1. By recognizing personal experience as a central part strongly recommended), then it should begin with of our spiritual lives. chapter one, verse one, and study a short passage each 2. By recognizing the equality of all believers in the meeting to consecutively study a whole book, such as study process and removing the centrality of an Mark, or the Psalms. This way it is possible to see the authority figure as leader, thus affirming that the Spirit context and thus the purpose of each passage. can work through each of us. Step 1. Have someone read the passage aloud. When 3. By recognizing the availability of the continuing translations differ, variations should also be read. revelation of God. Move into group silence. Take about 15 to 20 4. By affirming the connection of the Biblical witness minutes in silence for each participant to write out to our lives. answers to the questions printed below. This time includes the opportunity to center, study the passage, and quietly develop answers to each question. Correct grammar and full sentences are not necessary!

In part, this method is similar to worship sharing. It is Step 2. Next, participants, in turn around the circle, structured, and it is important that members of the read aloud their response to one question at a time. group adhere to the structure so that each person has After each person’s response to the first question has an opportunity to participate fully. Each group needs a been shared, pause for a moment of silence. Then

162 move around the circle again sharing the responses to Q uestions the second question, and so forth until everyone has responded to each question. It is okay to pass if you do not want to share on a particular question, remember­ 1. What is the author’s main point in this passage? ing, however, that an insight that may seem trivial or 2. What new light do I find in this particular reading of obvious to you may be significant to somebody else. this passage of this text? Your statement of an idea may prompt insights that 3. How is this passage true or not true to my experience? another’s way of stating it may not. 4. What are the implications of this passage for my hfe? As with worship sharing, this is not a time to 5. What problems do I have with this passage? criticize or rebut what someone else has said, although it sometimes may be useful to ask a question for clari­ fication. If there is time left when the group has gotten Resourc through all five questions, feel free to have a more free- flowing discussion. It is the role of the facilitator to For a more detailed explanation of the Friendly Bible keep the sharing of responses moving along, so that all Study method, see Joanne and Larry Spears, Friendly the questions are considered and everyone is able to Bible Study. participate fully.

163 Telling Bible Stories: A pproach Renee-Noelle Felice

Bible study is important for Friends because it is difficult to truly understand Quakerism without an appreciation of its biblical roots. Renee-Noelle Felice's selection addresses the difficulty of teaching Bible to those Friends for whom Bible study lacks interest or seems dry, outdated, and spiritually irrelevant. Teaching the Bible through storytelling gives Friends the opportunity to experience and relate to our spiritual ancestors personally.

Renee-Noelle Felice, a member of Staten Island Monthly Meeting and clerk of the Religious Education Committee of New York Yearly Meeting, describes herself as “a channel for the stories I tell and the songs I sing.” She says, “The message is what is important, and my message is always the same, though it takes myriad forms: every being on Earth has a valuable contribution to make, and deserves respect for being a co-weaver of the web of our lives.” Her ministry, Stories of the Spirit, includes “living history” performances and stories from a variety of religious and spiri­ tual traditions as well as workshops on storytelling. Renee-Noelle Felice can be contacted at 67 Harrison Street, Staten Island, NY 10304; 718-273-7022; and [email protected].

Please contact Renee-Noelle Felice for permission to reprint this material.

The following is a precis of a storytelling workshop I Seating everyone in a circle on the floor (for infor­ conducted for Friends at New York Yearly Meeting in mality, and also as an echo of the earliest storytelling the summer of 1998. The object of the workshop was times, when people sat in circles around fires), I had peo­ to help religious educators and others to feel more ple say their names and their meetings. I also provided comfortable in telling, rather than reading, Bible sto­ chairs for those who did not wish to sit on the floor. ries. I do this because, as the director of a Unitarian I then passed the basket and asked each person to Universalist Sunday school, I have learned that both take something from it, hold it, and begin to tell a story children and adults respond much more positively and inspired by the object he or she chose; the connection emotionally to telling than they do to reading. to the object or element need only be in the teller’s mind. The story could be a memory, a story someone Preparation and Procedur, else had told (true or fictional), or one made up on the spot. Each person got one minute to speak. Since there were only ten people in the group, this took about ten In preparing for workshops, I try to take into account minutes. With a much larger group and the same how many participants there will be, how long the amount of time, I might ask for some volunteers to do workshop will last, the age range of the group, and this rather than go around the circle and have every­ what I know (or think I know) about the attenders’ body participate. At the end of the exercise, I made the religious orientation. point that everyone has a story to tell; everyone has a For this particular session, a 75-minute “interest unique style of telling. group” for adult Universalist and Christocentric Friends, I prepared a basket of stones, shells, feathers, I then told three different stories: and candles (objects that represent the four elements • The Martha and Mary story (Luke 10:38-42), a telling earth, water, air, and fire). I use these particular items with “elaboration” (I make up details about the setting, to help us remember our connection to the natural what it was like to be in the same house with Jesus, etc.) world. but no interpretation.

