Quaker Biography: 20th Century
QUAKER BIOGRAPHY: 20TH CENTURY
146. The wit and wisdom of William Bacon Evans [1875-1964] (by Anna Cox Brinton; 1966)
Foreword—Edwin B. Bronner wrote: “There was much in his life which was unique; that it would be a service to Friends to have access to material about him.” In offering anecdotes and memorabilia one is keenly aware that some of the charm and luster is dependent on the speaker’s smile, twinkling eye, and satisfaction.
William Bacon Evans left an impression on the Haverford Library as compiler of Biographical Dictionary of Friends, as the member of a large & widely known family, as student and teacher at Westtown School, as valuable assistant at Daniel Oliver’s orphanage in Syria, as concerned visitor to conscripts at the Civilian Public Service camps, as tireless worker for love and unity in the divided Philadelphia Society of Friends (SOF). He did not produce a Quaker Journal. He wrote instead bird songs and sonnets, printed in 10 slender books.
In My Father’s House—An English visitor wrote: As we lined up to board [the Greyhound Bus to the 5 Years Meeting in Richmond, Indiana] next to me appeared an 18th century Quaker—plain dress, grey habit, John Woolman hat... He thee’d & thou’d everybody gaily & called them ‘Friend.’ He was in his 90th year & better known in Philadelphia than William Penn. He is a Quaker institution [through] his sayings, jokes, homemade puzzles, mathematical conundrums, & bird pictures sold to benefit American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). He believes in the brotherhood of man, the Fatherhood of God, and the neighborhood of Philadelphia.
William Bacon Evans was born in Philadelphia in 1875; grew up in Moorestown, New Jersey. His father wrote: . . . “Slender of frame, and singular of diet . . . easily playing all day without playmates, fond of, & fairly ingenious with tools & devising things. . . Quite good at language, already showing a natural interest in etymology. Is greatly pleased with [& actively explores] Natural Philosophy; if he is sent to feed the chickens, the fear would be that they should perish for want or at least the feed kettle would disappear & the eggs go unharvested.”
[As a slight & painfully shy boy], social situations were harder for him to deal with. In a bird-loving family he showed [early signs of] keen observation & retentive memory of a field naturalist. At Westtown boarding school, he had [ample room & opportunity to explore, which resulted in a carefully made list of local plants. His stated desires were for more letters from home, & more time to eat meals. He was very thoughtful towards his 2 sisters, who attended the same school. There was an old Indian settlement about 3½ miles from school that he & John Carter explored, finding 12 arrowheads between them. He excelled at geometry and mechanical drawing.
[In 1893, he graduated, and went to work in his father’s glass and paint store. He suffered from cut-up hands and a smashed thumb in early days of his work]. He visited Friends meetings and read Quaker books. He promoted a free public reading room and [worked in] the Friends Freedman’s Association for the training of colored youth. He served as secretary of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club. Ten years after graduation, he served on the Westtown School Committee, practiced colloquial French in southern France, and took bird notes everywhere, especially on Puffin Island off the shores of Anglesea.
Master Bacon—After his father’s business closed, he took a teaching position at Westtown. After 2 years of teaching, he received a B.S. & a teacher’s certificate from Columbia University. It cannot be said that Master Bacon was a born teacher. Herbert Nicholson, his fellow teacher wrote: “For 2 years we had very close relations & neither of us being too good at discipline had much sympathy for each other.” [Nicholson slept well at night; Bacon did not]. One suspects that his relationships with his pupils were stronger outside the classroom than in it, influenced by his bird walks & his skilled skating. [He went out of his way to make life easier for his students].
He had not yet adopted the antique pattern of Quaker dress for which he was later so well known; he was on his way to it. He was beginning to reaffirm the old testimonies which in his mind were part of religious faithfulness. He was 38 when he was chosen captain of the Columbia soccer team and an elder of his monthly meeting, curiously old for the first appointment and curiously young for the other.
Syria—Relief work took him to Syria in 1919. Daniel & Emily Oliver founded their orphanage within the old Ras-el-Metn castle ramparts. Bacon Evans spent 11 years there as a teacher. He taught English, French, & general science to older boys. [He had to improvise, using a soccer ball to show some boys about how ‘longitude’ and ‘latitude’ is used on a globe]. He also supervised a small rug-making, and later lace-making industry.
In 1931 Bacon Evans attended Yearly Meeting at Ramallah, & stayed a week visiting Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Jericho, Tiberius, and Damascus. He got as much pleasure walking alone in the hills as he did from visiting these biblically historical sites; he [took notes on the nature around him and] made a bird list for Palestine; “about 9,000 storks flew overhead. With the birds he established a communication which at time became verbal.
Bird Song—That Bird songs should have been the inspiration for many of his early poems is no surprise. Bird song was the only music and Poetry was the only art form allowed by 19th century Quakers. The laughing loon, the trilling thrush, the bubbling wren—he knew and caught them all. Seven Score Bird Songs in 1943 was a compendium of bird songs, sonnets, translations from La Fontaine, and other tidbits.
A lifelong love of poetry was one of Bacon Evans’ most endearing qualities. He collected Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton, Keats, Wordsworth, a dozen others and his own in Sonnets for Lovers and for Lovers of Sonnets. To balance the grave and the gay was more than a lifelong endeavor; it was part of the fabric of his being. Neither the woman he sought during his second period of teaching nor he himself ever married.
Of Many Branches—Bacon Evans was a great grandson of Jonathan Evans, one of the builders of Philadelphia, whose relentless integrity was instrumental in splitting Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for more than a century. Many tensions lay behind the “Separation of 1827.” One part was rebellion of the membership against the authority of a small group of city elders, including Jonathan Evans. Another part was the more liberal theo-logy of country Friends. The 3rd part was the inevitable cultural cleavage between farmers and well-to-do urban business men. Elias Hicks represented the country faction; the elders in Philadelphia called themselves Orthodox. The Hicksites produced the Friends Miscellany; two sons of Jonathan Evans produced the Friends Library. It is not easy to discern a doctrinal difference between the Friends Miscellany, and the Friends Library.
Bacon Evans carried the weight of this division most of his life. On Ninth Month 27, 1928, Bacon Evans brought his own family together at Springfield Meeting House in Delaware County. They heard testimonies to the iron strength and faithfulness of Jonathan Evans, and felt the spirit of love that largely failed at the time of the Separation. 31 years later, Jonathan Evans and His Time was published. In the course of time the efforts of Bacon Evans and other reconcilers bore fruit; today the SOF in Philadelphia is once again united.
Costume and Concern—Religious development was for Bacon Evans a slow and steady growth, unmarked by a sudden conversion. Integrity permeated the outward processes of Bacon Evans’ life. It developed after his stay in the Middle East. He had grown up among Friends who wore the plain, collarless coat; those he venerated wore also the Quaker hat. Because [such Quakers] were peculiar in dress and speech they could more easily become a pioneer in peculiar, unpopular causes. They often possessed a sly humor and gentle roguishness apparently out of keeping with the solemnity of their bearing.
The same integrity prompted him to uphold the old Quaker testimony of “plain language” [i.e. the use of “thou” and “thee,”] avoiding the use of the plural “you.” An English Friend writes: “I then knew nothing of William Bacon Evans except that his concern was for grammatical accuracy.” [Bacon Evans gently admonished the Englishman, and advocated the maintenance of “plain language.”] Negative reaction to his practicing plain language was rare [due to his unfailing courtesy]. (e.g. “Thank Thee, for thanking me”; “I am honored to wear the hat the once covered thy worthy head. I thank thee;” “Thank thee for talking with me.”) There was none of the ascetic in him, nor the recluse. He rejoiced in his family and in domestic life.
Civilian Public Service—Bacon Evans welcomed the plainest of work, and concern for peace permeated his actions. During Pendle Hill’s summer session in 1941 Bacon Evans was a staff associate, known as “our resident saint.” His more formal function was to assist certain students with their term papers. The daily morning meetings for worship that season sometimes attained an unusually high level, due in part to his presence. His ministry was not oracular, not “the word of the Lord unto you,” like the ministry of many old-time Friends. It seems to have sprung straight out of what had impressed him immediately before he arose to speak. When Yearly Meeting was faced with a difficult, dissatisfied Friend, Bacon Evans got up during a silence, walked over to the Friend, bowed, shook his hand, and sat down next to him, without saying a word.
The Civilian Public Service was formed to supply a place for pacifists whose consciences would not allow them to accept military services. Bacon Evans, not willing that the young should bear alone the brunt of the Quaker peace testimony, felt it laid upon him to do what he could for the men in the camps. He would join the men “on project.” “Frequently he would teach us, gracefully and without hurting feelings, how we could better handle the tools that we city slickers were not accustomed to using.” On another occasion, he was discussing the causes of the Separation while chopping down small trees. The Friend with him suggested Jonathan Evans, to which Bacon Evans replied: “Yes, I think great-grandfather had something to do with it.” This form of visitation was but one type of traveling in the ministry, of which he did so much.
For Historians, Genealogists, and Seekers after Truth—The Dictionary of Quaker Biography (DQB), a biographical dictionary was William Bacon Evans’ work; it occupied a large part of his time during the last 15-20 years of his life. [The handwritten slips were] stowed in an array of old fashioned filing boxes in the balcony of the Quaker Collection at Haverford College Library. [These were consolidated with an English production].
For his basic list he drew upon his wide acquaintance with contemporary Friends and his still wider reading of the works of past worthies. In his work he slipped in and out of the centuries readily, less bound by time and custom than most of us. Each morning he would go to the portrait in Rufus Jones’ office, “to greet my friend Rufus.” Elizabeth Vining and he worked near one another on their own projects, exchanging greetings and information before spending the rest of their time in silent work.
On 5th Day mornings Bacon Evans attended Haverford Meeting, along with resentful students, often in revolt against having to attend Meeting. During one tense Meeting, William Bacon Evans rose from the facing bench & solemnly said, “No man descends so low in the scale of social values as to admit he comes from New Jersey.” Amidst general, loud laughter he finished with, “And so it is with the SOF, many of whose members take delight in concealing the fact that their beliefs have anything to do with the main body of Christendom.”
In front of a supermarket in Haverford, and wearing an arrow on his head, he sold homemade puzzles and gadgets, the proceeds of which, running into some hundreds of dollars, were turned over to “Friendly and other causes”; occasionally he would also sell bird paintings. He would take his puzzles with him on his numerous trips to other Meetings. He passed them out at the United Nations. A woman of the Washington Square Meeting said, “If we could just set him loose in this place, we would have world peace within a year.”
William Bacon Evans was a children’s man with a bit of that mysterious charm of the Pied Piper. Some regarded him as someone slightly unbalanced; St. Francis was so-regarded in his time. The Haverford students never looked on him as a traditional conformist. Free of conventional bonds, our Friend could pass through barriers that most of us could not, and he could take others with him. He gently and patiently helped a member of the junior conference give his report to a crowd of hundreds for the first time.
Fare Thee Well—In spite of a sonnet to the contrary, no dullness of ear and eye was ever perceptible to the age mates of Bacon Evans. In the course of time he gave up bird walking and the early rising connected with it, taking up bird painting instead. He spent his last decade in the Friends Center at Third and Arch Street, and his last 2 weeks at the Stephen Smith Home for the Aged. He departed, as a matter of fact, without illness. After breakfast on the 25th of Second Month, 1964 he felt a pain, rose, and walked through the door . . . and was gone.
229. Henry Hodgkin, the road to Pendle Hill (by John Ormerod Greenwood; 1980)
About the Author—John Ormerod Greenwood’s unusual family name comes to us through a much loved grandfather who was a minister in the Methodist Church. He was born in 1907, and began to attend Friends’ Meetings after WWI because of their peace witness. In 1978 he completed his Quaker Encounters, a 3-volume study of Friends’ international work. His main interests have been in theater.
Foreword—This pamphlet embodies in revised form a lecture given to the Friends Historical Association and the Friends Social Union at their joint Spring Meeting at Alloway’s Creek Meetinghouse, South Jersey. It comes from Quaker Encounters, Henry T. Hodgkin: A Memoir, and Pendle Hill Archives.
“Please remember that we are learners always, and whatever helps us to see light will be welcome, whether the process be joyous or painful.” Henry Hodgkin.
[Introduction]—When Pendle Hill, the Quaker Center in Pennsylvania, was founded in 1930, it was felt that much would depend on the choice of its 1st director. Henry T Hodgkin was then in his mid-50s, [with a history of work in national Christian movements in 2 countries & missionary work in China]. Henry took the road to [“the other Pendle Hill”] in the belief that everything begins in the mind and the hidden life of the soul before it has material existence. Henry Theodore Hodgkin was born on April 21, 1877, in the North Country of England and died March 26, 1933 in Dublin. [He had only 2 years at Pendle Hill, which] he establish on the basis of work, worship, recreation, and social action as “a haven of rest, a school for the prophets, a laboratory of ideas, fellowship of cooperation.” They said when he died, that “the love and devotion of Henry Hodgkin have been built into its foundation.” He said: “Please remember that we are learners always, and whatever helps us to see light will be welcome, whether the process be joyous or painful.”
He was born among the proud Quaker clans of Darlington, “The Philadelphia of the North.” Their energy was matched by their intellectual range and philanthropic interests. So Henry started with all the advantages of birth and breeding, belief and money; and solid advantages they are for creating confidence in a potential leader of men. Henry’s advantages carried with them their own built-in disadvantages against which he constantly struggled: a touch of arrogance and knowing better; profound ignorance of an empty belly, narrow horizons, the absence of love. He stood just under 6ft. 5in., had a powerful voice and presence and was good at sports.
[Deviations from the Norm]—Instead of any form of British football, Henry played the new Canadian game of lacrosse; instead of cricket, he played lawn tennis. Henry’s interest in Foreign Missions came to dominate his life in general; Friends Foreign Mission Association (FFMA) [was of particular importance in his life]. A young Canadian Evangelical Friend, John T. Dorland was an inspiration for him. Dorland was joint secretary of the Friends Christian Fellowship Union, which Henry joined.
For a long time the place of youth in the Society of Friends had been to listen to their elders until age brought wisdom & they became “seasoned Friends.” Youth began to look upon itself as a separate & enviable order in Society, close to the source of inspiration & ready to criticize its hidebound elders. In 1895 at Cambridge, Henry Hodgkin became college representative for the Christian Union there, & joined the [international] Student Volunteer Missionary Union. When this Union found that only 20 colleges in the British Isles outside Oxford & Cambridge had any sort of religious organization, they started the Student Christian Movement.
Hodgkin encouraged the practice of taking decisions without voting, & of preceding important steps by holding “retreats.” Henry combined loyalty to Christ with faith in the scientific method. He said: “Faith isn't contrary to reason but an act of reason. We use it constantly in science & without it we would never advance.”
[Married Missionary]—[He did his medical training in St. Thomas Hospital, and in East End Mission Hospital in London, where he met Elizabeth Joy Montgomery from Northern Ireland. They were married in Northern Ireland on December 9th 1903. In May 1904, they offered to go to China. It took them from March until May 1905 to reach Szechwan, the most westerly province of China. There were only 24 of them in the mission, including the new arrivals. [The Quaker couple] made a good start, and helped to draw together not merely the little Quaker band, but the wider missionary community.
An ambitious scheme was formed to set up a West China Union University, one of the 13 planned in China. [Hodgkin’s talents and standing in the academic world] enabled him to help draw into the scheme not merely American and Canadian mission boards, but even the hesitant Anglican “Church Missionary Society.” Hodgkin pleaded that the colleges should have a federal rather than an organic relation the University and that it eventually should be in Chinese control. He succeeded in setting up an Educational Union for West China, and as secretary of the West China Conference [helped make progress in the Protestant ecumenical movement]. [He was greatly limited in his efforts by it being impossible for him to learn Chinese].
He had no patience with the argument that we should be Christians first & Quakers second. He said: “I am a Quaker because I am a Christian, & it is the devotion I feel towards Christ my Lord that makes me a keen Quaker. [That] prevents me from entering sympathetically into the attitude of mind that makes an antithesis where there is none.” The YMCA wanted him to run their organization in China; his father on the FFMA board wanted him to get more experience locally first. Henry wanted the YMCA job, but acquiesced regretfully to the view of his father & friends. There is no personal dilemma so bleak as that of being indispensable in too many places.
[Henry at the FFMA and the Fellowship of Reconciliation]—After the general secretary of the FFMA died suddenly on returning from India, Henry was brought home from to take his place, just after his 33rd birthday. He set up a Quaker Conference in 1914 which included non-Quaker speakers. He also attended “The World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship through the Churches in Switzerland. [When pulpits on both sides began preaching hate, Henry T. Hodgkin lost patience with the churches, & became a pacifist & a socialist.
A group that included clergymen continued to meet in London, but the pacifists withdrew when Henry’s paper was refused publication. They met at Cambridge in 1914 and agreed to found a new inter-denominational pacifist body, The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), chaired by Henry. He spoke in favor of starting such a movement in America. He wrote to Joy in 1915: “Just now the pull of America is very strong on me, and I wonder whether some day I shan’t want to bring thee and the children over here for a year or two, and try to make a more serious contribution to the problems than I have yet been able to make.”
He was bound to demonstrate his faith by constant speaking at public meetings, often in personal danger; by visiting prison and working for conscientious objectors, and by working for war relief and for civil liberties. At the end of the war he was chairman of the Jerusalem and Palestine Relief Fund. He wrote A Lay Religion and The Christian Revolution in connection with FOR. [His description of “religious specialists” [i.e. priest, theologian, and the “saint”] was: “He is with us today as arrogant as ever, as ready to bind burdens on others which he is unwilling to lift with his little finger. . . The truth is uttered glibly, or it is withheld in whole or in part, lest it should offend the wealthy and influential members of the congregation. . . The ordinary presentation of religion is not real. It is surrounded with subterfuge and sham; it is associated with medieval ceremonies.”
