Tag: Inspiration

STEPPING OUT OF THE PRESENT

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Strolling around older neighborhoods of a community like mine, it’s quite possible to feel yourself moving through another era. Imagine horses instead of cars and let the utility lines overhead fade from sight. I find a tinge of time travel is especially likely to kick in around dawn or sunset.

Mentioning that to my wife prompts memories of her own experiences while working in a museum comprised of a district of historic houses in nearby Portsmouth. For her, the sensation would settle in during late afternoons in the tourism shoulder season as she’d step from the kitchen into the outdoors. No wires in the air, no traffic, no tourists to spoil the perfect scene. Truly harmonious and timeless.

Maybe even a vision of the future in an eco-friendly environment.

ONE CHANGE

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

As I said at the time …

Daily encounters are full of times I fall short of the Quaker / Christian ideal. At least I see others in Meeting who do much better on this front.

One way the faith has changed me, though, is in teaching me when to sit on a problem, rather than force a solution (as long as this isn’t mere avoidance, which is a different situation). As the saying goes, “Some of the best barns in Rhode Island were designed in Quaker Meeting.” (Yes, Silas Weeks liked to enlarge it to “New England.”) Maybe you know the postcard:

NOTICE, I AM A QUAKER.
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY,
PLEASE BE QUIET.

I think it’s part of the process we see extending to our decision-making as a faith community, and how much it’s lacking when we’re engaged in a business session elsewhere. The divisiveness, egotism, us-versus-them mentality that so often prevails, the rush to judgment, the name-calling or the boss calling the shots, and so on. The desire to appear decisive or in command. You know all the symptoms.

On the other hand, some of the best headlines I’ve written have been by taking a break when I was stuck – by stepping aside to walk down the hall or to the bathroom. Release the problem, for a minute or two break. And then the answer appears. No need to feel guilty, is there? A little quiet, and voila, originality or productivity, as they would say. A barn or a headline, all in the job, as we Friends know, all the same.

ONE BRUSH STROKE OR ROLLER AT A TIME

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

One of the places I’ll admit there’s progress is in the realm of house paint. The mere fact you can go in and have a custom color on the spot that will match one you had mixed earlier is a huge advance. No more guessing. And that’s even before we get to latex, which cleans up with water, rather than oil-based or lead-infused paints.

No more color chips that were way off what showed up on the walls. Oh, how I remember my mother’s lamenting on that one, especially when they’d hired a family friend who was part of a professional painting crew. She hated the color, especially after they tried to correct it.

Now, if the blue tape only worked so well.

KEY WORDS OF FAITH TO CONSIDER

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

A new Pendle Hill pamphlet, Robert Griswold’s Marking the Quaker Path: Seven Key Words Plus One, has sparked some fresh thinking on my end.

I’ve previously posted on the ongoing series from the press at the Quaker retreat and study center in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, and often advise newcomers to Meeting to peruse its display rack in our library for titles that might best touch their interests, whether theological, historical, peace and social justice action, or simple daily living.

What I like about Griswold’s volume is the way he identifies some basic terms that are also found in other religious traditions while noting ways we Friends have come to apply our own unique understandings.

I’m sensing that each of his eight words (OK, one is a phrase) would be a fertile topic for group discussion, and not just among Friends.

His list:

  • Condition
  • Experience
  • Covenant
  • Discipline
  • Discernment
  • Authority
  • The Beloved Community
  • Submission

~*~

I won’t try to define them here, but each one can be stimulating, even controversial, as we look at the fullness of their implications in contemporary life. It’s also instructive to think of words he hasn’t focused on, starting with Belief, Worship, Prayer, and the like.

To learn more about his pamphlet and more, visit the Pendle Hill website.