164 • “Moshe Remembers” (an adaptation of Marc Gell- 3. Whether you’re standing at the “head” of a circle or man’s “Moses” from Does God Have a Big Toe?), a in front of people sitting in rows, always “plant” your­ telling that explains how or why a biblical event (in this self firmly on both feet, and move from that center. case, the Exodus) happened. Don’t wiggle, wobble, or shift your weight. Only move when you have somewhere to go. • “Miriam’s Opportunity,” inspired by a midrash (inter­ pretation of a biblical passage or story; i.e., stories about 4. As the storyteller, don’t be afraid of making eye con­ biblical stories) in Norma Rosen’s Biblical Women Un­ tact with your audience. But when you’re “in charac­ bound. It tells what happened between two events des­ ter,” focus on what’s going on in the story so that you cribed in Numbers, chapter 12. The story is given below. don’t break the illusion. 5. Make your gestures count. Use your hands only to After the telling of each story, I asked what people illustrate a point, not because you don’t know what to had noticed - what stood out, what worked, what, if do with them. anything, didn’t. 6. When there are two people in your story talking to I then passed the basket again and had each person each other, make sure you know where each of them is, select another object. This time, in three minutes, the and keep your focus, so that the audience will also participants were to tell a story based on an event in Genesis. The objects seem to help people get started. know where they are. The results were wonderful. One woman had us on the 7. Let the characters in your story use their own edge of our seats with her version of Sarah’s reaction to voices, but don’t force them into caricaturist squeaks Abraham’s taking Isaac up to be sacrificed; a man cap­ or booms. tivated us with his “factual” account of natural life in 8. NEVER apologize for making a mistake. That breaks the Garden of Eden. Each person brought something the continuity of the story by putting the focus on fresh to stories we all thought we knew. you. If you forget something, just simply say, “I forgot In the time remaining, I talked briefly about my to tell you that...” or “By the way, you need to know “rules” for storytelling (below). If we had run longer, I that...” or whatever feels comfortable. would have just put the hand-outs on my rules on a 9. Forget Rules One through Eight and HAVE FUN! table, and encouraged people to take them as they left. In closing, let me emphasize that every workshop I do is different, tailored to the needs and expressed Jackie Torrence’s Rules for “Translating” desire of the group. The above is not given as a “blue­ a Written Story into a Spoken One print,” but as a suggestion of one way to approach the (adapted from an interview on task of inspiring and encouraging people to do what National Public Radio, 1998) really comes naturally - telling stories! 1. Read through the story to discover how mmsammmammmmi. you feel about it. Rules for Telling Stories ;Iv I *; M l 2. Read through it again for the pictures (may be mental images). A Few Rules for Telling Stories 3. Read it again to find out its message. to Children and Adults 4. Read it for the words. What do they 1. Only tell stories that love you. (Yes, this means “love mean? (Be specific. If it says in the story, you,” not “you love.”) “Martha was always busy,” find out what 2. Get out of the way and let God tell the story. (In she was busy doing.) other words, pray, meditate, or at least take several very deep breaths before you begin.)

165 MIRIAM'S OPPORTUNITY Renee-Noelle Felice

While they were still at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married. . . . And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed. When the cloud went away from over the tent, Miriam had become leprous, as white as snow ---- And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her.” But the Lord said to Moses, “... Let her be shut out of the camp for seven days and after that she may be brought in again.” So Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days and the people did not set out on the march until Miriam had been brought in again. (Numbers 12:1a, 9-10a, 13-15, NRSV)

On the first day of her exile, Miriam wept. Face down on the reed mat inside her tent, she wept without any sense of time or place or even sense of self. She began a river of tears. Only after several hours did she come to herself enough to cry out, “God, forgive me. I never meant to offend you.” Almost immediately, a soft, infinitely loving voice said, “I know.” Still lying on the mat, Miriam turned her head to one side and opened her eyes. But she could hard­ ly see. Eyes puffy, tears running down her cheeks, she hauled herself into a sitting position. Everywhere she looked, there was cloud. It filled the tent. “What are you doing here?” she asked in amazement. “I am where I am,” said God. “But...but...I thought you hated me,” she stammered. “Parents become angry with children, but they never stop loving them.” “But...you punished me.” “Think of it as an opportunity, not a punishment,” said God. “N ot punishment!” Miriam almost shrieked. “You don’t call leprosy punishment?” “It’s not leprosy.” “Then what?” “Sunburn.” “Sunburn?” Tentatively, Miriam peeled a small white flake from her arm. Sure enough, there, exposed to her view, was a tiny patch of reddened but perfecdy healthy skin. Almost in spite of herself, Miriam began to laugh. The cloud laughed too. And then it was gone. Finding herself alone, Miriam curled up in a ball and went to sleep. Back in the encampment, nobody slept. At least, not very well. As the mothers readied the children for bed, the little ones began to beg for Miriam. They were accustomed to hearing her songs soar over their tents, sending them off to the sweetest of dreams. But now Miriam was not there. And though the mothers tried to sing the same lullabies she sang, they sounded like crows trying to imitate a nightingale. One child began to sob. Another broke into tears. Soon loud wails filled the entire camp. Even when the exhausted children finally fell asleep, they dozed fitfully, sniffling and whimpering all through the night. And to make matters worse, when the weary, grumpy mothers went to the well to fetch water to wash tear-swollen faces and soothe raw throats...the well was gone! Tempers began to rise. In fact, the well was now in Miriam’s tent - where it hadn’t been the night before. When she awoke,