[Back to China]—After 4 years’ preparation, a Conference was convened in Shanghai in May 1922 by representatives of all the 130 Protestant denominations in 18 provinces of China. In spite of a tempting offer to be FOR’s secretary, he continued working in China. The Fundamentalist’s narrow faith and insistence on the inerrancy of the Bible led to their withdrawal from the National Christian Council. [His difficulties prompted 3 queries]: Is the state of luxury that separates us from even the best of our native fellow workers really necessary? Ought we to become Chinese subjects [completely]? Have we been afraid to speak the truth about our own failure, that of our own churches and countries, and so put back the cause of truth?
Henry Hodgkin abandoned hope for the Protestant church as he knew them, and began to build an alternative vision of the inter-penetration of faiths and culture, [particularly Christianity and Chinese Buddhism]; [he cited the early church’s] fusion of its Jewish inheritance with the philosophy of Greece and the organization of Rome. He hoped that: “Chinese Christianity might interpret Christianity in a far more thoroughgoing way than anything that is current in the West.” [He thought what was necessary was]: “such intimate relations with the few as will enable them to catch all that is best in our spirits, and to take up burdens we may have to lay down.” The FFMA Association which he had served as missionary and General Secretary had already disappeared into history. [The new Friends Service Council which he supported was inaugurated in 1926].
[The Road to Pendle Hill]—In 1918 he wrote in Lay Religion: “The way to find the truth is for each of us to examine his own actions, & from them deduce what his actual religion is. From that starting point & from that alone, can we begin to find our way to that religion by which we ought to live.” Pendle Hill was to be a cell provided for that starting point. [One of his issues with existing education was that]: There has been strikingly little integration of their lives around any moral, social, or spiritual passion”; intellect alone wasn't enough.
[His vision included]: “a synthesis of religious, scientific & aesthetic thought.” Many students “will find Pendle Hill's richest part outside the stated courses. . . There is an element of isolation or solitariness in the greatest personalities as well as development through stimulating fellowship.” [Pendle Hill wasn't] “a modern monastery.” The work of the house was [and is] to be “shared by all with a minimum of outside help . . . No rules, no credits, no penalties.” The fellowship was “student & faculty together working at the problems considered & share in their devotional life. . . There are resources in the spiritual world far greater than we commonly use.”
[As to the early history of Pendle Hill] I propose only to stress the strenuous wholeheartedness with which the Hodgkins committed themselves to the scheme, & the price they paid for it. There are still Monday night Extension Lectures open to the public. As of the last active school year a student could take “2 or at most 3 classes” each 2 to 2½ hours long involving the “interplay of student and teacher.” Most of the big things that Henry T. Hodgkin served have gone into oblivion together with the world he lived in. The Christian Revolution for which he hoped has still to take place. But the seed was planted, and grows.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
467. Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington: Scientific Genius, Philosopher, and Quaker Mystic (by Donald Vesey; 2021)
About the Author—Donald Vessey has a Ph. D. in bio-chemistry; he has retired and goes to San Diego Friends Meeting. He has served on committees there, has written 3 books, including Light from a Rising Soul, and contributed to Befriending Creation.
Who does not prize these moments that reveal to us the poetry of existence. Sir Arthur Eddington
[Introduction]/ Eddington's World—Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882-1944) was arguably the most influential Quaker since George Fox. He made daring contributions to the restoration of internationalism in science following WWI. His stance as a scientist & a man of spirit was an incredible risk of being dismissed—deemed unstable—because of his spiritual beliefs. This is someone everyone should know about for his Quaker faith's importance to his life's work, & to his selfless service to humanity, that we might possibly emulate them.
In the 20th century's beginning, science & materialism were thought to [explain] the world. Eddington knew, based on Quaker practice, of an "unseen spiritual world." [He shared this belief], and suggested that science didn't have & couldn't get all the answers. The motivation for his research stemmed from a desire to trace God's handiwork. Through his efforts he managed to restore collaboration among scientists of all nations. Eddington was also deeply imbedded in the Quaker Renaissance & the Manchester Conference in 1895. His lecture, Science & the Unseen World is an example of this, & his life a model of how to live personal faith in the world.
Early Life—Eddington was born in 1882. His father, a 4th generation farmer saw to it that he had an excellent education. After his father died in 1884, the family moved to Weston-super-Mare. He had a remarkable memory and affinity for numbers. He was admitted to Manchester University before he turned 16, and [mentored] by the principal, John William Graham, who spoke in 1895 at the Manchester Conference, a turning point in developing Liberal Quakerism, with its importance of the Inner Light and a constant pursuit of the truth; this suited Eddington's personality; he now began his lifelong passion for cycling.
His study-mentor was physicist and mathematician Arthur Schuster, who among other things stressed the importance of international cooperation in science; [this could have led] to Eddington lifelong friendship with Albert Einstein and his efforts to restore international scientific cooperation. At Cambridge he met Charles Trimble and began a lifelong friendship. He graduated in 1905, first in his class; Charles Trimble was fourth.
The Scientist—In 1906 he joined the Friends' Guild of Teachers, which trained teachers for Quaker schools. Eddington was an active participant in the Guild most of his life & served as president for several years. The same year he also got the position of Chief Assistant at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, working on skills in astronomy and statistical cosmology. Later that year he was admitted to the Royal Astronomical Society.
His spiritual life was frustrated by the London Quakers' largely conservative and evangelical stance, which did not support his Liberal, anti-creed, direct experience of Divine Presence views. He became a Cambridge professor and director of the Cambridge Observatory, where he lived. In 1914, he published Stellar Movements and the Structure of the Universe. As a teacher, he had a dull, classical Cambridge style; his public lectures were elegant and interesting. The family became lifelong members of the Jesus Lane Friends Meeting. Eddington was a relatively quiet attendee, never offering vocal ministry; a few times he rose and recited a poem into meeting. He was auditor of the meeting's accounts.
During WWI, Eddington was actively engaged in teaching and research; he was deeply opposed to taking life under any condition and of promoting the war effort, [even when faced with] fearful and angry citizens. When Great Britain switched to conscription, Eddington want to claim exemption as a conscientious objector (CO), which was widely viewed with contempt. He was exempted instead on grounds of national interest to continue his research, and received churlish treatment. He supported his meeting's very active pacifism and opposition to militarism. His exemption was terminated, and the university had to claim that he was indispensable to a total-eclipse field trip to Principe, a Portuguese island off the African coast, to get a new one for one year.
Willem de Sitter of the Netherlands alerted Eddington to the new theory of gravity developed by Einstein. The theory predicted that gravity warps space; space bends, curves near a massive object, such that one could see a star's image when it was behind the sun. Eddington helped prove this theory with photographs he took of stars during the eclipse; he wrote Einstein about it and Einstein approved.
Eddington and Einstein/ After Principe—Eddington felt he had not fully contributed as much during the war as his fellow Quakers. He saw an opportunity to make his Quaker contribution by helping to heal and restore international cooperation in science. He sought to build on his and Einstein's newfound fame, and to establish personal relationships that humanized the enemy and laid the groundwork for peace. Eddington saw Einstein's theory as a way to begin unification of international scientific cooperation. Eddington and Einstein had been allies for 5 years, not only in science but also in the peace movement; they didn't meet until June 1921. Einstein spoke at Burlington House, the center of British science; it was a success and a great accomplishment for Eddington; Einstein stayed with Eddington at the Cambridge Observatory during his subsequent visits to Britain.
Eddington published Space, Time & Gravitation: An Outline of General Relativity Theory in 1920, a best-seller for the general public; it revealed that relativity wasn't completely understood by anyone. He wrote in this book's last chapter: "All through the physical world runs unknown content, which must surely be the stuff of our consciousness." He wrote Mathematical Theory of Relativity, a textbook using tensor calculus, in 1923; he published The Internal Constitution of Stars in 1926; he applied the theory of relativity to problems in astronomy. In 1927, he published Stars and Atoms, an intellectual exposition on stars, the universe, and subatomic energy.
The Philospher & Quaker Mystic—In 1928, he published his Gifford Lectures on natural theology & the divergence of science and religion in edited form as The Nature of the Physical World. He starts with the physics of the material world, and then takes on the issue of the mind and the so-called mind-brain, of non-material consciousness and the brain's physical material mass. "The stuff of the world is mind-stuff ... The mind-stuff is the aggregation of relations and the related things which form the building material for the physical world."
Consciousness may be considered more real than the "seemingly" concrete. Consciousness can't be created by the action of atoms and molecules in the tissues of the brain. The picture we have in our mind of a red rose comes from some other realm. Somehow the mind & brain must interact. Everything has consciousness or a mind, including the brain; it is the pre-existent "background" of everything.
Eddington states his view of the mystical experience: "The nature of all reality is spiritual, not material nor dualism of matter and spirit ... [All our feelings, from those most apparent to those much deeper] are glimpses of a reality transcending the narrow limits of our particular consciousness ... Nature's harmony and beauty is one with the gladness the transfigures the face of man ... In the mystical feeling the truth is apprehended from within and is ... a part of ourselves ... Truth can only spring from a desire for truth which is in our nature."
[Science and the Unseen World, 1929]—Eddington's Swarthmore Lecture of 1929 was published that year as Science and the Unseen World. In it he reveals that what is missing from science's view of the universe's development and humankind's evolution is consciousness. The [disparate] natures of mind and brain doesn't change the fact that they must interact to produce conscious experience. "Penetrating as deeply as we can by the methods of physical investigation into the nature of a human being we reach only symbolic description ... Mind is the first and most direct thing in our experience; all else is remote inference."
Physics & mystics are dealing with 2 entirely different domains, so the unification of science is not strictly possible. There is an outlook for our environment other than the scientific one. Our environment may and should mean something towards us which is not to be measured or described by science. Eddington's concern was to "dispel the feeling that [in spirituality] we are doing something irrational and disobeying the leading of truth." Science pursues the truth of objective experience; religion pursues the truth of subjective experience. Eddington felt his search for spiritual Truth was no less valid than his search for Truth in Science. "If religion is not an attitude toward experience, but only a creed without contact with something [unexplainable & indescribable], it is not the Society of Friends' [worship or religion]. Professionals, both scientific and theological were upset by the books: scientists for his nonmaterialistic viewpoint; theologians for his lack of credentials as a theologian. Eddington ventured his best thoughts nonetheless.
Black Holes, the Big Bang, and Later Life—Eddington was knighted by the king in 1930, and selected for the Order of Merit, the 24 most significant members of the Commonwealth. He published 25 papers total in the fields of physics and astrophysics. For all this, there is one idea that fails [to break through one's ceiling of belief]. Eddington's was the existence of black holes, collapsed stars. When a brilliant young Indian mathematician presented mathematical proof, Eddington dismissed it. The proof was proven right 40 years later. He was a member of the National Peace Council, and its chairperson from 1941-43.
Eddington spent the last 10 years of his life working on a theory of everything. His final comment was, "I can't quite see through the proof but I am sure the result is correct." His work was edited and published posthumously under the title Fundamental Theory. It was considered a monumental work even though he was not successful. In the 1920's, the Russian mathematician Alexander Friedman and the Belgian priest Georges Lemaitre produced solutions to Einstein's equations that predicted the universe was in a state of constant change. The mathematical proof of the Big Bang was put forth in 1933. Eddington made remarks in 1929 that presaged this discovery. We can't get at the moment of the creation of everything, but it was the beginning of mass, time, & space from nothing, & must therefore have been created. The discoveries of science are consistent with the idea of a creative intelligence which created and sustains humanity; the creation event is beyond the reach of science.
Over the course of 1944, Eddington's health deteriorated & he was in considerable pain. Surgery revealed that he had stomach cancer. He lingered for 2 weeks and died on November 22, 1944. His sister Winifred, and best friend Charles Trimble collected material for a biography of Stanley. Very little personal material was available, as both Eddington and his sister destroyed most personal correspondence. The book was published in 1957, 3 years after Winifred's death in 1954. Eddington's research publications, lectures, conference presentations, books and efforts towards supporting peace and social justice constituted an immense life's work that could only be accomplished by a man of incredible intelligence, creativity, dedication, intensity and spirituality.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
[As to the early history of Pendle Hill] I propose only to stress the strenuous wholeheartedness with which the Hodgkins committed themselves to the scheme, & the price they paid for it. There are still Monday night Extension Lectures open to the public. As of the last active school year a student could take “2 or at most 3 classes” each 2 to 2½ hours long involving the “interplay of student and teacher.” Most of the big things that Henry T. Hodgkin served have gone into oblivion together with the world he lived in. The Christian Revolution for which he hoped has still to take place. But the seed was planted, and grows.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
467. Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington: Scientific Genius, Philosopher, and Quaker Mystic (by Donald Vesey; 2021)
About the Author—Donald Vessey has a Ph. D. in bio-chemistry; he has retired and goes to San Diego Friends Meeting. He has served on committees there, has written 3 books, including Light from a Rising Soul, and contributed to Befriending Creation.
Who does not prize these moments that reveal to us the poetry of existence. Sir Arthur Eddington
[Introduction]/ Eddington's World—Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882-1944) was arguably the most influential Quaker since George Fox. He made daring contributions to the restoration of internationalism in science following WWI. His stance as a scientist & a man of spirit was an incredible risk of being dismissed—deemed unstable—because of his spiritual beliefs. This is someone everyone should know about for his Quaker faith's importance to his life's work, & to his selfless service to humanity, that we might possibly emulate them.
In the 20th century's beginning, science & materialism were thought to [explain] the world. Eddington knew, based on Quaker practice, of an "unseen spiritual world." [He shared this belief], and suggested that science didn't have & couldn't get all the answers. The motivation for his research stemmed from a desire to trace God's handiwork. Through his efforts he managed to restore collaboration among scientists of all nations. Eddington was also deeply imbedded in the Quaker Renaissance & the Manchester Conference in 1895. His lecture, Science & the Unseen World is an example of this, & his life a model of how to live personal faith in the world.
Early Life—Eddington was born in 1882. His father, a 4th generation farmer saw to it that he had an excellent education. After his father died in 1884, the family moved to Weston-super-Mare. He had a remarkable memory and affinity for numbers. He was admitted to Manchester University before he turned 16, and [mentored] by the principal, John William Graham, who spoke in 1895 at the Manchester Conference, a turning point in developing Liberal Quakerism, with its importance of the Inner Light and a constant pursuit of the truth; this suited Eddington's personality; he now began his lifelong passion for cycling.
His study-mentor was physicist and mathematician Arthur Schuster, who among other things stressed the importance of international cooperation in science; [this could have led] to Eddington lifelong friendship with Albert Einstein and his efforts to restore international scientific cooperation. At Cambridge he met Charles Trimble and began a lifelong friendship. He graduated in 1905, first in his class; Charles Trimble was fourth.
The Scientist—In 1906 he joined the Friends' Guild of Teachers, which trained teachers for Quaker schools. Eddington was an active participant in the Guild most of his life & served as president for several years. The same year he also got the position of Chief Assistant at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, working on skills in astronomy and statistical cosmology. Later that year he was admitted to the Royal Astronomical Society.
His spiritual life was frustrated by the London Quakers' largely conservative and evangelical stance, which did not support his Liberal, anti-creed, direct experience of Divine Presence views. He became a Cambridge professor and director of the Cambridge Observatory, where he lived. In 1914, he published Stellar Movements and the Structure of the Universe. As a teacher, he had a dull, classical Cambridge style; his public lectures were elegant and interesting. The family became lifelong members of the Jesus Lane Friends Meeting. Eddington was a relatively quiet attendee, never offering vocal ministry; a few times he rose and recited a poem into meeting. He was auditor of the meeting's accounts.
During WWI, Eddington was actively engaged in teaching and research; he was deeply opposed to taking life under any condition and of promoting the war effort, [even when faced with] fearful and angry citizens. When Great Britain switched to conscription, Eddington want to claim exemption as a conscientious objector (CO), which was widely viewed with contempt. He was exempted instead on grounds of national interest to continue his research, and received churlish treatment. He supported his meeting's very active pacifism and opposition to militarism. His exemption was terminated, and the university had to claim that he was indispensable to a total-eclipse field trip to Principe, a Portuguese island off the African coast, to get a new one for one year.
Willem de Sitter of the Netherlands alerted Eddington to the new theory of gravity developed by Einstein. The theory predicted that gravity warps space; space bends, curves near a massive object, such that one could see a star's image when it was behind the sun. Eddington helped prove this theory with photographs he took of stars during the eclipse; he wrote Einstein about it and Einstein approved.
Eddington and Einstein/ After Principe—Eddington felt he had not fully contributed as much during the war as his fellow Quakers. He saw an opportunity to make his Quaker contribution by helping to heal and restore international cooperation in science. He sought to build on his and Einstein's newfound fame, and to establish personal relationships that humanized the enemy and laid the groundwork for peace. Eddington saw Einstein's theory as a way to begin unification of international scientific cooperation. Eddington and Einstein had been allies for 5 years, not only in science but also in the peace movement; they didn't meet until June 1921. Einstein spoke at Burlington House, the center of British science; it was a success and a great accomplishment for Eddington; Einstein stayed with Eddington at the Cambridge Observatory during his subsequent visits to Britain.
Eddington published Space, Time & Gravitation: An Outline of General Relativity Theory in 1920, a best-seller for the general public; it revealed that relativity wasn't completely understood by anyone. He wrote in this book's last chapter: "All through the physical world runs unknown content, which must surely be the stuff of our consciousness." He wrote Mathematical Theory of Relativity, a textbook using tensor calculus, in 1923; he published The Internal Constitution of Stars in 1926; he applied the theory of relativity to problems in astronomy. In 1927, he published Stars and Atoms, an intellectual exposition on stars, the universe, and subatomic energy.
The Philospher & Quaker Mystic—In 1928, he published his Gifford Lectures on natural theology & the divergence of science and religion in edited form as The Nature of the Physical World. He starts with the physics of the material world, and then takes on the issue of the mind and the so-called mind-brain, of non-material consciousness and the brain's physical material mass. "The stuff of the world is mind-stuff ... The mind-stuff is the aggregation of relations and the related things which form the building material for the physical world."
