This Day: Visit us each day for a contemplative experience – an image, a Scripture reading, a quotation from Fruit of the Vine, a query, and a poem-prayer. On Saturday each week, we will feature an excerpted Quaker testimony. On Sunday each week, we will offer a Scripture reading, historic Quaker quotation, questions for consideration, and a personal essay from the Illuminate lesson for that week.
Photo by Eric Muhr
‘Bless the Lord, O my soul,’ there is one, Christ Jesus, who is our ‘kinsman redeemer.’ His power and his blood have redeemed us. Therefore, it makes sense that redemption should forever be among one of the utmost benefits that we offer up in praise to our Lord
Read MoreI find it interesting that David would declare, ‘He heals all your diseases,’ when his infant son was not spared. Perhaps David had come to believe God’s healing encompasses more than our physical comfort
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David commands his soul to remember God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with God, which did not happen because of anything David did; it came because God bestowed it upon him.
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I know it sounds obvious to say that remembering is important because it keeps us from forgetting – but it’s true. Numerous times, God commands us to remember. Why? When we don’t intentionally work at remembering what God has done for us, we forget God’s sovereignty
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The body of Christ is supposed to act in a harmonious way because its members belong to one another. Waiting for unity is a sign of obedience to the Holy Spirit, and trying to anticipate its guidance is a fundamental departure from Friends understanding of how the church should conduct itself.
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Recognizing and supporting parenting as a spiritual path could benefit the Religious Society of Friends as a whole. Parents often find the sacred in the messiness of everyday life, witnessing to the Quaker belief that God is present everywhere, not just in meeting for worship
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When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we essentially pray that we get to set the standards of our own judgment. Matthew 6:15 tells me that if I do not forgive, God will not forgive me. Jesus wants us to recognize that in this prayer, we expect God to judge us just as we judge others
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We are praying for the same thing that Moses prayed for – that God will give us enough for our daily needs; this prayer does not allow for selfish hoarding. Like the rest of the Lord’s Prayer, this prayer is a request that God will meet the needs of the community
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It is easy to read the Sermon on the Mount, and to respond that the world does not work this way or to say that this is what heaven will be like someday. But we live here now; the Lord’s prayer makes it impossible to delay kingdom living
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While Jesus started with ‘Our Father,’ he followed this with, ‘Your name is sacred.’ We start with the personal relationship, but we don’t forget that we are praying to the almighty God, creator of the universe, king of all creation
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This prayer is a reminder that while God is the almighty king of creation, this is not the relationship we are appealing to – we are appealing to a parent who wants what is best for us and who will give us good things
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But let it be strained to the utmost, as the opposers of Womens Speaking would have it, that is, That they should not Preach nor Speak in the Church, of which there is nothing here
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We Quakers are a listening people. We seek God experientially. We worship in silence. We gather together to wait and to listen for the “still small voice.”
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Drama’s creative process involves perseverance, problem-solving, team building, and especially empathy. Informal drama, like improvisation and role-playing, is more spontaneous and helps participants walk in another’s shoes, seeing through their eyes, learning through ‘experience’ without the scars.
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Write your story. These are not only a means of creative faith expression, they can be healing for the writer and become a living legacy
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Many visual arts have nourished souls through the ages. They lift our minds above the mundane. From Michelangelo’s depiction of the creation, to the Book of Kells illuminating the Gospels, onward through hundreds of sculptures and masterworks, we’re blessed by the artistry it took to create them
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From the many biblical admonishments to lift up our voices together in song, we know that music is a special gift from God
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In a world where we find overwhelming poverty, disease, and political unrest, we may question whether art is a luxury. But we must remember that we need hope. God promises to exchange beauty for ashes and a garment of praise instead of despair. Art is a powerful tool for healing.
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Scripture: 1 Timothy 1
An eminent Servant and Scholar of [Christ’s] said, Be ye Followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. The Apostle Paul exhorts Timothy, a young Scholar, and his Son in the Faith, to be a good Example to others; as also his Son Titus. We are also told of four young Women who were Prophetesses, and divers others; a more particular Account of whose examplary [sic] Lives and Actions are recorded in holy Scripture for our Learning; unto which, with the Grace of God in the Heart, I recommend all young Men and Women, and conclude these small Tokens of my very dear Love in Christ, our holy Lord and Master, desiring the above may be as so many Patterns for them to follow. — Thomas Chalkley
Questions: Allow yourself to consider your own approach to warning others about behaviors and teachings you consider harmful. Do you tend to speak out of your own certainty about the truth, or with the knowledge of your own shortcomings and your experience of God’s merciful grace and love? What might you learn from Paul’s example in this chapter?
Paul writes to Timothy with a tone of genuine affection and familiarity in 1 Timothy. There is a sense that Paul knows Timothy as a family friend and minister, and relates to him as a teacher to a disciple. Paul describes himself as an example of Christ’s “utmost patience” because of his sin (1:16). This self-effacement speaks to not only knowing Timothy, but also being known by Timothy. Entrusting him with the church in Ephesus and the core insight for faithful ministry, Paul is deeply invested in Timothy as a person and his formation as a thoughtful leader.
Out of this space of care and deep knowing, Paul imparts some instructions to his protege. Central in the first chapter is the statement from Paul on how these instructions were formed: they point back to the law and aim toward the gospel of Christ. They do this by being formed or constructed through “love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith” (v. 5). The word translated conscience in the text literally means “knowing with.” One might say that the ideas generated by Paul in this letter are formed through a knowledge generated by his heart as the seat of love. By knowing with his heart, Paul expresses instructions about faith in Christ that speak directly to the context of Timothy and his young congregation. It’s a statement for a young leader regarding discernment of ethical practices. In making decisions regarding his own and his congregation’s right practices, Timothy is encouraged to know with his heart, being responsible to sort out personal intentions, benefits, risks, implications, unintended consequences, and alignment with experience of Christ’s mercy and grace. This process takes time, humility, and knowledge about oneself that comes through facing mistakes.
Paul gives this insight as core instruction on how to move forward and guide the church in his absence. Timothy will need to be able to find his way as he leads, and this discernment process is essential to being a faithful minister. Paul’s instructions can help each of us look to our heart, conscience, and faith for finding our way in Christ.
–Darla Tillman-Samuelson in “Friendly Perspective” from 1, 2 Timothy; Titus; Philemon; 1, 2, 3 John: The Jesus Movement
Photo by Eric Muhr
We felt welcomed and grew close to Friends in Tempe. I learned that we do not make our journeys alone. Often during worship, through the chapel’s open door, we heard doves cooing and saw the desert plants in the sunshine
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