166 refreshed and relieved after a peaceful night’s rest, there it was! Miriam washed her face, drank her fill, and began to pray. She prayed first with gratitude for God’s visit to her, and for bringing the well to her. Then she prayed for her beloved brother Moshe and for Aaron. She prayed for her entire family and for each of the Israelites in the encampment. Then she prayed for the souls of her ancestors. She prayed until the sun had dropped below the horizon. But in the camp the women couldn’t pray. That is, the women who were weaving hangings for the tabernacle couldn’t say the prayer to bless the work because the only woman who knew it was Miriam. And without the prayer the work could not begin. It took three hours before a priest could be found to recite the blessing. Tempers continued to rise. On the third day, Miriam began to meditate. She sat cross-legged on her mat, with her eyes closed and her palms facing upward, resting on her knees. She began to breathe slowly and deeply, and soon her spirit left her body, arriving in the camp just in time to see the weaving begin for the day. The priest arrived prompdy. The blessing had been said and for a few minutes everything was peaceful. Miriam was pleased. Then one of the weavers said to another, “Why are you using blue there? It should be red.” “Purple,” said Miriam. “Blue,” said the weaver. “Red,” said the first woman. “Purple,” said Miriam, raising her voice. “Blue.” “Red.” “Purple,” shouted Miriam, becoming a little purple herself. But of course the women couldn’t hear her. So Miriam closed her eyes, then took some deep breaths and returned to the peaceful solitude of her tent. On the fourth day, Miriam told herself stories. She started with the stories of her own life. She told the story of how she, when just a child herself, had taken the baby Moshe, in a reed basket, down to the river and hidden him in the bulrushes, so that Pharaoh’s soldiers wouldn’t come and kill him. She told the story of how she had danced with ecstasy and relief and gratitude when the Israelites had safely crossed the Red Sea. She told the story of how her nephew Gershon had almost been bitten by a rattlesnake, but when she started to sing the rattler calmed down and slithered away. Then she began to tell the stories of the ancestors: of Sarah and Rachel, Leah and Rivke, and of Abraham, too, and Isaac, and Jacob. Her stories went on and on. But in the camp there were no stories. The children, increasingly grouchy and out of sorts, begged for stories. And the mothers tried. But they couldn’t tell them the way Miriam did, and the boys soon started giggling and punching one another. The older girls tried to hush them, but soon all the children were running around, chasing one another, completely out of control. Tempers were higher than ever. On the fifth day, Miriam began to sing. She sang songs she hadn’t sung since she was in Goshen. She sang psalms and hymns. She sang niguns, wordless melodies. She even made up songs. The silvery notes rose above the tent and filled the desert air. Soon the roof of her tent was covered with birds. Lizards peeped in through the tent flap. And Miriam sang on. Night fell and she crooned lullabies. The birds fell asleep. In the camp the children slept too, having worn themselves out fighting and running amok. But they slept poorly. Many had nightmares. And all woke in the morning more irritable than ever.

167 On the sixth day, Miriam fasted, abstaining even from drinking the cool clear water from her well. Nobody in the camp drank either, of course, but not by choice. Tempers were at an all-time high. On the seventh day, the bleary-eyed children stumbled out of their tents, grumbling at one another and pushing one another out of the way. “You rolled over on me,” one youngster complained to her sister. “You know that I need at least half a cubit of space to sleep in.” “Well, you....” the other girl started to respond. But then, for a second, they all froze in amazement. For there, in the very center of the camp, was the well. And kneeling next to it, washing her face, was Miriam. “Miriam!” the children shouted, descending on her like a hoard of long-legged locusts. And Miriam opened her arms wide and gathered as many of them to her as she could. The others clustered around, and they all laughed and cried and hugged as hard as they could. Thus it was that the parents found them as they emerged into the sunlight of the seventh day. They, too, began to surge toward her, but suddenly, as one body, they stopped. For she had risen to face them, and they could see that her face, though a little raw, was clear and unblemished, and as radiant as her brother Moshe’s always was when he had been talking with God.

WBm Resources for Storytellers

Biblical Sources Storytelling from Religious Traditions

Thomas E. Boomershine, Story Journey: An Invitation William R. White, Stories for the Journey: A Sourcebook to the Gospel as Storytelling. for Christian Storytellers. Ellen Frankel, The Five Books of Miriam: A Woman’s William R. White, Stories for Telling: A Treasury for Commentary on the Torah. Christian Storytellers.

Marc Gellman, Does God Have a Big Toe? Stories About Story Telling for Children Stories in the Bible. Jack Maguire, Creative Storytelling: Choosing, Inventing, Janet Litherland, Storytelling from the Bible: Make Sharing Tales for Children. Scripture Live for A ll Ages Through the A rt of Storytelling. Bridget Mary Meehan and Regina Madonna Oliver, Heart Talks with Mother God. W. J. A. Power, Once Upon a Time: Discovering Your Story in the Bible (cassette). Anne Pellowski, The Story Vine: A Source Book of Unusual and Easy-to-Tell Stories from Around the World. Norma Rosen, Biblical Women Unbound: Countertales. Anne Pellowski, A World of Children's Stories. Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land. Virginia Coffin Thomas and Betty Davis Miller, Children's Literature for A ll God's Children. Elizabeth G. Watson, Daughters of Zion: Stories of Old Testament Women. A Historical Perspective on Storytelling

Elizabeth G. Watson, Wisdom's Daughters: Stories of John Harrell, Origins and Early Traditions of Storytelling. Women Around Jesus.

168 f c r - W o rk s h i l l L 'il

A Final Piece for Reflection Learning as a Way of Being W f / The School of the Spirit Ministry Kathryn Damiano This is a think piece to help adult religious educators better understand the state of the Religious Society of Friends and how adult religious education can address it. On a monthly meeting level, the Adult Religious Education Committee and interested members of Overseers and Worship and Ministry might want to meet jointly to consider the implications of this piece for their meeting.

Kathryn Damiano, a member of Middletown Meeting (Concord Quarter), Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, is called to a life of solitude and prayer. She is a teacher, retreat leader, and spiritual nurturer, and a founding mem­ ber of A Ministry of Prayer and Learning Devoted to the School of the Spirit. In September 1999 Kathryn moved to Wichita, Kansas to be part of the “Friends of Jesus” community. Friends of Jesus live in a low-income area of the city and hope to be a presence of interracial reconciliation. Kathryn Damiano can be contacted at 1124 N . Hydraulic, #304, Wichita, KS 67214 and 316-263-1908.

