One of the key tenets that all Quakers (should) subscribe to is that there is “that of God” in every person. That means that every single person in the universe is created with the same divine “spark,” the same little piece of God that can be found in you, and in me. Now this has a lot of implications in how we think about ourselves, others, and the world. We’ll get into some of that in a little bit, but it’s absolutely essential to understand this belief. Everyone – everyone – has that divine nature, that spark of the divine, “that of God” inside of them.
Alright, so what does that mean for us? First things first – it should change how we look at ourselves. We have that divine spark, that Inner Light, inside of us. That’s something to be respected! Acknowledging the Inner Light within ourselves should be the first step in creating a healthy, faith-based philosophy of self-esteem. Personally, when I think of having “that of God” in me, I take it seriously! I think there’s a certain responsibility that comes with knowing and believing that there is an Inner Light inside of you. Now that you know, you’re responsible for how you respond to that Light. Friends believe that the Inner Light is a sort-of contact with God, a guidance that we can take leadings from, and respond to in various ways. You could choose to either resist/oppose that guidance, or channel it into productive action and living that creates more love and harmony in the world.
Next up, I think it’s important to consider how we look at the people around us. In today’s worldwide community, it’s easy to see how much division there is. It’s always “us” and “them,” and these labels could be applied to literally any group of people. Whether it’s the United States vs. undocumented immigrants, whether it’s Christians vs. Muslims, the politicians vs. the people. There’s always an “us” and there’s always a “them.” Acknowledging that the same Inner Light that is in us is also in all of the other people in the world requires that we view them in a different light. There will still be differences, and we don’t want to reduce or disregard the beautiful diversity and variety that makes up the human race. However, these importance of these differences pales in comparison to the importance of the similarities that we share, of the unity that we hold together. That’s what’s so beautiful. And just like seeing the light in ourselves was our faith basis for self-esteem, seeing the light in others has to be our faith basis for respecting others.
Remember, the Divine Light is in everyone. It’s in you, it’s in me, it’s in the people you like, it’s in the people you don’t like. It’s in people that believe the same things as you, it’s in people that believe different things than you. It’s in the saints and it’s in the sinners. It’s in everyone. And it’s your responsibility to see that Light, to acknowledge that Light, and to treat others with respect and love, because they share in that Light with you.
Being Quakers, or even just learning about Quaker beliefs, forces us to reexamine what separates us and what binds us. As we see and acknowledge the Light that’s in others, we expand our definition of “we” from just us to include more and more of humanity, until “we” truly means the whole human family.
As always, you’ll always have a Friend in me, and if you ever have any questions, concerns, are in a crisis and need to talk, reach out to me using our Contact Form.