Consciousness may be considered more real than the "seemingly" concrete. Consciousness can't be created by the action of atoms and molecules in the tissues of the brain. The picture we have in our mind of a red rose comes from some other realm. Somehow the mind & brain must interact. Everything has consciousness or a mind, including the brain; it is the pre-existent "background" of everything.
Eddington states his view of the mystical experience: "The nature of all reality is spiritual, not material nor dualism of matter and spirit ... [All our feelings, from those most apparent to those much deeper] are glimpses of a reality transcending the narrow limits of our particular consciousness ... Nature's harmony and beauty is one with the gladness the transfigures the face of man ... In the mystical feeling the truth is apprehended from within and is ... a part of ourselves ... Truth can only spring from a desire for truth which is in our nature."
[Science and the Unseen World, 1929]—Eddington's Swarthmore Lecture of 1929 was published that year as Science and the Unseen World. In it he reveals that what is missing from science's view of the universe's development and humankind's evolution is consciousness. The [disparate] natures of mind and brain doesn't change the fact that they must interact to produce conscious experience. "Penetrating as deeply as we can by the methods of physical investigation into the nature of a human being we reach only symbolic description ... Mind is the first and most direct thing in our experience; all else is remote inference."
Physics & mystics are dealing with 2 entirely different domains, so the unification of science is not strictly possible. There is an outlook for our environment other than the scientific one. Our environment may and should mean something towards us which is not to be measured or described by science. Eddington's concern was to "dispel the feeling that [in spirituality] we are doing something irrational and disobeying the leading of truth." Science pursues the truth of objective experience; religion pursues the truth of subjective experience. Eddington felt his search for spiritual Truth was no less valid than his search for Truth in Science. "If religion is not an attitude toward experience, but only a creed without contact with something [unexplainable & indescribable], it is not the Society of Friends' [worship or religion]. Professionals, both scientific and theological were upset by the books: scientists for his nonmaterialistic viewpoint; theologians for his lack of credentials as a theologian. Eddington ventured his best thoughts nonetheless.
Black Holes, the Big Bang, and Later Life—Eddington was knighted by the king in 1930, and selected for the Order of Merit, the 24 most significant members of the Commonwealth. He published 25 papers total in the fields of physics and astrophysics. For all this, there is one idea that fails [to break through one's ceiling of belief]. Eddington's was the existence of black holes, collapsed stars. When a brilliant young Indian mathematician presented mathematical proof, Eddington dismissed it. The proof was proven right 40 years later. He was a member of the National Peace Council, and its chairperson from 1941-43.
Eddington spent the last 10 years of his life working on a theory of everything. His final comment was, "I can't quite see through the proof but I am sure the result is correct." His work was edited and published posthumously under the title Fundamental Theory. It was considered a monumental work even though he was not successful. In the 1920's, the Russian mathematician Alexander Friedman and the Belgian priest Georges Lemaitre produced solutions to Einstein's equations that predicted the universe was in a state of constant change. The mathematical proof of the Big Bang was put forth in 1933. Eddington made remarks in 1929 that presaged this discovery. We can't get at the moment of the creation of everything, but it was the beginning of mass, time, & space from nothing, & must therefore have been created. The discoveries of science are consistent with the idea of a creative intelligence which created and sustains humanity; the creation event is beyond the reach of science.
Over the course of 1944, Eddington's health deteriorated & he was in considerable pain. Surgery revealed that he had stomach cancer. He lingered for 2 weeks and died on November 22, 1944. His sister Winifred, and best friend Charles Trimble collected material for a biography of Stanley. Very little personal material was available, as both Eddington and his sister destroyed most personal correspondence. The book was published in 1957, 3 years after Winifred's death in 1954. Eddington's research publications, lectures, conference presentations, books and efforts towards supporting peace and social justice constituted an immense life's work that could only be accomplished by a man of incredible intelligence, creativity, dedication, intensity and spirituality.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
About the Author—Margaret Hope Bacon in the author of 15 books of biography, history, memoir & fiction, all concerning Quaker subjects. She worked for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) for 22 years. She has served on the board of the Friends Historical Association. She has served Pendle Hill as a Friend In Residence & teacher of several weeklong courses. Currently she is a Pamphlets Working Group member.
[Introduction]—Henry Joel Cadbury (1883-1974), spent his lifetime practicing the Christian message in every aspect of his life and reaching out to activists more committed to [social activism] than to abstract theology. A biblical scholar of world renown, Henry Cadbury was one of the finest scholars the Religious Society of Friends has produced. [1 of 9] translators of the Revised Standard Version of the NT, he published 29 books and over 100 scholarly articles. His works and his book The Perils of Modernizing Jesus are still widely used.
As a committed pacifist, he several times suffered for that belief. As a founder & twice chair of AFSC, he guided it from tentative beginnings to a worldwide service that won the 1947 Nobel Prize. He prodded Quaker schools to admit African American students and helped the Society of Friends to face [its] racism. He defended the civil liberties of those accused of un-American activities. [As a biblical scholar], Henry Cadbury always insisted that Jesus must be understood in terms of the religion and culture in which he was brought up.
[Family & Education]—Henry Cadbury must be understood as a product of a long-established Orthodox Quaker family & culture, as the youngest of 6 children. He attended Penn Charter School, & Haverford College. He graduated with honors in Greek & philosophy in 1903. He graduated from Harvard with a M. A. in 1904 & a Ph. D. in 1913. Marrying Elizabeth Jones, he moved next-door to his brother-in-law Rufus Jones. Henry’s dissertation, published in 1920 as The Style and Literary Method of Luke, won him recognition throughout the world of biblical scholarship. Henry brought to all his studies a method of careful study, likened by some to detective work. He gathered together a group of young Hicksite and Orthodox Friends to examine the reasons for the 1827 separation of the 2 branches of Quakers; it was a 1st step towards reconciliation.
[World War I and Controversy]—A deeply committed pacifist from the 1st, Henry believed that war was totally at variance with Jesus’ whole life and teachings, as well as being madness for society at large. Quaker leaders, including Rufus Jones, saw this as an opening to bring the various groups of Friends together to cooperate in the practical task of providing alternative service for conscientious objectors (CO’s). The 3 groups meeting on April 30, 1917 was the birth of AFSC; Henry was actively involved with it the rest of his life. The AFSC could provide legal defense in the Philadelphia area. Some CO who could go overseas got Red Cross training. AFSC also sent 6 women to Russia to help with famine relief there.
Henry Cadbury wrote articles decrying the rising tide of nationalism and German-hatred. He wrote: “The spirit of implacable hatred and revenge exhibited by many persons in this country indicates that it is our nation which is the greatest obstacle to a clean peace and lest worthy of it.” Henry wrote this on Haverford stationery. [It caused widespread anger. Henry tearfully and reluctantly resigned]. He was also distressed to think that the case might go down in history as a classic example of the curtailment of academic freedom. Henry accepted a 1-year position at Andover Theological Seminary in Cambridge, closely associated with Harvard Divinity School.
Henry was becoming increasingly concerned about conditions in Germany as a result of the blockade imposed by the Allies. In 1919 2 Quakers and Jane Addams traveled to Germany for AFSC. The Quaker Herbert Hoover, then chairman of the American Relief Administration, asked AFSC to undertake the feeding of all German children. Henry went to Germany in 1920 for AFSC.
Henry lectured on “The Social Translation of the Gospel” at Andover in 1920. Andover continued to renew Henry Cadbury’s contract. [After a 3-year lawsuit], when subscription to the very conservative Andover Creed became a requirement for employment in 1925, the Andover faculty immediately resigned. He decided to accept an offer to teach biblical literature at Bryn Mawr College, not far from Haverford. From 1926-1934, Henry Cadbury balanced teaching & scholarly work with active participation in Philadelphia Friends. Enjoying access to the Haverford College Library’s Quaker Collection, Henry pursued his lifelong interest in Quaker history, published annotated versions of many early Quaker journals of ministers, restored Fox’s “Book of Miracles,” & took a scholarly interest in Norwegian Quakers who settled in the US & the Quakers in Barbados.
[Quakers & African-Americans]—Henry Cadbury studied & wrote about early British & American Quaker abolitionists, in particular Anthony Benezet, the Philadelphia Friend who established & taught at a school for African-Americans in the 1700’s. He generously turned over all his research to someone else at work on Benezet. Henry Cadbury also collected data on the few African-Americans who had become Friends. At an address to the African-American Cheyney Training School for Teachers, he made a point of how much African-Americans had aided Quakers in their slow evolution toward a tender conscience on issues of racial discrimination.
The Society of Friends still needed (& needs) help in ridding itself of racism. From 1932-42, the 2 Philadelphia YM’s Race Relations Committees & AFSC sponsored conference with Henry as chair. Henry [asked] schools to be “enterprises which are faithful to the Society of Friends' principles & testimonies.” [Philadelphia & New York schools slowly & somewhat reluctantly admitted African-Americans in the 30’s & 40’s. In an Earlham College speech, Henry spoke of the importance of ending segregation in housing & employment.
[Social Action & Belief, RSV, & Sabbatical]—Henry Cadbury became aware how many young women & men, were attracted more to social work & action than to the organized religion in which they had grown up. He said: “Belief & action are complementary. I am impressed how much inner religion is fostered by social concern … Action, often incoherent & inarticulate, leads to thought, & can lead to spiritual growth.”
In 1929 Henry was invited by the American Standard Bible Committee with 8 others, to prepare a New Testament Revised Standard Version; others were working on the Old Testament. His family would joke, “He’s in New York, rewriting God’s word.” On sabbatical at Woodbrooke in Birmingham he worked on George Fox’s papers, producing Annual Catalogue of George Fox’s Papers, & reconstructing George Fox’s Book of Miracle.
[Harvard Divinity School]—Henry Cadbury was invited back to Harvard to fill the Hollis Chair of Divinity. During his 1st year, he was invited to give Lowell lectures at Boston’s historic King’s Chapel. He said: “When religious spirit exists, it is marked by the same power, insight, instinctive virtue & persistent efficiency marking Jesus’ career.” Henry Cadbury was opposed to taking oaths, to tests of loyalty, & to threats to academic freedom. He joined a group of Massachusetts professors who agreed to file signed papers stating their objections. He defended other teachers who refused to sign the oath, & Jehovah Witnesses who refused to salute the flag.
Henry Cadbury had not had a mystical opening and was convinced that many other Quakers had not been mystics; instead, they lived a religious life. [Rufus Jones and Howard Brinton argued for continental mysticism as the source of Quakerism; Henry Cadbury and] Geoffrey Nuttall traced Quaker thought to the radical edge of the Puritan movement. Henry said: “Must it be either/or? Can’t it be both/and?”
[Jewish Refugees, World War II, and Nobel Prize]—Quakers had been feeding children on both sides of the conflict in Spain; their attention now turned to helping as many Jewish families as possible to leave Germany. [Efforts to provide German interpreters to foreign consulates were met with indifference, if not resistance, by the State Department]. After the European war broke out, he said: “War is an immoral act sanctioned by otherwise moral men. Nations condone ruthlessness as a means to an end and blame God, man and the devil for their behavior,” and “If you ever hear a CO before a tribunal, you will notice … embarrassing questions asked of him that can be matched by equally embarrassing questions to be asked the court.”
In 1940 Henry Cadbury returned to the British Isles. The Quaker visitors observed the damage from German bombing raids. In Lisbon on the way home Henry wrote his 1st “Letter from the Past,” this one on Quaker contacts with Portugal. At home, Henry Cadbury wrote and preached against the growing menace of war with renewed passion. Pearl Harbor and US entry into the war was a blow to his hopes.
Henry visited Civilian Public Service camps and wrote [of the frustration found there]: “It would be well if more of us could learn to be more earnest and content about the things we may do even though they may seem irrelevant to the most imposing events of our time. It is far more realistic than the ostrich-like absorption of belligerents in their own self defeating enterprise.”
Rufus Jones resigned from the AFSC for reasons of health; Henry Cadbury resumed the chairmanship. He traveled to Washington for Friends Committee on National Legislation, and to regional AFSC offices around the country. He wrote in the annual report: “[As with Gandhi] nothing less than an experiment with truth can satisfy the Christian liberal.” In the book Jesus, What Manner of Man, he emphasized how Jesus thought, and made the point that Jesus always demanded something extra of his disciples.
In summer 1947 Henry & Lydia Cadbury chaperoned a shipload of young volunteers bound for Europe. After they returned home, they learned that AFSC had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Henry borrowed a tuxedo from AFSC to receive award. At the ceremony he said: “The common people of all nations want peace … You are saying to them here today that common folk, not statesmen, not generals, not great men of affairs, but just simple plain men & women … can do something to build a better peaceful world. The future hope of peace lies with such personal sacrificial service.” Rufus Jones convened a group that proposed a “Peace of God” to preserve Jerusalem as a center for all faiths. Fighting broke out before the commission reached Jerusalem.
Life After Rufus Jones; Final years at Harvard—“Peace of God” was Rufus Jones’ last creative act. He died of a heart attack in June 1948. For many it was the end of an era. Quakers & others turned increasingly to Henry Cadbury for leadership. Domestic peace in the US was disturbed by McCarthyism, with its loyalty oaths, & growing suspicions of organizations like AFSC. Appearing on behalf of people unjustly accused, Henry Cad-bury often found it necessary to explain who Quakers were & what they believed. Henry said: “Our critics can’t understand religion whose genius is precisely the continuity of change, [of not settling] down into conformity.”
In a lecture Henry Cadbury argued that since early Friends believed that the same Holy Spirit spoke directly to them, they felt that they should read the Bible in light of their own inner revelations and respond when the saints’ experiences and insights “answered to theirs. Henry said: “The Bible is not the dictator of our conduct and faith. It is rather the record of persons who exemplified faith and virtue … What is true in the Bible is there because it is true, not true because it is there.”
[In class], Henry Cadbury’s Socratic method, along with his reluctance to impose his views on others, permitted him to meet the needs of fundamentalist students without challenging their basic assumptions; many looked back with affection for and real appreciation of Henry Cadbury’s guidance in understanding the Bible in light of the times in which it was written. One of Henry’s themes was that the 1st gospel writers carefully selected what they recorded for a purpose. Henry said: “The material now in the gospel was preserved because it served a purpose. It is not an accidental residue of all that Jesus began to do and teach. [It is for] teaching, reproof, correction, and for training in righteousness.” In The Book of Acts in History, he wrote: “There is too much tendency to regard Christianity as something unique and apart in its origin; it did not grow in vacuo … The setting of the NT in it contemporary environment should correct also the tendency to unduly modernize it.”
[Philadelphia: AFSC; Teaching; Scholarship]—In the Spring of 1954 & amid great acclaim, Henry Cadbury retired from Harvard. Henry & Lydia packed their bags & headed for Philadelphia; they spent 2 years living & lecturing at Pendle Hill. In addition to being profound, Henry Cadbury could be very funny. Henry had no intention of retiring from teaching. With delight he agreed to teach at Haverford & later at Bryn Mawr. At the Swarthmore Lecture in London he said: “If Quakerism's role among denominations is one of enriching variety and challenging their standards of uniformity, we ought by the same token to welcome variety within our small body.” At Radnor MM he said, “Why spend your whole life studying the seed catalog? Why not plant one’s garden and see what comes up? After 2 years at Pendle Hill, the Cadburys returned to their home in Haverford. He helped 12th Street Meeting to arrange its reunion with Race Street Meeting, the other big downtown meeting.
Henry Cadbury participated enthusiastically in a silent vigil outside the Pentagon showing concern about nuclear proliferation. In a Pendle Hill talk, he suggested that public witness, nonviolence and civil disobedience were only new names for older and forgotten Quaker experiences. [In biblical scholarship], The Eclipse of the Historical Jesus was published by Pendle Hill in 1964; Behind the Gospels came out in 1968. He was still writing his delightful “Letters from the Past,” always suiting the past story to some contemporary issue. He said that the true tradition of Quakerism was change and development—“moving as way opens.”
Henry Cadbury resigned from the position of board chair of AFSC in 1960 but continued to play an active role. [He continued to publish collections of works he had done over the years.] Henry Cadbury’s scholarship, particularly his work on Luke and Acts, is still used by students of the Bible. He supported the call of the Black Power movement for reparations, citing several instances when Friends paid reparations in the past. “Pioneer!” he urged his audience—“Pioneer with abandon!” At a 1974 dedication, some thought Henry seemed very frail and elderly when he rose to speak, but as he warmed up to his subject, his voice regained its old vigor and his eyes their twinkle. He died a short time later, on October 7, 1974.
A humble, modest, quiet man, Henry Cadbury had no idea the effect of his life on other people. The AFSC bears his imprint. He never abandoned his belief that the translation of the gospel message into action was an expression of the religious impulse. Making the Society of Friends more open to people of color [was a part of his lifelong commitment and pioneering activity. Henry Cadbury’s message that [social] action can be translated into belief encouraged social activists to join the Society and helped them on their journey to a more profound spiritual life. Henry Cadbury taught us to see the divine in the ordinary challenges of life.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
176. Anna Brinton: A Study in Quaker Character (by Eleanore Price Mather; 1971)
We give thanks for the things that change not in the midst of man’s confusion, for the beauty of the world & the upholding strength of household affection. We pray that we may perfect our relationships, increase our obedience to God and our serviceableness to one another, through the grace and mercy of the ever living Christ.
1. Youth and Aunt Kate—In 1914 Anna Cox stood at the window of her Berlin pension. Anna was an American citizen caught in the German war zone. Her sister lay in a nearby hospital; her mother Lydia Cox was also in Berlin. Austria had declared war on Serbia. Banks were not accepting letters of credit; only gold. A representative of the Y.M.C.A., Dr. Naismith brought them gold. This messenger had reached them through channels opened to him by Herbert Hoover, whom Lydia had nursed as a young student at Stanford. Helping in time of need regardless of circumstances was a family tradition with the Beans and the Coxes.
Anna was born October 19, 1887 in San Jose, CA. [She attended] the little Friends meeting house less than 2 blocks down the street. This meeting had been founded by their grandparents, Joel & Hannah Bean, who were disowned by Iowa YM. The girls received elementary education at home [from their parent-teachers]. After 6 years of intermediate work at a local school, Anna went to Westtown, a Quaker boarding school in Philadelphia.