Overview of the Contents There has been a breakdown of community. This was our primary source of learning about our­ 1. Introducing Ourselves. selves as a religious people, our faith and our prac­ 2. A Context for Understanding the Importance of tices. In our community we used to catch Quakerism Adult Religious Education. by osmosis. It was not consciously taught. There was 3. How Are We Formed by God as Friends? no First Day School. We learned by absorption, by imi­ Followed by queries. tating the examples of others in our community. This 4. Spiritual Formation for Friends Today. is still true among conservative Friends such as Mid­ Followed by queries. dleton Meeting in Ohio Yearly Meeting, Conservative. 5. The Care and Feeding of Quaker Adult Religious We have become suspicious of external authority Educators. Followed by queries. and hesitant to have adult forums. Therefore, we have 6. Developing a Theology of Adult Religious Educa­ cut ourselves off from a second source - acknowledged tion for Friends. elders and teachers and their accumulated wisdom. Bibliography. We need to be experiential in our faith, to doing theology (reflection on faith). We need to move 1. Introducing Ourselves beyond head knowledge and intellectualism to learn how to access and trust our Inner Teacher. Famil­ iarizing ourselves with plain people and nonverbal As Friends introduce themselves and respond to this cultures will give us models for how to do this. Early query, they are reminded that adult religious educa­ and Quietist Friends provide us with many examples, tion is holy work. especially through their journals. Query: How have I been called/ how am I being called We have convinced Friends who need to be to adult religious education? provided with a framework of their new religion.

2. A C ontext fo r U nderstand We have Friends who have come into the the Importance of Society as refugees rather than immigrants - they are Adult Religious Education still carrying their pasts on their backs. Religious edu­ cation, in acknowledging this, can develop programs An adult religious education program is a fairly recent which will be faithful to the integrity of Friends while development in the Society of Friends. Why is it needed now? also providing healing.

171 How can adult religious education speak to these concerns? alienation from God, one’s self, others, and the world. The third is being converted, a lifelong process. Theology can become task oriented by moving toward creating a personal/corporate theology of Quaker Theology - Reflection on Our Faith adult religious education, a theology that would evolve Theology is our attempt to understand how God from all of us - collegial revelation. It would be spirit forms us. There is a need for modern Friends to do storming - called out of us - possibly through respon­ theology. Earlier Friends considered theology notion­ ding to queries. We would teach how to fish rather al - theoretical, speculative, fanciful. This was because than give students a fish. The role of the teacher Quakerism was passed down over the generations by would be to facilitate the drawing out of our per­ osmosis: Friends lived in close community and their sonal/corporate theology. ways were absorbed verbally and by example. Today, The teacher becomes one who is called primari­ however, because few such Quaker communities exist ly to embody the faith - a shift from doing to being. and the majority of Friends are convinced we have to She becomes a model of the body of Christ by wit­ be more intentional about conveying our ways. One nessing to her own call to ministry as a teacher. She venue of doing this is through adult religious education. brings her life of faithfulness and prayer. Her most Spiritual authority is an issue that theology important ability is to be able to reflect on her own addresses and it is a basic one for Friends, because we inner life so that she can help another. need to recognize from where we get our guidance. Traditionally Friends have relied on four sources of 3. How Are We Formed spiritual authority: scripture, reason, tradition, and by God as Friends? experience. Of the four, Friends have emphasized (Spiritual Formation for Friends) experience, an inward event grounded in the real work of God within the person and community of faith. Defining Spiritual Formation There are basic questions of spiritual authority. Spiritual formation is God’s transforming guiding, What is religious Truth? What is the will of God? healing work in all our lives. Friends believe that How do we know the Truth and how does God reveal George Fox’s experience of spiritual formation can be it to us? universalized. Fox was in Holy despair; he was The Importance of Tradition for Spiritual Formation brought low and pondered in hollowed out trees after inquiring of supposedly learned people as to how he Tradition is important because there are insights that might know God. It was then, when his human effort are best carried not by theological doctrines or by was exhausted, that he heard the revelation that “there sacred scriptures, but by customs: ways of being and is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condi­ doing within the community of faith. tion.” This is the basis of Quaker spirituality - that as we But these customs need to have life and rele­ listen, the guidance of Christ is accessible to all people in all vance or the insights they carry will be lost. This is aspects of life. exactly what is happening today in religions that focus However, the experience of spiritual formation on the conventional, numbing, imprisoning aspects of is not one of subjective feelings or faith sharing but an tradition such as certain liturgies. This concern is not inward event grounded in the real work of God with­ only a contemporary one. Early Friends were also con­ in the person and the community of faith (e.g., spiri­ cerned about dead form: George Fox said, “They do tual baptism, communion). There are three phases. not possess what they profess. The form remains but The first is being convinced, a deeper turning and the Life is gone.” He was referring in part to ministers yielding to God. The second is being convicted, a preaching on passages from the Bible, but not under­ legal connotation of being tried and convicted of one’s standing the spirit in which they were given.

