Comment by Raye on 2nd mo. 5, 2010 at 3:37pm

Thanks and amen! There are many who have seen clips and bits from journals and histories of Friends, perhaps on a poster, or perhaps heard often as part of conversation. It seems to me that in some cases, these clips and bits have developed meanings quite different than when used in their original context. It reminds me of how scripture itself is often used this way - a convenient phrase, lifted out of the flow of a full passage, used to support someone's own idea of "how it ought to be." May we all resist the temptation to do this. May we all spend a little time looking deeper at those catchy little phrases, find out who wrote them, to whom, in what circumstances, and may we be able to read the entire letter or at least chapter, if not book, in which these are contained.

Comment by Lyle Havens on 2nd mo. 5, 2010 at 7:09pm

By the way, I used to have trouble with the phrase "Gods will", when it would pop up in religious conversations and literature, and what that phrase might mean, if anything, but recently have been using the shorthand "God's will =love". Thus, in a pinch, or when stressed for time to discern, God's will is to do something loving.

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