Her college was Leland Stanford University. She lived at home & commuted. The 1906 Earthquake (April 18) struck campus; she still went to school [& viewed the devastation]. By fall the university had recovered sufficiently to hold classes. Her grandmother’s sister, Aunt Kate (Catherine Shipley) would take her to Europe during the summer. She said: “It was Aunt Kate who got me over being excessively timid. I was so timid I could hardly brace up to anything. It was Aunt Kate & her trips that cured me, [carrying her luggage & buying tickets].
Of course Aunt Kate embarrassed us all. She’d go places she wasn’t invited, & somehow it always came off well.” The 1st European trip in 1908 included a visit at Hannah Whitall Smith, a popular religious writer; [she had many well-known relatives]. Hannah was a great temperance worker. She asked Aunt Kate to come to lunch & speak at a temperance meeting afterward. Aunt Kate met Anna & Lydia in London after they had escaped Berlin. Aunt Kate [cheered on the soldiers marching by]. Cousin Sue said: “But Auntie, thee doesn’t believe in all this!” Aunt Kate respond: “Of course not, dear. But I thought they needed a little encouragement.”
2. Academic & Otherwise—With a doctorate from Leland Stanford, Anna taught Latin at Mills college. Her sister Catherine urged her to join in AFSC’s post-war work in Germany. Howard Brinton joined her in exploring the needs of Upper Silesia in southern Poland. An English Friend said firmly, “If respectable people can’t do what they want to, who can?” Anna said: “This dictum recurred to [me] again & again at Mills College.”
Howard & Anna had met before without apparent effect. Helpful voices in Quaker circles kept reminding [the couple of one another]. They walked to the Dresden Museum of Modern Art. Both agreed it was modern; neither was sure it was art. Howard had been brought up with the traditional Quaker respect for the natural sciences, & a touch of suspicion for the arts. & though he has spent many years in the service of religion & philosophy he has never left the scientific outlook of his years as a physics teacher.
In Silesia, Anna traveled from one university to another to discuss arrangements for student feeding, [discussing the problem in detail with the Rector of Koenigsburg, in Latin. From time to time she would return to Breslau. She and Howard went to opera and dinner together. Then Anna was called home by the serious illness of her mother. [It was to be an eventful trip home].
The head of the AFSC unit in Germany asked Anna to escort 7-year-old Elfreida, who looked like an angel, to San Francisco. [The child Rosa joined them as far as New York]. Their behavior was anything but that of angels. It included: a snowstorm of goose feathers from a ripped-open pillow; filthy language on the voyage home; stalling bedtime with prayers and hymns; killing another passenger’s canary. A month after she delivered Elfreida to the Brautigans she received 4 dozen red roses.
The letter which had sustained Anna’s courage during the trials of her homeward voyage contained a marriage proposal. [Her letter of acceptance] was followed by several months silence. After 3 months came a torrent of letters 30 strong, delayed by post-war disorganization in Europe. She was a member of Philadelphia's 12th Street Meeting, & almost got married on the West Coast in College Park without her meeting’s sanction. Clearance was sent by wire, which caught up to the wedding party on the way to the meeting house (1921).
The following autumn the young couple went to Earlham College, where Anna was to teach the classics, Howard physics; 3 Brinton children were born here: Lydia; Edward; and Catherine. Life was more than full for Anna, but her energy and resources were monumental. Howard had received his doctor’s degree in Philosophy and Physics, and extended his teaching to include Bible and History of Religion at Mills College. Anna returned as Professor of Archaeology and found herself Convener of the School of Fine Arts. She sailed for the Orient to study Chinese Art 6 months after Joan’s birth. [She had a fascination with Virgil’s Aeneid, and prepared a book entitled A Pre-Raphelite Aeneid from an old manuscript she found].
3.Upmeads—Upmeads was utopian land described by William Morris in his book, Well at the World’s end. It was also the name given by the Brintons to their Mills College home, & latter applied to the attractive stone house at Pendle Hill to which they moved in 1936. It is entirely likely that Morris’ [appreciation of the aesthetic] & his inspiration played a part in the aesthetic dimension which she brought to Pendle Hill, a school-in-community. She brought Far Eastern art & beautifully printed editions of ancient works into Pendle Hill life.
Howard was Director of Studies; she was Director of Administration. His work was contained in the daylight & early evening hours; hers knew no bounds. All housekeeping at Pendle Hill was shared by community. Anna’s role was to find a place for everyone. “Log Night” entertainment at the end of summer school 1938, included a super-charade entitled “Nothing Fails Like Success.” On the afternoon before the performance the living room of Upmeads was in a creative ferment. [Howard, at a loss for how he could assist, resorted to a comfortable chair and his well-worn copy of William James’ Varieties of Religious Experience.”] Anna’s response to this was: “Howard, is thee going to try to help, or is thee just going to fool? Her long-accepted role in the performance was the black-robed villainess “The Spirit of Organization that Kills.”
The heart of Pendle Hill was Upmeads, & the heart of Upmeads was family. Anna Brinton never allowed the mothering of Pendle Hill to preclude her mothering of Lydia, Ed, Cathie, & Joanie; her love & understanding of children was miraculous. Edward visited Easter Island in 1957 or 1958. He traded for a wooden lizard-like creature representing Aku-Aku, a guardian spirit of conscience & imagination carved by the mayor. Joanie asked her father permission to go to Swarthmore with Pendle Hill men. When asked about it she said: “I try to [always ask Father’s permission]. It gives him a feeling of authority.
Community living is fraught with tension. A group of such extreme individualists as were gathered at Pendle Hill would have gone to pieces without some degree of organization; Anna’s authority cured more than it killed. Harsh words are said these days about manipulation. Yet there is no mother of a family worth her salt who does not exercise this technique in a benevolent way. Benevolent manipulation requires discernment, [which] Anna Brinton had. She felt that each person here must be caught up in the great things of life that one is about. By 1950 the lure of wider horizons of service made her decide to give her full energies to the AFSC. It was on a perfect day in May that she persuaded Dan Wilson to be her successor as Executive Director of Administration.
4. Tokyo—Anna Brinton pointed out that humor is congenial with Quakerism. The comic spirit has emerged from leaders as diverse in talent as Nicholas Waln, Edward Hicks, George Fox, and Henry Cadbury. Anna’s humor was of a very special sort. She was able to perceive the ludicrous in situations which were not basically funny, and to enjoy it. [Anna went to London to] study the Japanese language in preparation for her assignment at the Friends Center in Tokyo. Europe and its conferences were only the 1st leg of a journey which was to carry the Brintons from Rome to Beirut and thence to India and Japan. [Anna’s AFSC offices included]: Commissioner for Asia, and Director of International Relations Program. She helped provide bees for Canning, India. 15 years later she learned of the “good honey industry at Canning,” which had great emotional impact.
In Tokyo in 1952, the Brintons found Japanese struggling to overcome post-war humiliation & poverty, & the trauma of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. Esther Rhoads helped them adjust. 2 relief centers were run by Friends in Tokyo, Setagaya & Toyama Heights. Anna wrote: “March is graduation season in Japan, from nursery school to university; formal exercises mark the transition from one education stage to the next. The charming gravity of [a ceremony] for 4-year-olds is indelibly fixed in my remembrance. Addresses by grown-ups were brief & vivid.”
She also wrote: “Taste and appreciation are not killed by adversity … Flower arrangement, lyrical drama, and above all calligraphy are, my mind, the heart of our program”; for Japan, this was the way. Anna particularly prized the religious expression of this art, joining in the crowds which visited Japan’s temples and monasteries. [In Ise, almost 220 miles (350 km) southwest of Tokyo], “we, with hundreds of others in kimonos viewed the sunrise beyond the “wedded rocks,” … indeed a splendid sight.”
She understood the need for an affirmation of Japanese tradition at this time; soldiers & American officials provoked resentment among the Japanese. She felt a deep sympathy for the service man, isolated in a strange land without the outlets of home & family. Personal contacts between Japanese & Americans were good. [The local military police made friends with the children of the Setagaya Center, celebrating Christmas with them & giving an organ to the nursery. Anna attended a dinner where Esther Rhoads entertained the Crown Prince].
While Anna’s efforts were focused on the Centers in Tokyo, Howard was visiting many school, & university groups, institutes, & Friends meetings. He gave the opening address at the World Pacifist Conference in April 1954, [& attended] the dedication of peace monument at Yamagata. Anna writes: “We marched with yellow-robed priests from Ceylon; some Indians wore business suits, others their Prince Alberts… The chant, “Hail to the Lotus [scripture] of Perfect Truth,” gave a rhythm for our walking, & faintly or more loudly was heard at any hour of the day or night; [it was the last sound we heard on our departure]. Kimoko Nunokawa wrote a poem for Anna, including the lines: “Flowers of love bloomed wherever you walked/Fruits of love ripened wherever you touched// We saw—very often—that/ Your feet were carried to the sick children: /Your eyes were put on poor people/ & a miracle of love was revealed there// We saw—very often—that/ You were surrounded by many children:/ We felt children’s lovely smile &/ Your noble benevolent eyes brought there heaven …”
5. Miracles and Impediments—On their return to Pendle Hill from Japan, Howard and Anna became Directors Emeriti. They retired to a cottage that they named Matsudo, in the shadow of a row of pines. Anna, sprung of a family of philanthropedes, was an incurable one. She went with Barbara Bachouseff, to visit the Dukhobors (Sons of Freedom) in British Columbia. Anna Brinton was so free from the bondage of convention that she never rebelled against it. [This included being at ease among] “2 dozen women, old and young, stripped of their clothing, [who] sat down [by a river bank to hear] funny stories from Russian folklore.” Anna’s impediments made her life harder, but they did not stop her. [She completed a book review in a few days instead of taking the usual 6 to 8 weeks]. Anna said: “Thee said thee needed it in a hurry, didn’t thee?”
At memorial service held at 12th Street Meeting, [many shared the sentiment of the 1st speaker]: “Nobody knew Anna Brinton as I did.” Such was Anna’s genius for human relationships that she gave to each friend a unique part of herself. We sat down together to go over the pamphlet manuscript “The Atonement of George Fox,” by Emilia Norlind. Anna had met her shortly after she had been resuscitated. Anna said: “I remember what a turn it gave me when she told me she’d died. She didn’t want to come back. Got use to it, though.”
Anna lived beyond the opposites, realizing that in joy there is tragedy, & in tragedy joy, as one who looks on a pattern from above & sees the whole. This magnitude enabled her to [be comfortable with the Dukhobors], & to feel spiritual empathy with communicants like Zen Buddhists & Roman Catholics, while keeping her Quakerism. [She took the manuscript, even though she had eye trouble]. I asked her how the eye was progressing.
Anna Brinton said: “The doctor says all I’ll be able to see is light. But I think light’s a good thing to see!”
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
About the Author—Anthony Manousos joined the Religious Society of Friends in 1985, and is currently editor of Friend's Bulletin. He wrote the 1992 PHP (#301) Spiritual Linkage with Russians: The Story of a Leading. In 1993, the author helped start and lead a youth service program in southern California and Mexico under the auspices of American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Southern California QM.
Living the Peace Testimony/ The Brintons—As directors and teachers at Pendle Hill (PH) for over 20 years, and nurturers of Pacific Yearly Meeting, Howard (1884-1973) and Anna (1887-1969) played a significant role in Quakerism's development in the eastern and western US. Their writings are still widely read, and they were active in AFSC from its early post-World War I through the 1960s. The Quaker Peace Testimony was a key element in their lives. Their life story exemplifies many of the challenges of nationalism, totalitarianism, and global war that peace activists had to confront during this past century. This pamphlet focuses on: their post-World War I AFSC work; peace education work at PH; ecumenical work in Asia.
"[Anna and Howard], the most interesting Quaker couple since George Fox married Margaret Fell" (Thomas Hamm). Howard Brinton & Anna Cox both came from families deeply rooted in Quaker tradition and history. Howard was introvert, scholar, and mystic; Anna was activist, organizer, and academic. Anna was born in west central California as Anna Shipley Cox. Her maternal grandparents started College Park Association of Friends in California. This Meeting's Iowa YM members were removed from Iowa YM's rolls, [mostly for] "unsound" theological views. Anna was educated mostly in California, and toured Europe with "Aunt Kate" Shipley for a year. After World War I, Anna did AFSC relief work in Europe; she met Howard Brinton there.
Howard Brinton was born in southeastern PA to a Quaker family whose roots went back almost 300 years to the early settlement of PA. He had 1 Orthodox and 1 Hicksite Friend parent. He went to Haverford College, studied with Rufus Jones, and received his master's degree in 1905. He earned a master's in physics from Harvard. He earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of California in 1925.
Relief Work for the AFSC After World War I—Howard's primary concern as acting president of Guilford College was to calm the troubled waters [of a recent campus controversy] and raise funds. He also took an interest in conscientious objectors. Howard joined the AFSC publicity department in 1919, and traveled to Europe July 1920. The office in Philadelphia was Wilbur Thomas, Howard, and 2 or 3 secretaries. He thought he would be a more effective publicist if he were stationed in Germany rather than in Philadelphia. Other Brintons, a cousin and a brother, were involved in post-war relief work.
Howard & Anna met around the end of 1920 in Berlin, took walks, & visited art galleries. They had so much in common that Howard wrote her a letter proposing marriage. Howard wrote in part to AFSC: "[In Upper Silesia a vote will] be taken by which the people here shall decide whether it shall belong to Germany or Poland ... Every committee involved in feeding children must have the same number of Poles & German ... [it is hard to always seem perfectly neutral] ...
When the 2 factions are unable to agree, we are called in as umpires ... We let Germans & Poles fire away at each other ... & then quietly remark that unless they ... cooperate the kitchen will be closed ... [soon after that] reconciliation is effected ... To the European mind ... Quakerism [isn't just] the doctrine of a sect but rather spreads through unseen channels as a subtle influence [on] movements and [against] disintegration ... The more we humans with all our common weaknesses learn to know each other, the more we discover how much alike we all are ... The war ... has left a Europe whose wounds are running sores, poisoning the whole body ... Refugees can be found in every large center of population, despairing ... without [present plans] or future hopes ... Some 'Quaker clothes' ... looked rather worldly, but it clad the body with more than warmth; it clad the soul with love & sympathy; with the holy thought that someone in the world really cared."
Waging Peace at Home—Howard returned to the US & married Anna. After a year of teaching [Anna] & doctoral dissertation [Howard], they moved to Richmond, IN, & taught at Earlham College; 3 of their 4 children were born there. In his "Appeal to German Youth," Howard argued that German idealists [writing] after Napoleon conquered them were instrumental in saving humanity from 18th century rationalism & scientism. [Thinkers of this century] replaced idealism with a [materialism] that dehumanizes human beings, especially in war propaganda. Scientists bore guilt for modern war's unprecedented destruction. He wrote: "Another war will bring a new age of darkness & yet every move of the European diplomats increases the probability of another such war."
Howard's idealism was tinged with realism about human weakness. Having seen the brutality of war, he was far less optimistic than Rufus Jones & other idealists. He warned Olney Friends School graduating students about complacency during times of peace: "We rallied from the shock of war & discovered that our peace testimony didn't mean merely that we didn't do certain things, it meant we did do other things ... [like] healing the wounds of war. [In peacetime] we are drifting back to our old negative attitude ... and aren't endeavoring to make a world where peace is possible." And of the divisive issue of 2 aggressive labor organizers, Tom Mooney & Warren Billings, sentenced to life imprisonment for a bomb that killed 6 & wounded 40, he writes: "Friends believe that when any topic has become too hot for quiet and earnest discussion, something is wrong." Howard met with the California governor and the 2 organizers, seeking their release; both men were released 9 years later.
He also wrote, "Friends who believed in and practice the mystic type of religion feel that earnest [active] application of their principles will bring about a different state of mind." He was also anxious to apply mysticism to educational work. He was asked to be acting director of Pendle Hill, which turned out to be a major turning point in the Brintons' lives and in the development of 20th -century American Quakerism.
Peace Education at Pendle Hill—PH's first director in 1929 was Henry Hodgkin. He was concerned with current social issues as well as with the spread of authentic Christian principles. He died in 1933, leaving a legacy of bold inquiry into social issues. In 1934 Howard became acting director; in 1936, he and Anna became co-directors. The directors had to teach, raise funds, recruit students & faculty, do chores, take care of plumbing; students shared in these tasks, since there was not supposed to be a sharp line drawn between students and staff.
Howard's PH was a spiritual community that "seeks to heal the inward confusion that is so great a part of the world's outward confusion." It had the qualities of a monastery, graduate school, think tank, & settlement house that encouraged regular field work [in social activism]. Pendle Hill became the American Quaker world's Mecca. AFSC was closely connected to PH in the 1940's & 50's, & used PH as a place for training & debriefing. Activists came for spiritual "R and R"; people in a life crisis would come looking for new direction and purpose.
Studies in 1937-38 were focused on religion's function in social change, and the problem of and solution for war, answering the question how can a better social order be attained without violence? Jewish and Japanese refugees, as well as expatriates and black students were welcome. The quiet peacemaking work continued in spite of bigoted neighbors and racist reaction. Even soldiers in uniform were made to feel welcome.
Pacifist Writings—The English Oxford Movement since 1833 published many of its ideas in "Tracts for the Times." Douglas Steere in 1933 proposed that PH publish a series of Quaker "tracts for the times," or pamphlets, to address pressing contemporary spiritual & political issues. Early PH pamphleteers wrote often on pacifism & the principles of non-violence. Howard's 1st pamphlet was A Religious Solution to the Social Problem (#2; 1934). He diagnosed the chief problem of his day as the inability of individuals to find a healthy relationship with a community. People are drawn to the extremes of excessive individualism, with its emptiness & isolation or totalitarianism, with a constrictive group consciousness & social control, as in Communism and Fascism.