172 We need to go deeply into one tradition. People 2. Listening is an essential component in a community are looking for source or resource, and tradition pro­ offaith. vides the horizon in which our ordinary experiences For members to become co-creators with God and can be opened to its depths. It provides a language, a Christ, there needs to be cooperation based on the series of images, a framework in which our ordinary knowledge and experience of “that of God in every­ experience can be an experience of the transcendent. one” - meaning that everyone has the capacity to listen If we are primed to notice this, we look for the oppor­ to Christ’s guidance. This capacity is more than an tunity to share this with others, to substitute God-talk essential aspect of the human unconsciousness. It for psychological or secular language. transcends humanity and must be nurtured. Friends today are at risk of becoming tradition- Community is a consequence of faith. It is more less. We are becoming a “do it yourself’ religion, a than an external support of faith, more than an enclave collection of eclectic traditions. If we are a collection of like-minded people. Community was formed as of eclectic traditions, how can we possibly “wait upon Friends were faithful in their listening. The Quaker the Lord” in discerning God’s intent in our meetings definition of church is a gathering of those listening to and as individuals? When any group of people share the guidance of Christ: the Presence in the Midst the intent of listening for the guidance of Christ, the (Matt. 18: 20 - “for wherever two or three are gath­ Power of God increases among them. While chanting ered in my name, I am there among them”). When mantras and contemplating Jungian archetypes are this listening is no longer happening, there is no ways to the Divine, they are not Quakerism. We can church, though there may still be the external struc­ borrow or be informed by other traditions and still ture of the meeting community. remain firmly rooted in our own if we do so within the The process/phases of convincement, convic­ integrity and coherence of the faith tradition we pro­ tion, and conversion happen on the meeting level as fess. An example is to reflect on the radical monothe­ well as on the individual level (see above on defining ism of Islam where God is ONE versus a form of spiritual formation). Reflect on the formation of your Christianity where we get very friendly with God - meeting. walking and talking with God and getting out of touch with the “beyondness” of God. 3. The Quaker culture of listening.

Listening as the Basis of All Quaker Spiritual The Quaker culture of listening included maintaining Formation some separation from the world. It meant being a “city Since the universalizing experience of George Fox is on the hill,” a beacon for others in the witness of their listening to the guidance of Christ, we have to predis­ fives. This separation prevented being coopted by the pose ourselves to a culture of listening as individuals world’s values. It was a prophetic stance which might and as a faith community. bring suffering, harassment, imprisonment and even death. The Kingdom of God is within you and among 1. What is it that listens? The Seed. you. The Seed is that potential in each human being that It included a guarded education: the oversight when nurtured can hear more fully Christ’s guidance. of subjects taught and the manner of teaching them. Robert Barclay in his Apology explains that there is the This reinforced the values of the home and the meet­ “Kingdom of God . . . in every man’s and woman’s heart ing and was a support for formation of a community if it is cherished and received in love. The work of the of listening. It valued childhood spirituality and birth­ Seed is one of passiveness and grace, although as it right origins (e.g., John Woolman’s story). continues to work, it arouses the desire to become co­ It included not marrying out of the Religious worker with it.” One becomes co-creator with God Society of Friends. If both members of a couple were and Christ. united in their religious beliefs, they would more like­

173 ly be harmonious in being models for their offspring. lighted candle and recounting the day’s events, asking Parents were to create an environment that would how they were faithful and how they have strayed from nurture the inner seed, though ultimately the child the truth. made his or her own decision to respond to Christ’s It included plain code. When the dress of the guidance. The parents were to “take the child to time for the wider society included wigs for men, full, Christ and leave him or her there.” A person raised in padded skirts and low-cut bodices for women, plain the conservative tradition of Friends recounts this dress was a counter-cultural statement. It communi­ story which I see as an example of encouraging the cated that the focus was on one’s inner identity rather development of Inner Authority at a very young age. than on outward forms like fashion. It also was an As a child, she received a piece of candy from a friend. equalizer in a society that used dress to distinguish She inquired of her mother if she could eat it. Her class and wealth (use of a uniform). Plain dress was a mother said, “What does thee think, Fran?” Instead of reminder of Friends commitment to listen and their admonishing her that it would spoil her appetite, she separateness from those who had not made this com­ allowed Fran to practice going inward for guidance in mitment. By practicing this plain code, one might be this seemingly mundane situation. subject to ridicule. Like an angelus bell, it brought the The Quaker culture of listening became part of listener’s attention back to God. the daily rhythms of life through the use of silences, When one’s dress is identifiable, the reputation Bible reading, silent grace, Sabbath, and times of of the whole community is at stake when there is devi­ retirement. Appreciation of nature (e.g., arboretums, ation from the standards and custom of the group. Bartram’s Garden, Friends Hospital, Tukes retreat, This makes it possible for “the world acting as over­ horticulture therapy) became one of the acceptable seer.” The Amish “pink sink” story shows this. An pastimes for Friends who did not indulge in theater, Amish couple were in a plumbing supply store looking hunting for sport, reading novels, or other worldly at a pink sink. The non-Amish proprietor observing amusement, all of which were considered to be untrue. this came over to them and redirected them to the It included visitation. It was customary to bring white porcelain section. This is a modern-day example someone home for fellowship and dinner after meet­ of the world acting as our overseers. When “the ing for worship on First Day. Instead of discussing world’s people” see someone with an identifiable reli­ business, this was an opportunity to find out about the gious commitment step over the boundaries of their ordinary things of life, and to acknowledge God’s understanding of the tradition, they will “elder” the work in each other’s lives. member. It included watchfulness. “Observing the day of It included the right ordering of one’s occupa­ small things” - no deed or behavior was too small to tion. A person should make a living in a way that does be subject to listening for God’s guidance in it. Thee not distract from God (e.g., John Woolman). Hannah, the children’s book, gives examples of Meeting for worship for business became an Hannah’s formation by her grandmother. Her grand­ opportunity to practice right relationship with each mother asks her to recognize if she experiences a other. God worked upon Friends as a meeting with “stop” about making the decision to wear ribbons on this intent, and therefore it was a means of grace, a her hat. Again, this is teaching the child to trust Inner “school of the Spirit” as early Friends called it. Authority. “Old Spotty” was a personification of the Queries force that can lure us away from God’s guidance. One’s watchfulness also extended to the company one kept • What are the values and assumptions behind early and the conversation in which one engaged (concern for Quaker spiritual formation and how might they apply gossip). Watchfulness might include the examen, a to adult religious education today? review of one’s faithfulness in the day’s events. Bill and • How do you answer questions of spiritual authority? Fran Taber end the day by sitting down together with a • What is religious Truth? What is the will of God?

