In my Quakers and Money workshop last week, one of the assignments was to try to identify a personal testimony; that is, a core organizing principal upon which one bases their beliefs and actions. Friends are big on testimonies. The ones that are most frequently identified as Quaker testimonies are Peace, Integrity, Equality, and Simplicity (PIES, for those who need an easy-to-remember mnemonic.) Then there are Friends who expand on that: SPICE, which adds Community ... or even PICKLES, which further adds Kindness and Love. (Being a relatively newbie Quaker -- about 17 years -- I was rather surprised to learn from my workshop leader that the big 4 were not actually codified as such until the latter part of the 2oth century, although the ideas have been basic tenets of Quakerism for 350+ years. Feel free to tenderly correct me if I am wrong.)
I am fond of pies and spice, but apparently I like pickles even better, because what I identified as my testimony was Loving Kindness. Back to Chani's question: her point was, some believe we come into this world already carrying baggage, and we certainly accrue more as we wend out way through our lives. Some of it is good, some of it is wounding. What do we do with it? Do we bury it? Throw it away? Hide it in a closet? Drag it all around with us? Integrate it?
I'll use a knitting metaphor, since I do love to knit. I think what I have tried to do is knit all of these life experiences together into one great big -- let's call it a blanket -- of loving kindness. That's what I carry with me. I'm not perfect. I drop stitches, it wears thin sometimes or develops holes, I've dragged it through mud puddles, or forgotten that I had it ... but overall, that is how I try to approach the world. That is my testimony.
I have a few quotes that I carry in my head:
"My religion is simple. My religion is kindness." -- His Holiness, the Dalai Lama
"Love is the first motion." -- John Woolman
This one from a Friend who had been away from our Meeting, and upon returning said, "It's good to return to a place where love will always be on the cutting edge."
And finally, a little prayer that I found in a children's book long ago:
Make my life a little light within the world to glow.
A little flame to burn bright wherever I may go.
5 comments:
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think I am following
your will does not mean that I am
actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please
you does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all
that I am doing.
And I know that if I do this, you
will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death, I will
not fear, for you are ever with me
and you will never leave me
to face my perils alone. - Thomas Merton.
It's in my wallet.
Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain."
(1Chron 4:10)
Even though I follow a different tradition, this says it all for me. :)
You might also want to send a link to Julie - The Ravin' Picture Maven, who sponsors these roundtables each week. That's the catalyst of my post.
www.theartfulflower.blogspot.com
Love your post.. and... I wish I knew how to knit. :)
Peace,
~Chani
Thank you to each of you. Blessings.
Hi Suzy,
Usually I lurk, but today I am inspired to write. Here are two writings I "carry" with me:
No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thye friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. John Donne
As to the question of where exactly hell and the Buddha exist, one sutra reads that hell exists underground and another sutra says that the Buddha is in the west. However, closer examination reveals that both exist in our five-foot body. The reason I see it this way is that hell is in the heart of a man who inwardly despises his father and disregards his mother. But think of the lotus seed, which contains both flower and fruit at the same time. In the same way, the Buddha dwells inside our hearts. To explain, flint can produce fire and gems possess value in themselves. We common mortals can see neither our eyebrows, which are so close, nor heaven in the distance. Likewise, we do not see that the Buddha exists in our own hearts. But repeated consideration shows the validity of my claim. The pure white lotus flower blooms out of the muddy pond, the fragrant sandalwood grows from the soil, and the moon rises from behind the mountains to shed light on them. Nichiren
Hi elmiller!! I am honored that you lurk around my blog and even more so that you were moved to step out of the shadows.
I have a John Donne quote that you wrote down gave us when Sophie died.
There is so much wisdom, perhaps divinely inspired, that has been written down through the ages. Sometimes I think that people who are in power today have failed to read even the scriptures which they claim to revere.
Talk to you soon.Dinner? <3 Suzy
Post a Comment