Howard proposes a "religiously integrated" community bound by a common experience of unity, with [an underlying] respect for individuality; that's PH's goal. In his 1939 Christmas letter, with humor and rhyming couplets, he describes [progressive] stages of tribalism, liberalism, anarchism, authoritarianism, super-humanism, and "on earth as it is in heaven" in society, what he calls "An Adventure in Geometric Philosophy," complete with geometric diagrams of the interactions in each society [Here given in paraphrase]:
Waging Peace at Home—Howard returned to the US & married Anna. After a year of teaching [Anna] & doctoral dissertation [Howard], they moved to Richmond, IN, & taught at Earlham College; 3 of their 4 children were born there. In his "Appeal to German Youth," Howard argued that German idealists [writing] after Napoleon conquered them were instrumental in saving humanity from 18th century rationalism & scientism. [Thinkers of this century] replaced idealism with a [materialism] that dehumanizes human beings, especially in war propaganda. Scientists bore guilt for modern war's unprecedented destruction. He wrote: "Another war will bring a new age of darkness & yet every move of the European diplomats increases the probability of another such war."
Howard's idealism was tinged with realism about human weakness. Having seen the brutality of war, he was far less optimistic than Rufus Jones & other idealists. He warned Olney Friends School graduating students about complacency during times of peace: "We rallied from the shock of war & discovered that our peace testimony didn't mean merely that we didn't do certain things, it meant we did do other things ... [like] healing the wounds of war. [In peacetime] we are drifting back to our old negative attitude ... and aren't endeavoring to make a world where peace is possible." And of the divisive issue of 2 aggressive labor organizers, Tom Mooney & Warren Billings, sentenced to life imprisonment for a bomb that killed 6 & wounded 40, he writes: "Friends believe that when any topic has become too hot for quiet and earnest discussion, something is wrong." Howard met with the California governor and the 2 organizers, seeking their release; both men were released 9 years later.
He also wrote, "Friends who believed in and practice the mystic type of religion feel that earnest [active] application of their principles will bring about a different state of mind." He was also anxious to apply mysticism to educational work. He was asked to be acting director of Pendle Hill, which turned out to be a major turning point in the Brintons' lives and in the development of 20th -century American Quakerism.
Peace Education at Pendle Hill—PH's first director in 1929 was Henry Hodgkin. He was concerned with current social issues as well as with the spread of authentic Christian principles. He died in 1933, leaving a legacy of bold inquiry into social issues. In 1934 Howard became acting director; in 1936, he and Anna became co-directors. The directors had to teach, raise funds, recruit students & faculty, do chores, take care of plumbing; students shared in these tasks, since there was not supposed to be a sharp line drawn between students and staff.
Howard's PH was a spiritual community that "seeks to heal the inward confusion that is so great a part of the world's outward confusion." It had the qualities of a monastery, graduate school, think tank, & settlement house that encouraged regular field work [in social activism]. Pendle Hill became the American Quaker world's Mecca. AFSC was closely connected to PH in the 1940's & 50's, & used PH as a place for training & debriefing. Activists came for spiritual "R and R"; people in a life crisis would come looking for new direction and purpose.
Studies in 1937-38 were focused on religion's function in social change, and the problem of and solution for war, answering the question how can a better social order be attained without violence? Jewish and Japanese refugees, as well as expatriates and black students were welcome. The quiet peacemaking work continued in spite of bigoted neighbors and racist reaction. Even soldiers in uniform were made to feel welcome.
Pacifist Writings—The English Oxford Movement since 1833 published many of its ideas in "Tracts for the Times." Douglas Steere in 1933 proposed that PH publish a series of Quaker "tracts for the times," or pamphlets, to address pressing contemporary spiritual & political issues. Early PH pamphleteers wrote often on pacifism & the principles of non-violence. Howard's 1st pamphlet was A Religious Solution to the Social Problem (#2; 1934). He diagnosed the chief problem of his day as the inability of individuals to find a healthy relationship with a community. People are drawn to the extremes of excessive individualism, with its emptiness & isolation or totalitarianism, with a constrictive group consciousness & social control, as in Communism and Fascism.
Howard proposes a "religiously integrated" community bound by a common experience of unity, with [an underlying] respect for individuality; that's PH's goal. In his 1939 Christmas letter, with humor and rhyming couplets, he describes [progressive] stages of tribalism, liberalism, anarchism, authoritarianism, super-humanism, and "on earth as it is in heaven" in society, what he calls "An Adventure in Geometric Philosophy," complete with geometric diagrams of the interactions in each society [Here given in paraphrase]:
TRIBALISM is tribe, clan, race or family where each has a place, each helps the other, as though a common life blood runs through all. LIBERALISM is keeping the group alive after the idea of common life blood fades, with rules for governing the group. ANARCHISM is the strong abusing the rules, making "freedom" synonymous with "ruthless competition" and "jungle law." AUTHORITARIANISM is being faced with difficulties of surviving jungle law, and letting freedom go for the sake of order, and accepting ones place in a governing machine. SUPER-HUMANISM is looking up to God. The Light Within creates community and unity; all are one yet free. [GOD'S KINGDOM ] is a blend of: Within; Without; Above; Below. This is the salvation of all.
Early in World War II, Howard wrote essays on pacifism, which were collected into Critique by Eternity in 1943; Howard laid out what have become seminal ideas of Quaker peacemaking. Isolationism & pacifism are opposites. A true pacifist has experienced inner peace, is engaged with the world, & seeks to eliminate injustice. War's root cause is a sense of isolation that leads to barriers, borders, tariffs, armies, & so on. In his "Why are Quakers Pacifists?" Howard noted that early Friends were primarily concerned with "a right inward state out of which right action will rise."
In "Blizkrieg & Pacifism," he points out the quick, mechanical & self-destructive nature of violence, & an organism slowly adjusting its environment to itself. "The pacifist isn't afraid of minute beginnings, aimed at the distant future. Violence works quickly, but in the realm of life results are never swift." Curing a violence-addicted society like our present one, will require a slow, organic healing process. True pacifism is grounded in spiritual experience, & in a community where peace & reconciliation are a discipline & are practiced as a way of life.
In 1951, [near the height of US paranoia] about Communism and the Cold War, Anna wrote Toward Undiscovered Ends, a history of Friends' religious concern for Russia, from Peter the Great to her present, when 7 London YM Friends accepted an invitation from the Soviet Peace Committee to meet with them; it was a fruitful dialogue that set the stage for future Quaker reconciliation work. Anna's pamphlet provided useful background information, and encouragement to Friends doing reconciliation work over the next 40 years. She wrote: "[Friends] set aside [their regular vocation] for special service, even though the results ... must remain as undiscovered ends ... [This is how] the lifeblood of the Society of Friends is kept flowing." Small groups of dedicated Friends continued this work for 40 years. In the 1980's, such peacemaking became irresistible, the USSR and the US normalized relations, and Eastern Europe became free without a shot being fired.
Ecumenical Work & Outreach in Asia after World War II—[Through Henry Hodgkin, former missionary to China], art, philosophy, & Asian culture had been part of PH [from the beginning]. Howard went to China, Korea, & Japan in 1936 to deepen understanding of Buddhism & Confucianism. [Japan was already showing a warlike posture in China]. After the war, Anna visited India, China, & other parts of Asia under AFSC auspices, as "Commissioner for Asia." After 16 years of service to PH (1949), Anna Brinton resigned as Administrative Director & went to work for AFSC's international relations program. [When writing of PH's function as a haven for people with difficult life situations], she wrote: "We grew accustomed to anxiety; PH remained "a radiant upper story of the world, detached from & independent of dark stretches below." Anna served AFSC in various ways from 1938-52, 1958-60, & 1962-65. Howard wrote most of Friends for 300 Years, in about 3 weeks during December 1951. Howard took extraordinary pains to examine the concern in the light of Christian doctrine.
Many "Neo-Calvinist" Protestants believed that Christ's teachings on pacifism are an ideal unattainable by most because we are a sinful [human race]. Today many fundamentalists feel this way about terrorism. Howard wrote: "If Jesus was a pacifist ... we must be pacifists [&] obey his command to follow him." The World Council of Churches, after [much] discussion, agreed that "war is contrary to the will of God ... & example of our Lord Jesus Christ. Howard proposed adding, "The Church has always demanded freedom to obey God rather than man." War was still seen as necessary by some Council members. Howard wrote: "This making of a strong statement of ideals & not feeling the [need] of living up to it is in accordance with Reinhold Niebuhr's philosophy ." To show how pacifism could work in the world, Howard & Anna decided to go to Asia under AFSC auspices.
Asian Peace Missions—The Brintons' work in Asia before and after World War II reflected Howard's interest in Asian religion and Anna's interest in Asian culture and art. It also reflected the Quaker spirit of reconciliation, since it meant reaching out to cultures [many Americans] regarded with hostility and suspicion. Like other Christian groups, Quakers went to Asia to propagate their faith, not to learn Asian faith traditions. Early Quaker missionaries shared the good news of their Quaker faith for a few years, then returned to their regular lives and employments. In the 19th and 20th centuries, missionaries became "professionals" and made a lifelong commitment to another country. Anna and Howard did not travel to make converts, but to spread Quaker ideas.
When Howard and Anna went to Japan from 1952-54, they went as representatives of the AFSC. They were not given particular assignments. Anna became involved with repatriated Japanese families at the old Setagaya military barracks, and with a childcare center at Toyama Heights. Howard gave talks and drove visiting Friends around. The most important event for Howard was engaging Yuki Takahashi as his secretary, guide and interpreter. (Just prior to Howard's death in 1973, Yuki and Howard were married. Anna died in 1969).
Howard arranged 5 PH "Institutes" or lectures, attended by Quakers & other Friends in Japan, around 50 to a session. Howard's own "most important achievement in Japan was to assist a group of Nichiren monks to plan a world pacifist conference to be held in 8 major Japanese cities. These monks had been bomber pilots & their experience had made them pacifists." 7 foreign Quakers attended this Buddhist-sponsored pacifist conference, but no Christian missionaries. The AFSC "feared too much Communist influence" of the conference & wouldn't support it. Howard "tried to show that all the great religions in the world were pacifist at the beginning."
"Floyd Schmoe, a Friend from Washington state was awarded a medallion by Emperor Hirohito for his work building homes in Hiroshima after the bombing. There was an elaborate parade described in detail by Anna Brinton, attended by 80,000 people on the last day of the Buddhist Peace Conference. Japanese Friends wrote to Friends in America of Howard Brinton: "We found in him that mien of a living faith, or unity of knowledge and practice, which we in the Orient put value and feel akin to ... The PH Institutes ... seemed to show us by example that a few words were enough to convey the depths of faith and that it is not by mere words but by the innermost function of Spirit that we are led to the knowledge of God."
[Conclusion]—Quaker pacifism is not based upon intellectual concepts or an ideology, but on a "leading of the Spirit." Such leadings often involve reaching out to "enemies" and building bridges of understanding. Quaker peace activism is not a profession or a career, but a way of life. Anna Brinton wrote: "[In] these [missions] ... assessing prospects of success or failure plays no real part in the effort. The important factor is obedience to an inward requirement clearly felt, and agreed to by one's fellow members ... extraordinary missions [have resulted from this]." The legacy of peacemaking [that is apparent in the Brintons' lives] continues to be invaluable as we struggle to find our own way as Quaker peacemakers in the 21st century.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
243. Joel Litu, Pioneer African Quaker by Rose Adede; 1982)
In "Blizkrieg & Pacifism," he points out the quick, mechanical & self-destructive nature of violence, & an organism slowly adjusting its environment to itself. "The pacifist isn't afraid of minute beginnings, aimed at the distant future. Violence works quickly, but in the realm of life results are never swift." Curing a violence-addicted society like our present one, will require a slow, organic healing process. True pacifism is grounded in spiritual experience, & in a community where peace & reconciliation are a discipline & are practiced as a way of life.
In 1951, [near the height of US paranoia] about Communism and the Cold War, Anna wrote Toward Undiscovered Ends, a history of Friends' religious concern for Russia, from Peter the Great to her present, when 7 London YM Friends accepted an invitation from the Soviet Peace Committee to meet with them; it was a fruitful dialogue that set the stage for future Quaker reconciliation work. Anna's pamphlet provided useful background information, and encouragement to Friends doing reconciliation work over the next 40 years. She wrote: "[Friends] set aside [their regular vocation] for special service, even though the results ... must remain as undiscovered ends ... [This is how] the lifeblood of the Society of Friends is kept flowing." Small groups of dedicated Friends continued this work for 40 years. In the 1980's, such peacemaking became irresistible, the USSR and the US normalized relations, and Eastern Europe became free without a shot being fired.
Ecumenical Work & Outreach in Asia after World War II—[Through Henry Hodgkin, former missionary to China], art, philosophy, & Asian culture had been part of PH [from the beginning]. Howard went to China, Korea, & Japan in 1936 to deepen understanding of Buddhism & Confucianism. [Japan was already showing a warlike posture in China]. After the war, Anna visited India, China, & other parts of Asia under AFSC auspices, as "Commissioner for Asia." After 16 years of service to PH (1949), Anna Brinton resigned as Administrative Director & went to work for AFSC's international relations program. [When writing of PH's function as a haven for people with difficult life situations], she wrote: "We grew accustomed to anxiety; PH remained "a radiant upper story of the world, detached from & independent of dark stretches below." Anna served AFSC in various ways from 1938-52, 1958-60, & 1962-65. Howard wrote most of Friends for 300 Years, in about 3 weeks during December 1951. Howard took extraordinary pains to examine the concern in the light of Christian doctrine.
Many "Neo-Calvinist" Protestants believed that Christ's teachings on pacifism are an ideal unattainable by most because we are a sinful [human race]. Today many fundamentalists feel this way about terrorism. Howard wrote: "If Jesus was a pacifist ... we must be pacifists [&] obey his command to follow him." The World Council of Churches, after [much] discussion, agreed that "war is contrary to the will of God ... & example of our Lord Jesus Christ. Howard proposed adding, "The Church has always demanded freedom to obey God rather than man." War was still seen as necessary by some Council members. Howard wrote: "This making of a strong statement of ideals & not feeling the [need] of living up to it is in accordance with Reinhold Niebuhr's philosophy ." To show how pacifism could work in the world, Howard & Anna decided to go to Asia under AFSC auspices.
Asian Peace Missions—The Brintons' work in Asia before and after World War II reflected Howard's interest in Asian religion and Anna's interest in Asian culture and art. It also reflected the Quaker spirit of reconciliation, since it meant reaching out to cultures [many Americans] regarded with hostility and suspicion. Like other Christian groups, Quakers went to Asia to propagate their faith, not to learn Asian faith traditions. Early Quaker missionaries shared the good news of their Quaker faith for a few years, then returned to their regular lives and employments. In the 19th and 20th centuries, missionaries became "professionals" and made a lifelong commitment to another country. Anna and Howard did not travel to make converts, but to spread Quaker ideas.
When Howard and Anna went to Japan from 1952-54, they went as representatives of the AFSC. They were not given particular assignments. Anna became involved with repatriated Japanese families at the old Setagaya military barracks, and with a childcare center at Toyama Heights. Howard gave talks and drove visiting Friends around. The most important event for Howard was engaging Yuki Takahashi as his secretary, guide and interpreter. (Just prior to Howard's death in 1973, Yuki and Howard were married. Anna died in 1969).
Howard arranged 5 PH "Institutes" or lectures, attended by Quakers & other Friends in Japan, around 50 to a session. Howard's own "most important achievement in Japan was to assist a group of Nichiren monks to plan a world pacifist conference to be held in 8 major Japanese cities. These monks had been bomber pilots & their experience had made them pacifists." 7 foreign Quakers attended this Buddhist-sponsored pacifist conference, but no Christian missionaries. The AFSC "feared too much Communist influence" of the conference & wouldn't support it. Howard "tried to show that all the great religions in the world were pacifist at the beginning."
"Floyd Schmoe, a Friend from Washington state was awarded a medallion by Emperor Hirohito for his work building homes in Hiroshima after the bombing. There was an elaborate parade described in detail by Anna Brinton, attended by 80,000 people on the last day of the Buddhist Peace Conference. Japanese Friends wrote to Friends in America of Howard Brinton: "We found in him that mien of a living faith, or unity of knowledge and practice, which we in the Orient put value and feel akin to ... The PH Institutes ... seemed to show us by example that a few words were enough to convey the depths of faith and that it is not by mere words but by the innermost function of Spirit that we are led to the knowledge of God."
[Conclusion]—Quaker pacifism is not based upon intellectual concepts or an ideology, but on a "leading of the Spirit." Such leadings often involve reaching out to "enemies" and building bridges of understanding. Quaker peace activism is not a profession or a career, but a way of life. Anna Brinton wrote: "[In] these [missions] ... assessing prospects of success or failure plays no real part in the effort. The important factor is obedience to an inward requirement clearly felt, and agreed to by one's fellow members ... extraordinary missions [have resulted from this]." The legacy of peacemaking [that is apparent in the Brintons' lives] continues to be invaluable as we struggle to find our own way as Quaker peacemakers in the 21st century.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
243. Joel Litu, Pioneer African Quaker by Rose Adede; 1982)
JOEL LITU 1890-1977—Litu’s death seems like an end of an era. He was the most distinguished man of his time in Kenya; in many ways, he was ahead of his time. He played a part in East Africa YM for about a ½-century. Geoffrey Bowes, London YM.
About the Author—Rose Kasandi Adede was born June 26, 1952, Kaimosi, Kenya. Her parents, Joseph & Sarah Ngaira Adede, were stationed at mission school. She attended Dares-Salaam Univ. in Tanzania, graduating in 1975 with an education B.A.; she attended PH in autumn 1981. This pamphlet was written in 1980 after she met Anne Shope of Greensboro, NC, who journeyed to Kenya in Dec. 1979 for a United Society of Friends Women Conference. She accompanied them for 3 weeks & was inspired to write this biographical sketch.
PREFACE—My main sources were interviews with Litu’s older brother Masia, sister Kahi, wife Marita, daughter-in-law Sarah Adede, and a good number of his other relatives. There were also letters from and about him, speeches and sermons.