174 • How do we know this Truth and how does God the past. They believe that humankind is being drawn reveal it to us? to a more universalistic position where all religious • How can educators encourage reliance on Inner ideas are interchangeable and equivalent, that we are Authority? all seekers, and this is what binds us as Friends. It is assumed that anyone who claims to have found some • How do we nurture the Seed, that capacity to listen in ultimate truth about God is not being open minded. ourselves and others? • How do we as teachers provide an environment Evolution of Human Thought that helps others move through the inward process of Three phases: premodemity, modernity, and the post­ being convinced, convicted and converted? modern era • What is the place of community in adult religious 1. Prem odem ity education? • How do we prepare and nurture others in corporate Premodemity is characterized by the centrality of listening? spirituality to all of life. In premodemity, relationships exist to ensure the survival of the species. Such units as • How might a spiritual rhythm be created in the clans and tribes feel that - for their own protection - learning process that promotes listening to God, they need to be suspicious of those who are different. others and ourselves? This view can be so abused and idolatrized that • How does the practice of retirement become part of it leads to throwing people into active volcanoes to religious education? appease the gods or instituting an Inquisition to silence anyone who does not agree with the church. 4. Spiritual Form for Friends Toda 2. M odernity The onset of modernity functioned to destroy the structures and constructions that promoted the abuses Continuing Revelation of premodemity. This is the period of the Enlight­ The original understanding of continuing revelation enment of the eighteenth century when religion was by early Friends was that we continually receive the systematically dismissed as superstitious. People of the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Christ’s continuing time were urged to turn from the belief in miracles to Presence with us, as individuals and as a faith commu­ the way of reason. As this shift continued it brought nity. with it the scientific method, machines, industry, as The future of Quakerism relies on building on well as concepts of liberty and equality. the history of Christ’s revelation in our faith commu­ Many of these aspects of modernity we would nity and is cumulative: we do not have to reinvent the not want to part with. But we are now questioning the peace testimony. We are called today to live in bound­ value of what also came with the modernity package. aries and conditions that open us to hearing this guid­ Some of the other by-products of modernity are: ance and living out of it; otherwise we will lose our • Secularism, the lack of recognition that there is any power to be a moral leaven in the world. If Friends are thing transcendent. not faithful to this heritage, the revelation will be taken from us. Whereas in the past slavery was dis­ • Individualism, where the individual person is seen cerned in the light of continuing revelation and as more important than the common good. became a disownable offense among Friends, today • Domination of nature, which has produced the eco­ same gender union is being discerned in this same logical crisis. light. • Primacy of method, a way of knowing that excludes Recently, continuing revelation has been inter­ or downplays the intuitive or the mystical. preted by some as a system of belief that belongs to

175 In a nutshell, modernity conveys a belief in action, i.e., spiritual practice is merely a prelude to unlimited human possibilities. We no longer have to action. rely on anyone or anything beyond ourselves. Another consequence is the idolatry of plural­ ism. Pluralism is the understanding that there is more How has the Religious Society of Friends been influenced by than one ultimate reality. When taken to the extreme this shift from premodemity to modernity? it becomes an end in itself and there is a loss of a com­ First of all, Friends held the shift at bay longer than mon sense of purpose. We become a bunch of com­ many other groups due to the primacy of the Inner peting interest groups rather than a rehgious body try­ Authority as the way to discern God’s truth. ing to discern God’s truth. Friends who have absorbed In the twentieth century Rufus Jones offered a the liberal model suffer from what Mary Leddy, a crit­ new vision. He lived in the shadow of two world wars ic of hberalism among Catholic communities, calls and experienced the brokenness and death that come “terminal tolerance.” Pluralism taken to this extreme from war. Jones was also a visionary who had a sense allows for the acceptance of almost anything. of what humanity needed to heal and rebuild after Accountability and authority are lacking in our meet­ such an experience. He wanted to offer an optimistic ings and in the Rehgious Society of Friends as a view of human life and measured the worth of reh­ whole. Our meetings become a collection of people gious expression by its dynamic activity in the world. with diverse opinions with no common core. For Jones raised to prominence among Friends the idea of example, in writing a Faith and Practice today, the “that of God in everyone.” He described it as the Publishers of the Truth may become publishers who “beyond within us,” as the Spirit in humanity, “an will offend no one. While this is done from a sincere immanent ideal operating all our hfe aims and essen­ motive of caring, the product does little to further the tial to our nature as persons.” faith and practices of Quakerism. Instead, it seriously Out of a time of darkness in his own hfe and in weakens them. the world, Rufus Jones saw this world view as a cor­ 3. The Postmodern Era rective. From this impulse came such Quaker organi­ zations as the American Friends Service Committee The postmodern view does not consist of any doc­ that were characterized by activities to bring justice trine, but recognizes the limitations of the preceding and peace to this broken world. Interpreters of Rufus world views and offers to unite the best of both. We Jones took this world view even further to meld with move from self-realization to self-transcendence. A the evolving liberalism of the twentieth century, a major principle of the postmodern era is the primacy combination which has been formative for other of spirituality as the ground of our being. It is open to Quaker organizations and liberal Quakerism itself. the mystery and wonder of God and God’s creation. Liberahsm starts with the individual. There is This includes the affirmation of God’s creation in the the understanding that the common good will result body, in the hallowedness of the earth, and in the wis­ from the right development of each individual. There dom of rehgious traditions. is the illusion of unlimited possibilities, “If I just For modernity, the starting point was human work harder, take one more personal improvement experience, e.g., the poor, women, the earth, the peo­ class, become involved in one more worthy project to ple. We participated in the healing of the personality change the world. ...” This attitude reflects our so that it is defined and empowered. Postmodemity understanding of how social, economic, and political moves from the overemphasis on self-fulfillment in change come about - through human striving. We which emotional experience is sought as an end in define ourselves by our work, our achievements, how itself. We must beware of the limitations we place on busy and active we are, and what we have produced. prayer by judging how satisfying an experience it is. A One consequence of liberalism is the belief dependence on consoling experience, even mystical that the result of genuine spiritual experience is experience, inflates the independent ego-centered self.

