As I start off this blog, I thought about giving a brief overview of Quaker beliefs, but I think that might be a little boring to read for most people. So I’ve decided that I’m going to let that unfold over the course of the entire blog. If you’re immediately interested in Quaker history, beliefs or practices, you can take the Exploring Quakerism course that we’ve adapted for you to get your feet wet!
That being said, I’ll jump right into the everyday life stuff. Personally, I’m a person who is naturally curious and naturally observant – I’m what you might call a thinker. Some people might even call me an overthinker.
This past Saturday, I had some soft music playing while I was doing a little writing, and an old hymn, one that’s often (mistakenly) attributed to Quakers. The hymn is called “How Can I Keep From Singing?” and it’s attributed to a person known only as Pauline T. Its words have been through so many renditions, iterations and alterations that it’s almost impossible to know what version is correct anymore, but the first verse and chorus that I have written down in my notebook are:
“My life flows on in endless song, Above earth’s lamentation, I catch the sweet, tho’ far-off hymn That hails a new creation;
No storm can shake my inmost calm While to that Rock I’m clinging. Since Love is lord of heav’n and earth, How can I keep from singing?”
Now, all of this is beautiful, however there were a few things that immediately jumped out at me.
The first thing that caught my ear is the opening line. It says that our lives flow on above earth’s lamentation. When I was thinking about this, I had this image of all the things that could potentially go wrong in the world (and are going wrong) like a stream of chaos flowing across the earth. And then there’s us – there’s you and me – sort of hovering above that. There are bad things going on, and although we can see them, we’re not swept away by the stream. We are above the earth’s lamentation.
Now, as Quakers (and as humans, really) I don’t believe that means we should just stay up above and pretend to not notice the bad things that happen in the universe. I certainly think that we should find ways to alleviate the suffering of others, to promote peace and love. But we don’t need to let our lives be governed by the things that are going wrong.
The second part that struck me is the refrain line “No storm can shake my inmost calm . . . . ” For most of us, myself included, that sounds almost comical. There are some days I can’t even remember what inner calm feels like, with the demands of work, relationships, finances, etc. It feels like I’m being pulled in a million directions at once, and I’m supposed to maintain inner calm?
Something that this made me think about, though, was that there’s a part of us, deep, deep inside. You could call it a soul, or a spirit. Quakers like referring to it as an Inner Light, the presence of God in each and every person. Even when we’re feeling flustered, like we can’t keep up with everything. Even when we feel stressed, like the sky is falling down around us. Even then, there is still that Inner Light. And that Inner Light isn’t shaken by the things going on around us. That Inner Light is still very much the divine presence and guidance that keeps us going, the propels us to do good. No storm can shake thatinmost calm.
I think that’s enough for now, enough for the first blog post on this new blog. If you’ve got a great idea for the next post, feel free to reach out to me.
Key Notes
No matter what craziness is going on in the world, our lives flow on, above that, not ignorant to the issues of the world, but not determined by it, either.
Deep down inside of us is a divine Inner Light that guides us and leads us in the right direction. Nothing can jeopardize this or take this from us.
As always, if you need anything from me, have any questions or comments, or just want to bounce an idea off of me, you’ll always have a Friend in me. Reach out using the contact page, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Stay safe, Friends.