When it comes to love, Quakers are reluctant to face the stark reality that we are always the bridesmaid. Truth, unlike in politics, forbids us from claiming tough love, on the one hand, or the liberal bleeding heart, on the other. Nomenclators of history remind us that a rose by any other name, as "compassionate conservatism", is both thorny to handle and false to itself.

Like the beloved disciple, we should honestly admit being loved rather than loving. Truly, for us, love is something we have fallen into rather than made strides toward; and, just as frequently, step in, like dog crap, asking both how(did I get myself into this) and why(so deep at that).

We do not acknowledge the sacrifice of self that love demands, and so we take time and effort away from the source of love in order to give ourselves to doing good, as "loving". We do not realize that probing the depths of service, without love to buoy us, is drowning in a situation of our own making. We fail to see that it's not how quickly we can jump or dive in to help, but how lightly we land and slowly we surface that keeps us from being another casualty of concern.

Alas, like the bridesmaid or the good thief of Calvary, we are doomed to accept the offer of love as more like taking than giving. 

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Comment by James C Schultz on 6th mo. 16, 2014 at 9:49am

I like the concept of the prayer of St. Francis of being a channel for God's peace and love to flow through.  Of course there's a lot of me to clear from the channel but when the Holy Spirit flows like a flood through that channel the silt that is me gets cleared away.

Comment by Clem Gerdelmann on 6th mo. 22, 2014 at 8:14am

Of course, some crap doesn't flush.

Comment by James C Schultz on 6th mo. 23, 2014 at 8:29am

That's why Proverbs tells us to watch over our hearts with all diligence for out of it flows the springs of life.  It's our job to clear that stuff so it doesn't block the flow of those springs without which we become stagnant beings living in our past without the ability to receive the continuing revelation of God that we need to meet the challenges of each new age.

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