176 How can we apply our understanding of modem and post­ spiritual discipline. They have often come up against modern thought to affect positively the Religious Society of the sacrament of failure, the limitations of human Friends today? relationships and human justice and are beyond psy­ chological answers. Friends are at the place of Many of us have companioned attenders and members who are refugees from other traditions, are un­ unknowing. churched or are birthright Friends who never heard This process is enabled through the use of the faith articulated. We have shepherded them by silence and less interactive modes: silent retreats and affirming them where they are and encouraging them contemplative teaching. The teacher creates an envi­ to enter into a deeper relationship with God. We have ronment for grace: after presentation one goes into invited these Friends to detoxify from negative or neb­ the silence, because the purpose of presentation is to ulous experiences with religion. Such Friends need to take one to the Inward Teacher. develop the practice of critical reflection, and to claim In time the immigrant can become a seasoned the internal authority of the Inner Teacher. Friend. Contained groups of seasoned Friends build As religious educators, it helps us to be aware of community. They are spiritually disciplined, they use blocks to adult religious education. To begin with, lectio divina and other forms of reading and study, and Friends are poorly religiously educated, as are most they are committed. They are connected with the com­ folks in other denominations. We think we can “do it munity (e.g., through oversight and Koinonia groups). ourselves” - that everyone has his/her own truth. We Queries may be against those in a teaching role (anti-authori- ty) and also deny that their teaching is ministry. There • How might Friends be open to continuing revela­ is an anti-intellectualism and a focus on personal expe­ tion as God calls us forth into the future? rience and feeling; as a result, we do not know the his­ • Can we rely on our past heritage for some tory and practice of our spiritual ancestors. Personal unchanging Truths to which we are to be bound? experience is seen as feelings rather than as the move­ • When you think of your own formal educational ment of God in our lives. There is competition experience, what were some of the values inherent in between those called to minister and a lack of recog­ the educational system that influenced how you nition and affirmation of their gifts. We are so busy learned, what you learned, why you learned, and how with so many things that there is a lack of commit­ you related to the teacher and to other students? ment to the spiritual path. There is the use of psycho­ logical language rather than God language. We have • How might religious education be tailored to meet become coopted by the wider society’s frantic pace of the needs of someone detoxifying from previous reli­ living. gious education? • How have Friends been assimilated into the wider What happens when a new Friend becomes an immigrant liberal culture and how does this influence our educa­ rather than a refugee? When this Friend desires to come to tion? What are the ways we benefit from liberalism? a new place, to learn the culture and assimilate? Are there ways that are in conflict with the values of This process involves a firming up of the boundaries: our religious tradition? there is a “vulnerability to conversion.” One experi­ • How might the Religious Society of Friends nurture ences the essence of other religious truths while being those who have the gift of study as their major way of firmly grounded in one’s own. At this point, the dif­ knowing God? ference between symbols and reahty is dissolved and one is able to enter the mystery to become alive to • Are you reading without ceasing instead of praying paradox. (This often applies to leavened Friends who without ceasing? have matured in the faith, perhaps with the help of a • How does the discipline of study uphold the faith variety of programs.) Friends have now established a community?

177 • What is inwardly necessary to be open to discerning We need self-knowledge, so that we can be the states and conditions of meetings and individuals aware of our limitations, our areas of woundedness, to inform our teaching? sin, and what baggage we may bring to our teaching. • How might Quaker religious education provide We are gifted by God to teach out of our redeemed bridging environments for individuals and meetings to woundedness. predispose Friends to God’s grace? We need self-care. We need to develop a healthy selfishness so that we can monitor the pace we keep or develop the ability to say “no” to the myriad of wor­ thy causes. We need to know what God wants of us now. Unhealthy habits are distractions , so we must give ourselves sufficient exercise and rest, time for retirement and prayer. We must be emptied of our Teaching as a Ministry own immediate needs to be available for others. The role of teacher is that of elder. As one who is We need a plan of study. When study is a spiri­ engaged in teaching, some knowledge of content and tual discipline, the learner is shaped, humbled, skill in communication is necessary. As one who pro­ detached, willing, and lovingly open to mystery. Study vides spiritual nurture, discernment is needed to as a spiritual discipline is experienced as a means of encourage those tender in the Spirit. God’s grace for inner transformation. Because know­ There is a spiritual authority for teaching as a ledge is seen as serving to change the quality of being, ministry. Thom Jeavons offers this definition of min­ the attitude of the learner is one of receptivity and istry: “Whatever we do or say with the intention of openness. making God’s presence and God’s grace visible and We need oversight by having a spiritual nurtur- meaningful to others.” Our fives can be ministry when er, a spiritual friend or a spiritual group. We also need we engage in particular activities “chosen to make reimbursement - what may be the modem counter­ God’s presence and God’s grace visible in specific ways part to early Friends having others feed their horses, that result in specific transformations in individuals, in buy new shoes, and care for their families while the religious community as a whole, or in the larger traveling. We also need recognition for our teaching world.” One of the most important and distinctive ministry. qualities that marked Jesus’ ministry was “authority.” But, as Friends, we also need to be honest in He taught with compassionate love, clarity of vision acknowledging that in receiving recognition for our and insight, manifest power and truth of God. ministry of teaching, we may also “receive” envy, com­ There is a mutuality of ministry: the quality of petition, and jealousy. These human qualities seem to listening evokes the ministry from the designated be inherent even in religious institutions, especially minister. It is reciprocal. among unprogrammed Friends. Some of the reasons for this are that we do not know how to nurture min­ Care and Feeding isters and elders, we do not have a forum to recognize As adult religious educators we need skill and grace. and affirm gifts, we are too busy, too en-trenched in We cannot recognize God’s work in the world unless cultural Quakerism, not willing to live radical we know something of the world and of God’s work in Christianity, etc. There is little movement in this area, our midst. We cannot expect to be responsive to God’s and it destroys the ministry given by God to the call if we do not have the background and under­ Society of Friends. The cost of ministry among standing to take on the tasks and ministries to which Friends is very high. Perhaps it is time to address this. we are called. If we are not grounded in Scripture and We need to share our theologies of adult reli­ an understanding of Quaker history, practice, and the­ gious education. ology, we are seriously handicapped in any ministry.