[Introduction]—Joel Litu was outstanding; his voice rang out loud, deep and distinct; he was over 6 ft. tall; his dark skin was always shiny and clean; he washed his own clothes. In Litu there was a streak of the immaculate. On his father’s side Joel Litu belonged to the Lungusia, one of the key clans in the heart of Maragoli land. Majani married Jaluha, who conceived during their courtship. Her father chased her with spear in hand, across the stream toward Majani’s village. Masia was her 1st-born; Litu was her 2nd.
Early Years—Joel Litu was born in 1890; the day & month aren’t known. Before long he was towering over his older brother. [Litu would sit with his mother in the kitchen & help her with chores like grinding millet]. During 1907, when the Maragoli people suffered famine, Litu’s skill in grinding proved particularly useful. He would ready the grinding stone & dried skins while his mother fired the millet grains. In his free time, Litu loved to tame birds. He had a score of wild doves & a good number of chickens. If one of the birds was not eating well he would fuss about it loudly. His father was often away from home at meetings where the other village elders would discuss communal matters. Later the same night, his father would buy a pot of beer for his friends.
The circumcision of boys is an old custom among the Maragoli. Most of the boys were circumcised when they were in their late teens, when they were old enough to understand the truths given to them. The day before they were circumcised, Litu, Masia, & other young men were rounded up by a drummer & taken to a hut at the end of the village specially built for the occasion, where they were to stay for the night. Very early in the morning the boys were circumcised in a nearby stream. During the healing period they stayed in the hut with some elderly men who looked after them; they ate porridge out of a common bowl, & learned woodworking craft & songs.
The Quaker missionaries who 1st settled in Kaimosi in 1902, had gradually gained converts. By 1910 the very first African converts were beginning to staff Quaker schools. One such school was started in 1911 at Mbale with Yohana Amugune as teacher. Litu joined the year it was started, & mastered Swahili, the lingua franca. Amugune recommended Joel Litu to Emory Rees to help translate the Bible. Litu 1st worked at typesetting. Of Majani’s 7 children, only Litu’s name was known beyond his home village, his tribe, and his country.
One day an elderly woman brought Marita Kekoyi to the village. She stayed at a neighbor’s house and Litu joined her; it was called eloping. [Litu marrying before his elder brother was against custom]. Nine months later Marita gave birth to Joseph Adede. Later she and Litu had a wedding after the manner of Quakers.
The Young Family Moves to Vihiga—With the pressure of work Litu had to migrate and stay on the mission station at Vihiga with his wife and son; Litu stayed at Vihiga for 30 years. In the 1920’s Litu’s father Majani was taken seriously ill and [shortly] died. Litu could not help connecting his father’s death with his habit of drinking. Throughout his life he preached vehemently against the use of alcohol.
[Living] at the mission station, Litu worked all the time. His day was spent translating the New Testament in Luragoli, other needs of the mission station, & work in the press; there was a high demand for hymn books & portions of the Bible already translated. The schools also needed a great deal of printed material. Emory Rees gave Litu a small house walking distance from his; Marita began to make a home out of what was available; she turned the houses’ plot of land into a vegetable garden. Within decades at Vihiga 9 boys & 3 girls were born into Litu’’s & Marita’s family. The working population on the station increased with the opening of a boys’ boarding school in 1922. The teachers formed a soccer team. Litu threw himself wholeheartedly into the game.
[The funds were scarce for] boarding schools in the 1920s. The boys had to eat boiled vegetables & cornmeal; [special food for wealthy boys caused unrest, so it was forbidden]. Joel Litu was a brilliant Bible teacher. He would read a portion, explain the words & images, & drill the boys on important passages. At times it was difficult to draw distinctions between his teaching in class & preaching in a Sunday service. He led hymns in a clear voice; quite often he sang very early in the morning in his moments of devotion. The rich Quaker hymn tunes were among the treasures that he cherished. In 1923, the boarding school was moved to Kaimosi Mission; Vihiga became a day school. Litu lived at Vihiga & taught Bible classes on certain days at Kaimosi.
Deborah Rees worked to help the women, teaching them reading, sewing, & basic hygiene. Before East Africa YM was established, Quaker members from Malava, Kaimosi, Vihiga, & Lirhanda gathered together periodically for 2 or 3 days. In 1926 Emory Rees & his family left Vihiga for the US. [The staff, pupils, & neighbors gathered to bid them farewell]. Joel Litu escorted them over 500 miles to Mombasa. In the 12 years Rees & Litu worked together a warm, strong bond grew up between them. [At their graveside in the US Litu prayed]: “Beloved friends whom I can call my parents in Jesus’ name are buried where I stand. Their bodies are buried here on earth, but their souls are in your hands, Jehovah god, who sent them to our country Kenya to seek us.”
Joel Becomes Supervisor of Schools—With the departure of Emory Rees, Litu was virtually in charge of Vihiga mission station. Litu [was the sole wage-earner in his extended family; his brother stayed home, tilled the soil and provided enough food for his family and for Litu’s. All the family turned to Litu for support and guidance. Litu’s work took a different direction. He was offered an opportunity to go to the Jeanes Teacher Training Center at Kabete to study hygiene and farming. He started farming the plot around his house, and demonstrating what he had learned. Litu also accepted appointment by the Society of Friends as first African inspector of the schools under the management of Friends Africa Mission for 5 years. [He traveled to all inspections by bicycle]. On Saturdays he would carry out household chores. Sunday he was either preaching at the Mission church in Vihiga or in a neighboring village. His service continued after worship, as people followed him home, asking questions on the Bible, or advice on matters affecting their personal lives.
Working on the Bible at Lugulu/Sharing the Little Hut—Jefferson Ford of Lugulu Mission decided to carry on with the work of Bible translation. Litu would travel 2 days on bicycle, stopping at Malava Mission on the way. He would spend a week at Lugulu translating the Old Testament and teaching in the Bible school, then travel back to Vihiga; Litu did this for over 10 years.
Litu’s son, Joseph Adede graduated as a teacher from Makerere College in Uganda, and 1st worked at Kaimosi Boys Boarding School. From 1939-1941 Litu was teaching Bible in Kaimosi. When he worked late he stayed at the school, sharing a small grass-thatched house with Yosiah Chagwe, and later with a student, Obeda.
The Return to Mbale/Court Tribunal—In 1943, Joel Litu chose to leave Vihiga Mission and move back to his home village Mbale. [He kept up his connection with his village, sending along clothes and seedlings. In the 1940s the Quaker movement had grown to over 10,000 members. Joel Litu’s advice was constantly sought by his fellow Quakers. Whenever American Friends had a meeting to discuss certain issues, it was customary for African Friends to confer with Joel. The Mission Board recommended to the 5 Years Meeting in America that a Yearly Meeting should be established in Kenya; 1946 saw the birth of East Africa Yearly Meeting. Joel Litu became the 1st presiding clerk and served in that office for 3 years.
In 1948 Joel Litu was called upon to serve in a Court Tribunal made up of village elders, who executed justice on a village level. Litu’s appointment as a magistrate was a great satisfaction to his family; Jahlula lived to see it, but died the next year. [A man tried and failed to bribe him with a hen]. Many cases were land disputes. Litu would interrupt testimony when he sensed they were lying]. After serving in Mbale, he was transferred to Mumias some 30 miles away. The Wanga people were surprised that he did not take bribes, “what big people take.” He also served in Lurumbie, and Ilolomani. He worked in the courts a total of 17 years, retiring in 1965 at the age of 75. The Queen conferred a Certificate of Meritorious Service upon him in 1966.
Replacement of the Bicycle/Last Days—It wasn’t until 1956 that Litu was able to afford a car; actually his children bought it for him. [He never mastered driving, & had someone drive him where he wanted to go]. His grandchildren took delight in seeing grandpa’s car go by, & relied on it to announce his departure & arrival.
During his late years Joel Litu wasn’t an ailing old man; he still took long walks in the evenings, [& walked all around the village. He was known as “Aligula”—one who visits. In his old age Litu’s profound involvement in Quaker concerns didn’t diminish. [He was chairman of the YM’s board of Trustees, was very concerned with the use of YM funds, & the sale of its property. In 1975 he joined delegates who attended a Friends United Meeting (FUM) conference in the US. After his return from the States, Joel became ill. He was well enough to attend his YM’s Annual Conference, spoke briefly, & led the singing of “When the Role is Called up Yonder.”
Becoming ill again in 1977, he was taken to the New Nyanza General Hospital in Kisumu. Though in pain, he spoke of his faith in the Lord Jesus and of his spiritual father, Bwana Rees, saying, “Emory Rees clothed me with Christianity”; on February 4 1977, Joel Litu died. [People within 5 miles of his home came to mourn his passing]. His gravestone was of marble, provided by FUM and the American Bible Association, with a photograph taken when he was preaching with a Bible in his hand.
Litu’s Work—His life work falls into 3 distinct phases: 1914-1926; 1926-46; 1946-1965. The 1st phase he was involved in printing, teaching, preaching and translating the Bible. The second phase began when Emory Rees left, and marked the maturing of his ministry and spiritual growth. He worked without supervision for the longest hours and received the least pay of his working life. The third phase he become the 1st presiding clerk of the East Africa Yearly Meeting and ended with his retirement from service in the tribunal courts in 1965.
Litu contributed toward the establishment and growth of the Quaker movement in Kenya both materially and spiritually. He raised and collected money for many church buildings, and sometimes supervised the construction. He was a widely sought after Friend who graced a number of ceremonies. In 1930s he became the 1st African Quaker authorized to conduct weddings; his last wedding was 2 months before he died. As the 1st presiding clerk of East Africa Yearly Meeting he placed it on a sound foundation, and was very active in visiting village meetings. He also contributed a lot to the transformation of Luragoli into a written language. His rich vocabulary proved invaluable in the [painstaking] translation of the Bible, [according to Emory Rees]. Many of the trees he planted on all the stations where he worked still stand. Throughout his humble, tireless work Litu planted seeds of the word of God in many hearts.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
Are we people whose lives can only be explained by saying, the Eternal Life and Love are breaking through into time, at these points? Do we hunger for the same sort of miracle in our lives which transformed that of Thomas Kelly?
[Introduction]—Thomas Kelly died at 48, on what he called “the greatest day of my life.” [His writing project about a life of total commitment to God was about to take off, and he was looking forward to the Friends World Committee for Consultation in Washington, D.C]. Tom Kelly’s death came with unbelievable shock to me. I knew Tom Kelly had become a fully radiant Child of Light he was always calling us to be. If Thomas Kelly could be this much alive on the [other side of] death, how much more the Lord Jesus! At Haverford Meetinghouse, Haverford, PA, the memorial worship for Thomas Kelly turned into a triumph of praise. It was life out of death. Kelly once said to Rufus Jones: “I’m just going to make my life a miracle!” It was only in the last 3 years of Tom Kelly’s life that the miracle came to full expression, [as he lived] a “God intoxicated life.”
His Message—“Deep within us all there is an inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice … a dynamic center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us. It is a Light Within which illumines the face of God & casts new shadows & glories upon the face of men.” Kelly reminds us that we are not initiators in this process, for “the Hound of Heaven” is baying on our tracks. Thomas Kelly affirms that we can learn to live our lives on 2 levels at once. The surface has earthly responsibilities, but way down deep in the center we can live in “continuously renewed immediacy of divine Presence.” The 1st attempts at “stayed-ness upon God” are awkward & painful. But it is worth it because we have begun to live. [Eventually there will be] periods of “dawning simultaneity” [of living inward & outward]. We will then look out upon the events in the world “through the sheen of the Inward Light, & react toward men spontaneously & joyously from this Inward Center.”
A Life of Prayer Without Ceasing—A major call in Tom Kelly’s message is the call to a life of constant prayer, what Teresa of Avila & John of the Cross called “the Quiet’s Prayer” or the “Prayer of Simple Regard.” With the inward eye we constantly look at the Lord; nothing is said, or even thought. Thomas Kelly also speaks of the prayer of inward offering up [i.e.] of everything & everyone around you, the inward song’s prayer—Inner exultation, inner glorification of the wonders of God fill the deeper levels of mind … as a background of deep-running joy & peace; as a dancing, singing torrent of happiness, which you must hide lest men think you … filled with new wine.”—& the inward listening prayer of. It not only requires regular times of private personal prayer in the silence of all flesh but develops into constant inner communion in which we can hear & obey God’s faintest whisper. “Creative, Spirit-filled lives don’t arise until God is attended to, till his internal teaching … becomes a warm experience. Thomas Kelly also simplifies intercessory prayer, which he calls the inward carrying prayer. “These aren’t a chance group of people; they are your special burden & privilege]: You quietly hold them high before God in inward prayer, giving them to Him, vicariously offering your life & strength to become their life & strength.” Finally, there is infused prayer. “There come times when one’s prayer is given to one, as it were from beyond oneself, laid upon us, as if initiated by God. It is as if we were being prayed through by a living Spirit…”
Call/Gateway to Holy Obedience—The heart of Thomas Kelly’s message is found in holy obedience, which stems from life lived at the center, and constant awareness of God’s presence. “There are plenty to follow our Lord halfway, but not the other half; it touches them too closely to disown themselves. It is just this astonishing life which is willing to follow Him the other half that I would propose to you… Only now & then comes [someone] who is willing to go the other half, to follow God’s faintest whisper. [Then] God breaks through, miracles are wrought, [The world very much needs] such committed lives … The life that intends to be wholly obedient, wholly submissive, wholly listening, is astonishing in its completeness; its simplicity that of a trusting child.”
“It is an overwhelming experience to fall into the living God’s hands, to be invaded to the depths of one’s being by God’s presence, to be invaded without warning, wholly uprooted… the Holy One is over all & in all… Blessed death [comes], of one’s alienating will.” Active holy obedience involves: “flaming vision”; be in the world & in prayer at the same time; no self-recrimination for slips; “relax & learn to live in a passive voice.”
Fruits of Holy Obedience—5 fruits of holy obedience are: humility, holiness, entrance into suffering, simplicity, & joy. Humility is “holy blindedness,” by which a soul sees naught of self, personal degradation, or personal eminence, but only the Holy Will working. Such single-minded humility makes us bold, fills us with courage, enables us to take absurd risks because of the faith which now burns within us. In Thomas Kelly’s holiness, “God inflames the soul with a burning craving for absolute purity. One burns for complete innocency & holiness of personal life… The blinding purity of God in Christ, how captivating, how alluring how compelling it is!”
Entrance into suffering is accepting the discipline in which pain becomes a sacrament, carrying “the [anguish and glory of] the Cross as lived suffering. God has planted the Cross along the road of holy obedience… God loves the miracle of willingness to welcome suffering and to know it for what it is—the final seal of God’s gracious love.” The [4th] fruit of holy obedience is simplicity of the “trusting child”; [it bring the last fruit], radiant joy. “Each of us can live such a life of amazing power and peace and serenity, of integration and confidence, on one condition—that is if we really want to …We have not counted this Holy Thing within us to be the most precious thing in the world. We have not surrendered all else.”
Thomas Kelly has also discovered that: “Lives immersed drowned in God are drowned in love, & know one another in God, & know one another in love … 2, 3, 10 people may be in living touch with one another through God who underlies their separate lives. Their strength becomes our strength and our joy becomes theirs. Daily and hourly the cosmic Sacrament is enacted, the Bread and wine are divided amongst us by a heavenly Ministrant; the substance of His body becomes our life; the substance of His blood flows in our veins.”
[Thomas Kelly Queries]
Do you really want to live every moment of your lives in God’s Presence? Does every breath you draw breathe a prayer, a praise to God? Do you sing & dance within yourself to be God’s & only God’s, walking every moment in holy obedience? Is love steadfastly directed toward God, in our minds, all day long? Do we intersperse our work with gentle prayers and praises to God? Do we live in the steady peace of God, a peace down at the very depths of our souls, already a victor of the world and our weaknesses? Are you a miracle of radiant eternity lived in the midst of time? Am I such a miracle? Are we people whose lives can only be explained by saying, the Eternal Life and Love are breaking through into time, at these points?
About the Author—Rose Kasandi Adede was born June 26, 1952, Kaimosi, Kenya. Her parents, Joseph & Sarah Ngaira Adede, were stationed at mission school. She attended Dares-Salaam Univ. in Tanzania, graduating in 1975 with an education B.A.; she attended PH in autumn 1981. This pamphlet was written in 1980 after she met Anne Shope of Greensboro, NC, who journeyed to Kenya in Dec. 1979 for a United Society of Friends Women Conference. She accompanied them for 3 weeks & was inspired to write this biographical sketch.
PREFACE—My main sources were interviews with Litu’s older brother Masia, sister Kahi, wife Marita, daughter-in-law Sarah Adede, and a good number of his other relatives. There were also letters from and about him, speeches and sermons.
[Introduction]—Joel Litu was outstanding; his voice rang out loud, deep and distinct; he was over 6 ft. tall; his dark skin was always shiny and clean; he washed his own clothes. In Litu there was a streak of the immaculate. On his father’s side Joel Litu belonged to the Lungusia, one of the key clans in the heart of Maragoli land. Majani married Jaluha, who conceived during their courtship. Her father chased her with spear in hand, across the stream toward Majani’s village. Masia was her 1st-born; Litu was her 2nd.
Early Years—Joel Litu was born in 1890; the day & month aren’t known. Before long he was towering over his older brother. [Litu would sit with his mother in the kitchen & help her with chores like grinding millet]. During 1907, when the Maragoli people suffered famine, Litu’s skill in grinding proved particularly useful. He would ready the grinding stone & dried skins while his mother fired the millet grains. In his free time, Litu loved to tame birds. He had a score of wild doves & a good number of chickens. If one of the birds was not eating well he would fuss about it loudly. His father was often away from home at meetings where the other village elders would discuss communal matters. Later the same night, his father would buy a pot of beer for his friends.
