One of the beloved Quaker stories I think about often is the voyage of the Woodhouse: a few faithful Friends, called by God to sail for the new world, without much skill at sailing or knowledge of why they were being sent. Each day, under threat of storms, pirates, and exhaustion, they prayed together and heard clearly the next step on their voyage, arriving to their destination in safety. A testament to faithfulness indeed!
I hear echoes of their story in the climate witness of today. The world is on fire. We do not know what to do next. We are not sure whether we can save ourselves, much less anyone else. And yet, small groups of faithful people are listening, are gathering, are doing the next right thing. Those actions can have ripple effects. We have seen what a people listening clearly with their hearts in Divine Love can accomplish.
There’s a small part of the Woodhouse’s story that I’ve been reflecting on of late. The owner/captain of the vessel, Robert Fowler wrote:
[T]here was a shoal of fish which pursued our vessel, and followed her strangely, and along close by our rudder; and in our meeting it was shewn me, these fish are to thee a figure. Thus doth the prayers of the churches proceed to the Lord for thee and the rest. Surely in our meeting did the thing run through me as oil, and bid me much rejoice.
Fowler takes much comfort in the rightly ordered prayers of his Friends, rejoicing in their support and love during the difficult journey. These prayers take the form of fish—and I can picture them shimmering and darting in and out around their ship, accompaniment that is agile and ever present.
I’ve seen this motion of accompaniment over and over again. This autumn has been a very full one in terms of actions for justice across New England. I've been encouraged to see so much engagement, so much of God's Truth being shared and supported by so many of all faiths here in New England.
If this is a movement, these particular actions are just some of the work that must include all of "us." I've been encouraging and connecting others by sharing stories and asking for support on social media, cooking food to bring, offering rides when possible. Due to current health and family concerns I can't risk arrest or block a coal train in the ways others can, but I can help to employ the New England Yearly Meeting Fund for Sufferings to bail them out, hold folks in prayer at their court dates, and generally support their witness. I can share their stories more widely, and invite others to join in the movement where their gifts will be most well used. In this past week, at every interaction I have had with God's faithful people doing this deep and challenging work, I have felt joyously welcomed and a part of the larger justice movement.
My understanding is that this was an integral part of the early Quaker movement as well. Membership in a Quaker meeting had a very specific purpose: When ministers were thrown in jail for their faith, the community had to know who was a member and who needed their children cared for, their crops harvested. We Friends speak about the "valiant sixty" Friends who encouraged the movement; I wonder about the unnamed valiant six hundred (at least!) who were on call as crucial support in quiet, perhaps unrecognized ways. In later years, I've become aware that there was a vast network of people supporting Rosa Parks refusing to leave her seat on the bus, and Martin Luther King Jr had a robust support team.
As these important movements go forward, I feel it right to share a word of encouragement to those that are being faithful to their part of the call into God's kingdom. Use your own gifts and talents, unique and made for you, in helping our shared world to become kinder, more loving, and safe. Praying, writing, sharing news, making bread, singing, making art—and yes, blocking coal trains and “getting in the way” —are all parts of this important Work. We are all welcome on this journey. I am filled with Joy when I am well used, as part of what Love requires of me, and of us, in creating this movement and the kin-dom of Love on earth.
From New England Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice, “Queries for Individuals and Meeting Communities”:
- Do you use your time, energy, resources, gifts, and material possessions in the service of God’s love?
- Are you ready to respond to any concern God may lay upon you, large or small?
- Do you maintain an appropriate balance among work, service, worship, family, and recreation? Are you ready to rest if God asks it of you?
- What does love require of you?