Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tony Breda on 10th mo. 14, 2010 at 10:16pm

I too have often struggled with this issue. I have had Friends who are not Christians per se, share similar reservations. They are not sure they fit in either. For a long time I just wanted everyone at Meeting to be like me, to share what I believed. Jesus was very clear on this I think. He said not to concern ourselves with judging one another, that in the end he would sort it all out. We are to simply Love One Another. The three most challenging words ever spoken.

I go to Meeting for Worship to listen to God. Sometimes I can actually shut my mind up long enough to hear little bits of what He has been telling me since the day I was born. And this is the crux of it - If we would just focus on loving one another to the exclusion of all else, maybe in so doing, those who are a little lost might be found.

If I am driving along the road in the middle of nowhere and I see someone whose car is broken down, I do not determine if he is a Believer first. I stop and see if he needs help. I give him help if I can, and then be on my way. It is no different in Meeting. We are there to help each other come closer to God. It doesn't matter what label people call themselves, God calls them all HIS.

Love,

Tony

Permalink Reply by Forrest Curo on 10th mo. 14, 2010 at 11:49pm

This is fine, so far as people are actually encountering 'the Divine' they should be learning all they need to know about the details. What gives me unease is not that Jewish or Buddhist or 'New Age' people might be encountering the Divine in some way I'm not-- or that there's any different 'Divine' to be encountered-- but that people who aren't expecting or seeking that encounter are likely to just be sitting around with their arms folded against anything that might threaten to change their minds.

Permalink Reply by Rickey D. Whetstone on 10th mo. 14, 2010 at 11:51pm

Jeffrey

Maybe . . . that unease feeling is . . . God wanting you to spend time with only him . . . and not the Quakers?

Rick

Permalink Reply by Forrest Curo on 10th mo. 15, 2010 at 8:32pm

If I were better tuned in myself, would it bother me that

1) The tradition I joined because I saw it was founded on Truth-- is mistaken in some way, has 'gone wrong' like any other religious tradition, to the extent that

2) Lots of really good, intelligent people are just sitting their 1 hr/Sunday without expecting or receiving what they could have from God, if only they knew to want it, while

3) A whole world full of people are out there tormenting themselves and others, who might be living much more pleasant and interesting lives if they only knew what Friends are supposed to know, but so often don't...

No doubt I'd be more patient with it! But I don't think this is how God wants things to remain.

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