The circumcision of boys is an old custom among the Maragoli. Most of the boys were circumcised when they were in their late teens, when they were old enough to understand the truths given to them. The day before they were circumcised, Litu, Masia, & other young men were rounded up by a drummer & taken to a hut at the end of the village specially built for the occasion, where they were to stay for the night. Very early in the morning the boys were circumcised in a nearby stream. During the healing period they stayed in the hut with some elderly men who looked after them; they ate porridge out of a common bowl, & learned woodworking craft & songs.
The Quaker missionaries who 1st settled in Kaimosi in 1902, had gradually gained converts. By 1910 the very first African converts were beginning to staff Quaker schools. One such school was started in 1911 at Mbale with Yohana Amugune as teacher. Litu joined the year it was started, & mastered Swahili, the lingua franca. Amugune recommended Joel Litu to Emory Rees to help translate the Bible. Litu 1st worked at typesetting. Of Majani’s 7 children, only Litu’s name was known beyond his home village, his tribe, and his country.
One day an elderly woman brought Marita Kekoyi to the village. She stayed at a neighbor’s house and Litu joined her; it was called eloping. [Litu marrying before his elder brother was against custom]. Nine months later Marita gave birth to Joseph Adede. Later she and Litu had a wedding after the manner of Quakers.
The Young Family Moves to Vihiga—With the pressure of work Litu had to migrate and stay on the mission station at Vihiga with his wife and son; Litu stayed at Vihiga for 30 years. In the 1920’s Litu’s father Majani was taken seriously ill and [shortly] died. Litu could not help connecting his father’s death with his habit of drinking. Throughout his life he preached vehemently against the use of alcohol.
[Living] at the mission station, Litu worked all the time. His day was spent translating the New Testament in Luragoli, other needs of the mission station, & work in the press; there was a high demand for hymn books & portions of the Bible already translated. The schools also needed a great deal of printed material. Emory Rees gave Litu a small house walking distance from his; Marita began to make a home out of what was available; she turned the houses’ plot of land into a vegetable garden. Within decades at Vihiga 9 boys & 3 girls were born into Litu’’s & Marita’s family. The working population on the station increased with the opening of a boys’ boarding school in 1922. The teachers formed a soccer team. Litu threw himself wholeheartedly into the game.
[The funds were scarce for] boarding schools in the 1920s. The boys had to eat boiled vegetables & cornmeal; [special food for wealthy boys caused unrest, so it was forbidden]. Joel Litu was a brilliant Bible teacher. He would read a portion, explain the words & images, & drill the boys on important passages. At times it was difficult to draw distinctions between his teaching in class & preaching in a Sunday service. He led hymns in a clear voice; quite often he sang very early in the morning in his moments of devotion. The rich Quaker hymn tunes were among the treasures that he cherished. In 1923, the boarding school was moved to Kaimosi Mission; Vihiga became a day school. Litu lived at Vihiga & taught Bible classes on certain days at Kaimosi.
Deborah Rees worked to help the women, teaching them reading, sewing, & basic hygiene. Before East Africa YM was established, Quaker members from Malava, Kaimosi, Vihiga, & Lirhanda gathered together periodically for 2 or 3 days. In 1926 Emory Rees & his family left Vihiga for the US. [The staff, pupils, & neighbors gathered to bid them farewell]. Joel Litu escorted them over 500 miles to Mombasa. In the 12 years Rees & Litu worked together a warm, strong bond grew up between them. [At their graveside in the US Litu prayed]: “Beloved friends whom I can call my parents in Jesus’ name are buried where I stand. Their bodies are buried here on earth, but their souls are in your hands, Jehovah god, who sent them to our country Kenya to seek us.”
Joel Becomes Supervisor of Schools—With the departure of Emory Rees, Litu was virtually in charge of Vihiga mission station. Litu [was the sole wage-earner in his extended family; his brother stayed home, tilled the soil and provided enough food for his family and for Litu’s. All the family turned to Litu for support and guidance. Litu’s work took a different direction. He was offered an opportunity to go to the Jeanes Teacher Training Center at Kabete to study hygiene and farming. He started farming the plot around his house, and demonstrating what he had learned. Litu also accepted appointment by the Society of Friends as first African inspector of the schools under the management of Friends Africa Mission for 5 years. [He traveled to all inspections by bicycle]. On Saturdays he would carry out household chores. Sunday he was either preaching at the Mission church in Vihiga or in a neighboring village. His service continued after worship, as people followed him home, asking questions on the Bible, or advice on matters affecting their personal lives.
Working on the Bible at Lugulu/Sharing the Little Hut—Jefferson Ford of Lugulu Mission decided to carry on with the work of Bible translation. Litu would travel 2 days on bicycle, stopping at Malava Mission on the way. He would spend a week at Lugulu translating the Old Testament and teaching in the Bible school, then travel back to Vihiga; Litu did this for over 10 years.
Litu’s son, Joseph Adede graduated as a teacher from Makerere College in Uganda, and 1st worked at Kaimosi Boys Boarding School. From 1939-1941 Litu was teaching Bible in Kaimosi. When he worked late he stayed at the school, sharing a small grass-thatched house with Yosiah Chagwe, and later with a student, Obeda.
The Return to Mbale/Court Tribunal—In 1943, Joel Litu chose to leave Vihiga Mission and move back to his home village Mbale. [He kept up his connection with his village, sending along clothes and seedlings. In the 1940s the Quaker movement had grown to over 10,000 members. Joel Litu’s advice was constantly sought by his fellow Quakers. Whenever American Friends had a meeting to discuss certain issues, it was customary for African Friends to confer with Joel. The Mission Board recommended to the 5 Years Meeting in America that a Yearly Meeting should be established in Kenya; 1946 saw the birth of East Africa Yearly Meeting. Joel Litu became the 1st presiding clerk and served in that office for 3 years.
In 1948 Joel Litu was called upon to serve in a Court Tribunal made up of village elders, who executed justice on a village level. Litu’s appointment as a magistrate was a great satisfaction to his family; Jahlula lived to see it, but died the next year. [A man tried and failed to bribe him with a hen]. Many cases were land disputes. Litu would interrupt testimony when he sensed they were lying]. After serving in Mbale, he was transferred to Mumias some 30 miles away. The Wanga people were surprised that he did not take bribes, “what big people take.” He also served in Lurumbie, and Ilolomani. He worked in the courts a total of 17 years, retiring in 1965 at the age of 75. The Queen conferred a Certificate of Meritorious Service upon him in 1966.
Replacement of the Bicycle/Last Days—It wasn’t until 1956 that Litu was able to afford a car; actually his children bought it for him. [He never mastered driving, & had someone drive him where he wanted to go]. His grandchildren took delight in seeing grandpa’s car go by, & relied on it to announce his departure & arrival.
During his late years Joel Litu wasn’t an ailing old man; he still took long walks in the evenings, [& walked all around the village. He was known as “Aligula”—one who visits. In his old age Litu’s profound involvement in Quaker concerns didn’t diminish. [He was chairman of the YM’s board of Trustees, was very concerned with the use of YM funds, & the sale of its property. In 1975 he joined delegates who attended a Friends United Meeting (FUM) conference in the US. After his return from the States, Joel became ill. He was well enough to attend his YM’s Annual Conference, spoke briefly, & led the singing of “When the Role is Called up Yonder.”
Becoming ill again in 1977, he was taken to the New Nyanza General Hospital in Kisumu. Though in pain, he spoke of his faith in the Lord Jesus and of his spiritual father, Bwana Rees, saying, “Emory Rees clothed me with Christianity”; on February 4 1977, Joel Litu died. [People within 5 miles of his home came to mourn his passing]. His gravestone was of marble, provided by FUM and the American Bible Association, with a photograph taken when he was preaching with a Bible in his hand.
Litu’s Work—His life work falls into 3 distinct phases: 1914-1926; 1926-46; 1946-1965. The 1st phase he was involved in printing, teaching, preaching and translating the Bible. The second phase began when Emory Rees left, and marked the maturing of his ministry and spiritual growth. He worked without supervision for the longest hours and received the least pay of his working life. The third phase he become the 1st presiding clerk of the East Africa Yearly Meeting and ended with his retirement from service in the tribunal courts in 1965.
Litu contributed toward the establishment and growth of the Quaker movement in Kenya both materially and spiritually. He raised and collected money for many church buildings, and sometimes supervised the construction. He was a widely sought after Friend who graced a number of ceremonies. In 1930s he became the 1st African Quaker authorized to conduct weddings; his last wedding was 2 months before he died. As the 1st presiding clerk of East Africa Yearly Meeting he placed it on a sound foundation, and was very active in visiting village meetings. He also contributed a lot to the transformation of Luragoli into a written language. His rich vocabulary proved invaluable in the [painstaking] translation of the Bible, [according to Emory Rees]. Many of the trees he planted on all the stations where he worked still stand. Throughout his humble, tireless work Litu planted seeds of the word of God in many hearts.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
284. Thomas Kelly as I Remember Him (by T. Canby Jones; 1988)
About the Author—T. Canby Jones was born in Japan to Quaker missionary parents. He graduated from Westtown School, PA in 1938, & Haverford College, PA in 1942, where he found love for God through his friendship with philosophy teacher Thomas R. Kelly. He worked with American Friends Service Committee in Norway & the US. He received B.D. & Ph. D. degrees from Yale. He wrote George Fox’s Attitude Toward War, 1972 & 1984, & The Power of the Lord is Over All, 1989. He has traveled widely in national & international ministry among Friends of all persuasions.Are we people whose lives can only be explained by saying, the Eternal Life and Love are breaking through into time, at these points? Do we hunger for the same sort of miracle in our lives which transformed that of Thomas Kelly?
[Introduction]—Thomas Kelly died at 48, on what he called “the greatest day of my life.” [His writing project about a life of total commitment to God was about to take off, and he was looking forward to the Friends World Committee for Consultation in Washington, D.C]. Tom Kelly’s death came with unbelievable shock to me. I knew Tom Kelly had become a fully radiant Child of Light he was always calling us to be. If Thomas Kelly could be this much alive on the [other side of] death, how much more the Lord Jesus! At Haverford Meetinghouse, Haverford, PA, the memorial worship for Thomas Kelly turned into a triumph of praise. It was life out of death. Kelly once said to Rufus Jones: “I’m just going to make my life a miracle!” It was only in the last 3 years of Tom Kelly’s life that the miracle came to full expression, [as he lived] a “God intoxicated life.”
His Message—“Deep within us all there is an inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice … a dynamic center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us. It is a Light Within which illumines the face of God & casts new shadows & glories upon the face of men.” Kelly reminds us that we are not initiators in this process, for “the Hound of Heaven” is baying on our tracks. Thomas Kelly affirms that we can learn to live our lives on 2 levels at once. The surface has earthly responsibilities, but way down deep in the center we can live in “continuously renewed immediacy of divine Presence.” The 1st attempts at “stayed-ness upon God” are awkward & painful. But it is worth it because we have begun to live. [Eventually there will be] periods of “dawning simultaneity” [of living inward & outward]. We will then look out upon the events in the world “through the sheen of the Inward Light, & react toward men spontaneously & joyously from this Inward Center.”
A Life of Prayer Without Ceasing—A major call in Tom Kelly’s message is the call to a life of constant prayer, what Teresa of Avila & John of the Cross called “the Quiet’s Prayer” or the “Prayer of Simple Regard.” With the inward eye we constantly look at the Lord; nothing is said, or even thought. Thomas Kelly also speaks of the prayer of inward offering up [i.e.] of everything & everyone around you, the inward song’s prayer—Inner exultation, inner glorification of the wonders of God fill the deeper levels of mind … as a background of deep-running joy & peace; as a dancing, singing torrent of happiness, which you must hide lest men think you … filled with new wine.”—& the inward listening prayer of. It not only requires regular times of private personal prayer in the silence of all flesh but develops into constant inner communion in which we can hear & obey God’s faintest whisper. “Creative, Spirit-filled lives don’t arise until God is attended to, till his internal teaching … becomes a warm experience. Thomas Kelly also simplifies intercessory prayer, which he calls the inward carrying prayer. “These aren’t a chance group of people; they are your special burden & privilege]: You quietly hold them high before God in inward prayer, giving them to Him, vicariously offering your life & strength to become their life & strength.” Finally, there is infused prayer. “There come times when one’s prayer is given to one, as it were from beyond oneself, laid upon us, as if initiated by God. It is as if we were being prayed through by a living Spirit…”
Call/Gateway to Holy Obedience—The heart of Thomas Kelly’s message is found in holy obedience, which stems from life lived at the center, and constant awareness of God’s presence. “There are plenty to follow our Lord halfway, but not the other half; it touches them too closely to disown themselves. It is just this astonishing life which is willing to follow Him the other half that I would propose to you… Only now & then comes [someone] who is willing to go the other half, to follow God’s faintest whisper. [Then] God breaks through, miracles are wrought, [The world very much needs] such committed lives … The life that intends to be wholly obedient, wholly submissive, wholly listening, is astonishing in its completeness; its simplicity that of a trusting child.”
“It is an overwhelming experience to fall into the living God’s hands, to be invaded to the depths of one’s being by God’s presence, to be invaded without warning, wholly uprooted… the Holy One is over all & in all… Blessed death [comes], of one’s alienating will.” Active holy obedience involves: “flaming vision”; be in the world & in prayer at the same time; no self-recrimination for slips; “relax & learn to live in a passive voice.”
Fruits of Holy Obedience—5 fruits of holy obedience are: humility, holiness, entrance into suffering, simplicity, & joy. Humility is “holy blindedness,” by which a soul sees naught of self, personal degradation, or personal eminence, but only the Holy Will working. Such single-minded humility makes us bold, fills us with courage, enables us to take absurd risks because of the faith which now burns within us. In Thomas Kelly’s holiness, “God inflames the soul with a burning craving for absolute purity. One burns for complete innocency & holiness of personal life… The blinding purity of God in Christ, how captivating, how alluring how compelling it is!”
Entrance into suffering is accepting the discipline in which pain becomes a sacrament, carrying “the [anguish and glory of] the Cross as lived suffering. God has planted the Cross along the road of holy obedience… God loves the miracle of willingness to welcome suffering and to know it for what it is—the final seal of God’s gracious love.” The [4th] fruit of holy obedience is simplicity of the “trusting child”; [it bring the last fruit], radiant joy. “Each of us can live such a life of amazing power and peace and serenity, of integration and confidence, on one condition—that is if we really want to …We have not counted this Holy Thing within us to be the most precious thing in the world. We have not surrendered all else.”
Thomas Kelly has also discovered that: “Lives immersed drowned in God are drowned in love, & know one another in God, & know one another in love … 2, 3, 10 people may be in living touch with one another through God who underlies their separate lives. Their strength becomes our strength and our joy becomes theirs. Daily and hourly the cosmic Sacrament is enacted, the Bread and wine are divided amongst us by a heavenly Ministrant; the substance of His body becomes our life; the substance of His blood flows in our veins.”
[Thomas Kelly Queries]
Do you really want to live every moment of your lives in God’s Presence? Does every breath you draw breathe a prayer, a praise to God? Do you sing & dance within yourself to be God’s & only God’s, walking every moment in holy obedience? Is love steadfastly directed toward God, in our minds, all day long? Do we intersperse our work with gentle prayers and praises to God? Do we live in the steady peace of God, a peace down at the very depths of our souls, already a victor of the world and our weaknesses? Are you a miracle of radiant eternity lived in the midst of time? Am I such a miracle? Are we people whose lives can only be explained by saying, the Eternal Life and Love are breaking through into time, at these points?
The Story of His Life—Thomas Raymond Kelly was borne 4 June 1893 near Londonderry, Ohio, the 2nd child of Carlton Weden Kelly and Madora Elizabeth Kersey. [Tom was at different moments], a “jolly, happy, unaffected youth,” and quite serious when situations called for it. Since the Kelly parents were so active in Londonderry Meeting, little Tom, sister Mary and playmates often played “church.”
His father died in September 1897. His mother moved to Wilmington, hoping to find employment where her children could be well-educated. With his mother gone to work or committee meetings, he felt bereft of home life. Two of Thomas Kelly’s elderly counselors were Friends named Denson Barrett and Jacob Hunt.
At Wilmington College, Tom Kelly majored in Chemistry; Thomas was an active evangelical Christian. He helped establish a Young Friends Movement at Wilmington YM. He received a scholarship for a graduate year at Haverford College, PA. At Haverford he came under Professor Rufus Jones’ spell. Thomas found him to be a lifelong friend & spiritual guide. Rufus Jones helped find him a job teaching English & science at Pickering College, New Market, OH. He committed himself to be a Missionary to the Friends Mission work in Japan.
Hartford Seminary (1916)/YMCA Britain (1917)/ PH. D.—[In order to train for the Quaker ministry], he entered Hartford Theological Seminary in September 1916. [He “goofed off” his first years at seminary]. At Hartford, Thomas Kelly was introduced to the home of Herbert Macy, Congregational minister in nearby Newington; the Macy household soon became Tom Kelly’s home-away-from-home; he became engaged to Laci Macy, who with her “keen practical mind … provided an admirable balance for Thomas Kelly … who needed the kind of stabilization that only a wife could give.”
When the US entered WW I, Thomas entered civilian service through the YMCA, doing canteen and counseling work in Blackpool. [Thomas Kelly’s Quaker practices and pacifist stance made him very unpopular with camp administrators]. The YMCA sacked Thomas Kelly and all those who held similar beliefs. Back at Hartford, College teaching now became his primary vocational goal. He took a job teaching philosophy at Wilmington College. Tom found his students weak and the atmosphere of small-town Wilmington oppressive.
Back in New England, Thomas Kelly pursued the PH. D. and served as pastor of a nondenominational church in Wilson CT. He diligently studied Hermann Lotze, a 19th-century German realist philosopher. On the first attempt of oral defense of his thesis, he mind blanked. On his second chance he passed with the expected brilliance. He had a choice between teaching philosophy at Earlham, or going to Germany for 15 months to help close out the Quaker Child Feeding program and establish a Berlin Friends Center in its place. He went to Germany and also helped with the decision to establish an independent German Yearly Meeting of Friends.