178 We need commissioning and prayer as ways to 5. Ongoing accountability - living an examined hfe, more intentionally support our ministers among self-knowledge, self-care, faithfulness to our particular unprogrammed Friends. Commissioning is an actual spiritual path, and corporate accountability. ritual to acknowledge and affirm, promise and support 6. The church as the normative community - we sub­ a group’s or person’s ministry. It could include a bless­ mit our needs to God and corporately listen for God’s ing or a commitment to prayer for the person or response. group. 7. Spiritual gifts arise out of the body of Christ, the Queries context of faith community.

• How do you experience spiritual authority in others, 8. A covenantal model that values the relational, his­ in yourself? torical promise, human worth, and looks for the • What might a personal plan of study to inform and upbuilding of the faith community. support you as a Quaker educator look hke? 9. Corporate salvation - we are all becoming whole • Are you aware of the limitations, blocks, wounded- together. ness you might bring to teaching? 10. Servant leadership. • How are you, the nurturer, nurtured? 11. Simplicity as the reference point from which we • What kind of oversight do you have for your teach­ determine our lifestyle and income. ing ministry? 12. A lifestyle of listening - the practices, pace, and values of our life promote listening to God, ourselves, 6. Developing a The and others. of Adult Religious ■ i f Education for Friends 13. Plain speaking. 14. Nonresistance - reflects our relationship to world­ Assumptions of the School of the Spirit Ministry ly power.

1. The authority of Christ - as the True Teacher and 15. Concern about professionalism and titles of honor. Nurturer. 16. Liminality - maintaining the prophetic nature of 2. The guidance of Christ accessible to all through lis­ the church. tening, hearing, and obeying. 17. Study as a spiritual discipline - a means of God’s 3. Continuing revelation and conversion. grace for inner transformation. Knowledge is seen as a 4. Discernment of spiritual states and conditions - means of serving to change the quality of being. perceiving and responding to God’s work in persons and communities.

179 How Are We Formed by God as Friends? Rufus Jones, Spirit in Man. Mary Jo Leddy, Reweaving Religious Life: Beyond the Robert Barclay, Barclay's Apology in Modem English, ed. Liberal Model. Dean Freiday. John Punshon, Letter to a Universalist. Lewis Benson, Catholic Quakerism. John Punshon, Testimony and Tradition: Some Aspects of Samuel Bownas,// Description of the Qualifications Neces­ Quaker Spirituality. sary to a Gospel Minister. Sandra Cronk, Gospel Order: A Quaker Understanding The Care and Feeding of Quaker Adult Religious of Faithful Church Community. Educators Kathryn Damiano, “On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Eight­ William Droel, The Spirituality of Work: Teachers. eenth-Century Quakerism as Religious Escha- Suzanne G. Farnham et al., Listening Hearts: Discern­ tology.” ing Call in Community. Marguerite De Angeli, Thee Hannah! Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Janet Scott, “The Presence in the Midst.” Spiritual Growth. John Woolman, The Journal and Major Essays of John Matthew Fox, The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision Woolman, ed. Phillips P. Moulton. of Livelihood for Our Time.

Spiritual Formation for Friends Today Margaret Guenther, Holy Listening: The A rt of Spiritual Direction. Albert Borgmann, Crossing the Postmodern Divide. Thomas Hart, The A rt of Christian Listening. Wilmer A. Cooper, “The Search for Unity in Diversity.” Thomas Jeavons, “By Whose Authority? The Grounds Ben Pink Dandelion and Janey O’Shea, Making Quaker for Ministry and Leadership Among Friends.” Disciples: The Formation of a People of God. Margery Larrabee, There Is a Hunger: Mutual Spiritual Constance Fitzgerald, “Into the Thicket: A Hidden Friendship. God” (audiotape). Patricia Loring, Listening Spirituality, vol. 1, Personal James W. Fowler, Stages of Faith: The Stages of Human Spiritual Practices Among Friends. Development. Parker J. Palmer, The Active Life: Wisdom for Work, David Griffin, ed., Spirituality and Society: Postmodern Creativity, and Caring. Vision. Kenneth Ives, Nurturing Spiritual Development: Stages, Structure, Style; A Quaker Viewpoint.