In this morning’s Fruit of the Vine, Bethany Lee asks, “What brings you life? What do you love?”
I think of waterfalls.
This summer I’ve been taking time whenever I can find it to chase waterfalls. Old topographical maps and an online database of satellite images have helped me find ten so far in the county where I live. During one of those trips, I fell and broke my phone. During another, I had to hike in because the road had washed out. Another time, I had a run-in with a bear. Fortunately, he was more interested in berries than in me.
Bethany writes that these questions work better than more spiritual questions like, “How do you pray?” or “What’s your favorite Bible verse?” because of how easy it is for us to “get stuck thinking there are only a few acceptable ways to connect with God. And often the ones that seem most holy to us are the ones we find the most difficult.”
Bethany’s right. And it is good to be reminded that God is present, not only in my morning devotions, but also in outdoor adventure, in quiet spaces, in rushing water, in a close call with a bear.
Bethany writes that “when we start noticing what it is that brings us life, what revives us, we can learn to spot the ways God interacts with us. . . . So what brings you life?”
Eric Muhr
Face to Face and Close to the Ground
It's been a busy month here at Barclay Press, as we prepare for Northwest Yearly Meeting annual sessions at George Fox University. We'll be releasing two new titles during Yearly Meeting and now have them both available for pre-order.
Face to Face: Early Quaker Encounters with the Bible is the first of three volumes from T. Vail Palmer offering what C. Wess Daniels has called "the most comprehensive Quaker theology ever written." This first volume offers a "systematic look at Quakers' understanding and theology of the Bible." The second volume is scheduled for release in mid-2017.
In Close to the Ground: A Collection of Poems, Nancy Thomas explores "the grace of God hidden in the ordinariness of life." The first section, “Playing with Words,” celebrates language. In the second section, “Family Album,” Nancy celebrates memory, one of the ancient traditions of the Christian faith. The third section, “The Absurdity of Prayer,” focuses on the human side of our relationship with God. It notices the klutziness of being the church. It celebrates spirituality with dirt on its face and saints with sullied reputations. The final section, “Longing for Home,” affirms the hope of resurrection and new life.
I've spent a lot of time with both of these books over the last few months, and I'm convinced of the importance of both titles. Nancy's collection challenges me to think more creatively and to interact more playfully in my prayerful noticings of God with me. Vail's work offers perspective I wish I'd had years ago about what the Bible was for early Quakers and how their readings might offer life to us today. Please feel free to write me about your own experience with either title. I'd love to hear from you.
Eric Muhr
Reading the Bible with empathy
In his book set for release later this month, T. Vail Palmer, Jr., writes that "through most of our history, Friends have taken the Bible seriously and have looked to it for guidance. Friends have been leaders in testifying against war and working for peace, in recognizing the equality of women and men in Christian ministry, in working against slavery and advocating for social justice."
Yet he notes that we find in the Bible, passages that instruct women to be silent in the churches (1 Corinthians 14:34), that call for the destruction of entire people groups (1 Samuel 15:2-3), that suggest poverty is intractable (Matthew 26:11), that require the submission of slaves (Titus 2:9).
"The earliest Friends constantly quoted the Bible," Palmer writes, "and it is clear that their pioneering positions on matters such as war, women’s ministry, and justice derive from their understanding of the Bible."
"How can this be?" he asks.
This question is vital. It's why I'm convinced that Palmer's book, Face to Face: Early Quaker Encounters with the Bible, is important. It sometimes seems—in the presence of cultural change—that the Bible is more hindrance than help. But Palmer's study of how early Quakers used scripture offers some old approaches to the Bible that just might breathe new life into our contemporary contexts.
Here's one of Palmer's noticings: "The writings of George Fox, Edward Burrough, and Margaret Fell demonstrate that at least these three, first-generation Friends, were reading the Bible with empathy. For them the heart of the Bible lay in its personal narratives. Out of this empathetic reading emerged not only some of their strange behaviors . . . but also their innovative understanding of the Christian way of life."
And there is more.
Here at Barclay Press, we're working to have the first run done by Monday, July 25. I hope you'll get a copy. I think you'll find Palmer's work as helpful as I have.
Eric Muhr