The first years at Earlham were happy ones. Tom loved his Teaching. But the strictures of evangelical Quakerism in Indiana began to weigh upon Thomas Kelly’s spirit. The cosmic and mystical vision of limitless faith he had gained especially in Germany now chafed for broader fields of expression. He wrote: “The meaning of the universal presence of the Inner Light, the Logos, in every man, the essential Christ in all people, glowed out suddenly, I saw that something of the God-life, God-character …was planted in everyone at the core of one’s being. [There is] a kinship with all who are led by the Light toward the Light.”
Additional Study at Harvard/Return to Earlham—Thomas Kelly grew disillusioned with the lack of response to this vision among Earlham colleagues & Friends in the mid-west. He studied at Harvard in 1930. In small fellowship, borrowed money, supply preaching, & filling in for a Wellesly professor allowed him to spend 2 years studying. Kelly found each day of study with Clarence I. Lewis & Alfred North Whitehead exploded new horizons, brought freshness to his writing style, & made him determined to seek a 2nd Ph. D. degree, this one from Harvard. Eventually he was forced to return to Earlham.
Back at Earlham he became even more ferociously committed to the life of a scholar. He spent that summer studying Émile Meyerson. He had to plead with Harvard to let him stand for a Ph. D. Thomas resented his days back at Earlham. [His zealous efforts to finish] his Harvard thesis [took a severe toll on his health]. In the summer of 1934 he accepted an invitation to give a series of lectures at Pendle Hill. Spiritually he was approaching the low point of his life. In early 1934 he was invited to teach at the Univ. of HI.
In December 1934 Thomas Kelly suffered a nervous breakdown. His strength returned in mid-March & he was able to complete his Ph. D. thesis by May and send it off to Harvard. Whitehead thought that Kelly’s true interest lay in religion. In Hawaii Thomas Kelly was disillusioned with the lackadaisical attitude of many of the University faculty toward scholarship. While there he developed to massive files & syllabi on Chinese & Indian thought; he helped revive Honolulu Friends Meeting. There were health problems for both Lael and Thomas. President Comfort of Haverford College offered him a teaching post in Philosophy; Thomas Kelly’s spirit soared.
Haverford 1936-1938/New Man/1st Meeting—Back in Philadelphia he was soon appointed to Yearly Meeting Committees. He delighted in his students’ abilities, & added Chinese & Indian thought to the curriculum. He published his Harvard thesis with his own money & went to Harvard in the autumn of 1937 to make oral defense of it. His mind blanked again & the examining committee informed him that he would never be permitted to come up for the degree again.” Thomas Kelly was on the point of suicide, and friends to persuade him that with all his other accomplishments the Harvard failure made no difference to them or to Haverford.
In late 1937 “the cliffs caved in & filled up a chasm.” The inward warfare ended, the scholarly & spiritually minded person inside Thomas Kelly became “of twain one new man.” This cataclysmic event of late 1937 was a life-changing one. He knew 1st- hand what it meant “to be drowned in the overwhelming seas of the love of God.” Friends could see the Holy Spirit’s “fire” in his eyes, hear it in his laughter. [He was deeply affected by the incredible suffering & sin of a world poised on the verge of world war & by “Galilean glories”. He preached 3 lectures at Coulter Street Meeting in Germantown, PA. He said in part: “God can be found. There is a last rock for your soul, a resting place of absolute peace and joy & power & radiance & security. There is a Divine Center into which your life can slip … a Center where you live with God & out of which your life can slip.”
I 1st came to know Thomas Kelly 4 or 5 months after his experience of inner healing. He was the leader of a weekend retreat at Albert Bailey’s family farm. What I remember most is what I did not like. To insist that we had to disown ourselves, endure pain, carry a cross, and lose our lives; that made no sense. It was also one of the most important lessons I learned through my beloved teacher, Thomas Kelly.
Plowed Down to the Depths—During his experience in Nazi Germany, he goes on record on how he was “opened up” into a new “childlike dedication to God.” “Last winter … I was much shaken by the experiences of the Presence—something I did not seek, but that sought me. Even in the midst of a people torn with fear of being overheard and sudden arrest, Thomas Kelly came to a sense of inward joy and peace. “I seem at last to have been given peace. “One thing I have learned or feel, so overwhelmingly keenly, is the real pain of suffering with people … Some here have found all the power of Apostolic days in the early Church. Something of the wonder of the Apostolic power and serenity and peace in suffering is taking place here, and I have found life’s dimension opened up amazingly. I have been plowed to depths I’ve never known before.”
Kelly and Heschel—[Thomas Kelly met Abraham J. Heschel, “a mystic who would be profoundly at home in a Quaker meeting”] on a limousine ride to a railway station. They wrote to each other after the encounter. From Thomas Kelly I learned the fervent love of God. From Abraham Heschel I learned the meaning of the compassionate anger of God; this Jew and this Quaker were spiritual friends.
Back at Haverford 1938-41/His Life a Miracle—My first Sunday as a Haverford freshman I attended Haverford Friends Meeting. Rufus Jones commented on Psalm 90. Thomas Kelly spoke on the latter part of Psalm 73 with power and fervor. I asked Thomas Kelly whether it might be possible to have a religious discussion group; Tom was overjoyed at the prospect. Our sessions consisted of Tom reading aloud his favorite passages while we sat silently and contemplatively drinking it all in.
He brought out Letters by a Modern Mystic, by Frank Laubach, a contemporary and an American. [Hearing his story of] loneliness and then an overwhelming revelation of the love and presence of God, [we heard] a direct challenge to us to hunger after God with all the energy of our souls. Thomas Kelly told us of his vision that we should become a band of itinerant preachers, like George Fox. We became active in service projects, like helping with a Sunday School, Young Friends Movement, and Friends World Committee Meetings. Messages from our group began to be heard in mid-week and Sunday meetings at Haverford.
The new depth & power in Thomas Kelly’s life meant both greater blessing & greater difficulties for him as he faithfully called all persons to the Light within them. [His new simplicity] was very disturbing to the sophisticated, critical & sometimes cynical Haverford student of that day. He was fully accepted by his fellow faculty, even though his depth of fervor did not speak to the condition of some of them. He poured himself with new energy into his committee work with the American Friends Service Committee. In his religious ministry at this period he struggled to rid himself of the “learned phrase,” “the scholarly allusion,” to speak the simple language of the heart. [Except for “Tom Kelly’s” boys, most students required to attend] the Thursday morning meeting for worship intensely disliked or were deeply disturbed by Thomas Kelly’s calls to live radiant lives for God.
He also learned that one has to endure times of spiritual aridity and apparent abandonment by the Holy Spirit. We must “learn not to clamor perpetually for height but walk in shadows and valleys and dry places, for months and years together; so must group worshipers learn that worship is fully valid when there are no thrills, no special sense of covering … I’m persuaded that a deep sifting of religion leads us down to the will, steadfastly oriented toward the will of God. In that steadfastness of the will one walks serene and unperturbed praying only, ‘Thy will be done.” Opposition, ridicule or periods of spiritual dryness were all suffered during Thomas Kelly’s last 3 years by an optimism born of joy. Thomas Kelly preached at the lobsterman’s Nazarene church. The love of God that shone forth from Thomas Kelly was what those dear people called, “the love of Christ.”
In October 1940 there was interest in publishing his lectures or manuscripts, and the beginnings of a book called The Light Within. He wrote a brief message called Children of Light which says in part: “We must humbly bear the message of the Light. Many see it from afar & long for it with all their being. Amidst the darkness of this time the day star can arise in astounding power & overcome the darkness within & without … It is given to us to be message bearers of the day that can dawn in apostolic power if we be wholly committed to the Light … Radiant in that radiance we may confidently expect the kindling of the Light in all men, until all Men’s footsteps are lighted by that Light, which is within them … It is a great message which is given to us, that the Light overcomes the darkness. But to give the message we must also be the message.”
After Thomas Kelly’s death, Douglas Steere with some help from “the gang” accomplished a vicarious service of love by bringing into print the book which we agreed to call A Testament of Devotion. The book is a testimony to the miracle Thomas Kelly knew in his life. It continues to speak to the spiritual need of thousands, more than 40 years after his death. Are we people whose lives can only be explained by saying, the Eternal Life & Love are breaking through into time, at these points? Do we hunger for the same sort of miracle in our life which transformed Thomas Kelly’s? If we do so with all the energy of our souls, it will also happen in us.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
His father died in September 1897. His mother moved to Wilmington, hoping to find employment where her children could be well-educated. With his mother gone to work or committee meetings, he felt bereft of home life. Two of Thomas Kelly’s elderly counselors were Friends named Denson Barrett and Jacob Hunt.
At Wilmington College, Tom Kelly majored in Chemistry; Thomas was an active evangelical Christian. He helped establish a Young Friends Movement at Wilmington YM. He received a scholarship for a graduate year at Haverford College, PA. At Haverford he came under Professor Rufus Jones’ spell. Thomas found him to be a lifelong friend & spiritual guide. Rufus Jones helped find him a job teaching English & science at Pickering College, New Market, OH. He committed himself to be a Missionary to the Friends Mission work in Japan.
Hartford Seminary (1916)/YMCA Britain (1917)/ PH. D.—[In order to train for the Quaker ministry], he entered Hartford Theological Seminary in September 1916. [He “goofed off” his first years at seminary]. At Hartford, Thomas Kelly was introduced to the home of Herbert Macy, Congregational minister in nearby Newington; the Macy household soon became Tom Kelly’s home-away-from-home; he became engaged to Laci Macy, who with her “keen practical mind … provided an admirable balance for Thomas Kelly … who needed the kind of stabilization that only a wife could give.”
When the US entered WW I, Thomas entered civilian service through the YMCA, doing canteen and counseling work in Blackpool. [Thomas Kelly’s Quaker practices and pacifist stance made him very unpopular with camp administrators]. The YMCA sacked Thomas Kelly and all those who held similar beliefs. Back at Hartford, College teaching now became his primary vocational goal. He took a job teaching philosophy at Wilmington College. Tom found his students weak and the atmosphere of small-town Wilmington oppressive.
Back in New England, Thomas Kelly pursued the PH. D. and served as pastor of a nondenominational church in Wilson CT. He diligently studied Hermann Lotze, a 19th-century German realist philosopher. On the first attempt of oral defense of his thesis, he mind blanked. On his second chance he passed with the expected brilliance. He had a choice between teaching philosophy at Earlham, or going to Germany for 15 months to help close out the Quaker Child Feeding program and establish a Berlin Friends Center in its place. He went to Germany and also helped with the decision to establish an independent German Yearly Meeting of Friends.
The first years at Earlham were happy ones. Tom loved his Teaching. But the strictures of evangelical Quakerism in Indiana began to weigh upon Thomas Kelly’s spirit. The cosmic and mystical vision of limitless faith he had gained especially in Germany now chafed for broader fields of expression. He wrote: “The meaning of the universal presence of the Inner Light, the Logos, in every man, the essential Christ in all people, glowed out suddenly, I saw that something of the God-life, God-character …was planted in everyone at the core of one’s being. [There is] a kinship with all who are led by the Light toward the Light.”
Additional Study at Harvard/Return to Earlham—Thomas Kelly grew disillusioned with the lack of response to this vision among Earlham colleagues & Friends in the mid-west. He studied at Harvard in 1930. In small fellowship, borrowed money, supply preaching, & filling in for a Wellesly professor allowed him to spend 2 years studying. Kelly found each day of study with Clarence I. Lewis & Alfred North Whitehead exploded new horizons, brought freshness to his writing style, & made him determined to seek a 2nd Ph. D. degree, this one from Harvard. Eventually he was forced to return to Earlham.
Back at Earlham he became even more ferociously committed to the life of a scholar. He spent that summer studying Émile Meyerson. He had to plead with Harvard to let him stand for a Ph. D. Thomas resented his days back at Earlham. [His zealous efforts to finish] his Harvard thesis [took a severe toll on his health]. In the summer of 1934 he accepted an invitation to give a series of lectures at Pendle Hill. Spiritually he was approaching the low point of his life. In early 1934 he was invited to teach at the Univ. of HI.
In December 1934 Thomas Kelly suffered a nervous breakdown. His strength returned in mid-March & he was able to complete his Ph. D. thesis by May and send it off to Harvard. Whitehead thought that Kelly’s true interest lay in religion. In Hawaii Thomas Kelly was disillusioned with the lackadaisical attitude of many of the University faculty toward scholarship. While there he developed to massive files & syllabi on Chinese & Indian thought; he helped revive Honolulu Friends Meeting. There were health problems for both Lael and Thomas. President Comfort of Haverford College offered him a teaching post in Philosophy; Thomas Kelly’s spirit soared.
Haverford 1936-1938/New Man/1st Meeting—Back in Philadelphia he was soon appointed to Yearly Meeting Committees. He delighted in his students’ abilities, & added Chinese & Indian thought to the curriculum. He published his Harvard thesis with his own money & went to Harvard in the autumn of 1937 to make oral defense of it. His mind blanked again & the examining committee informed him that he would never be permitted to come up for the degree again.” Thomas Kelly was on the point of suicide, and friends to persuade him that with all his other accomplishments the Harvard failure made no difference to them or to Haverford.
In late 1937 “the cliffs caved in & filled up a chasm.” The inward warfare ended, the scholarly & spiritually minded person inside Thomas Kelly became “of twain one new man.” This cataclysmic event of late 1937 was a life-changing one. He knew 1st- hand what it meant “to be drowned in the overwhelming seas of the love of God.” Friends could see the Holy Spirit’s “fire” in his eyes, hear it in his laughter. [He was deeply affected by the incredible suffering & sin of a world poised on the verge of world war & by “Galilean glories”. He preached 3 lectures at Coulter Street Meeting in Germantown, PA. He said in part: “God can be found. There is a last rock for your soul, a resting place of absolute peace and joy & power & radiance & security. There is a Divine Center into which your life can slip … a Center where you live with God & out of which your life can slip.”
I 1st came to know Thomas Kelly 4 or 5 months after his experience of inner healing. He was the leader of a weekend retreat at Albert Bailey’s family farm. What I remember most is what I did not like. To insist that we had to disown ourselves, endure pain, carry a cross, and lose our lives; that made no sense. It was also one of the most important lessons I learned through my beloved teacher, Thomas Kelly.
Plowed Down to the Depths—During his experience in Nazi Germany, he goes on record on how he was “opened up” into a new “childlike dedication to God.” “Last winter … I was much shaken by the experiences of the Presence—something I did not seek, but that sought me. Even in the midst of a people torn with fear of being overheard and sudden arrest, Thomas Kelly came to a sense of inward joy and peace. “I seem at last to have been given peace. “One thing I have learned or feel, so overwhelmingly keenly, is the real pain of suffering with people … Some here have found all the power of Apostolic days in the early Church. Something of the wonder of the Apostolic power and serenity and peace in suffering is taking place here, and I have found life’s dimension opened up amazingly. I have been plowed to depths I’ve never known before.”
Kelly and Heschel—[Thomas Kelly met Abraham J. Heschel, “a mystic who would be profoundly at home in a Quaker meeting”] on a limousine ride to a railway station. They wrote to each other after the encounter. From Thomas Kelly I learned the fervent love of God. From Abraham Heschel I learned the meaning of the compassionate anger of God; this Jew and this Quaker were spiritual friends.
Back at Haverford 1938-41/His Life a Miracle—My first Sunday as a Haverford freshman I attended Haverford Friends Meeting. Rufus Jones commented on Psalm 90. Thomas Kelly spoke on the latter part of Psalm 73 with power and fervor. I asked Thomas Kelly whether it might be possible to have a religious discussion group; Tom was overjoyed at the prospect. Our sessions consisted of Tom reading aloud his favorite passages while we sat silently and contemplatively drinking it all in.
He brought out Letters by a Modern Mystic, by Frank Laubach, a contemporary and an American. [Hearing his story of] loneliness and then an overwhelming revelation of the love and presence of God, [we heard] a direct challenge to us to hunger after God with all the energy of our souls. Thomas Kelly told us of his vision that we should become a band of itinerant preachers, like George Fox. We became active in service projects, like helping with a Sunday School, Young Friends Movement, and Friends World Committee Meetings. Messages from our group began to be heard in mid-week and Sunday meetings at Haverford.
The new depth & power in Thomas Kelly’s life meant both greater blessing & greater difficulties for him as he faithfully called all persons to the Light within them. [His new simplicity] was very disturbing to the sophisticated, critical & sometimes cynical Haverford student of that day. He was fully accepted by his fellow faculty, even though his depth of fervor did not speak to the condition of some of them. He poured himself with new energy into his committee work with the American Friends Service Committee. In his religious ministry at this period he struggled to rid himself of the “learned phrase,” “the scholarly allusion,” to speak the simple language of the heart. [Except for “Tom Kelly’s” boys, most students required to attend] the Thursday morning meeting for worship intensely disliked or were deeply disturbed by Thomas Kelly’s calls to live radiant lives for God.
He also learned that one has to endure times of spiritual aridity and apparent abandonment by the Holy Spirit. We must “learn not to clamor perpetually for height but walk in shadows and valleys and dry places, for months and years together; so must group worshipers learn that worship is fully valid when there are no thrills, no special sense of covering … I’m persuaded that a deep sifting of religion leads us down to the will, steadfastly oriented toward the will of God. In that steadfastness of the will one walks serene and unperturbed praying only, ‘Thy will be done.” Opposition, ridicule or periods of spiritual dryness were all suffered during Thomas Kelly’s last 3 years by an optimism born of joy. Thomas Kelly preached at the lobsterman’s Nazarene church. The love of God that shone forth from Thomas Kelly was what those dear people called, “the love of Christ.”
In October 1940 there was interest in publishing his lectures or manuscripts, and the beginnings of a book called The Light Within. He wrote a brief message called Children of Light which says in part: “We must humbly bear the message of the Light. Many see it from afar & long for it with all their being. Amidst the darkness of this time the day star can arise in astounding power & overcome the darkness within & without … It is given to us to be message bearers of the day that can dawn in apostolic power if we be wholly committed to the Light … Radiant in that radiance we may confidently expect the kindling of the Light in all men, until all Men’s footsteps are lighted by that Light, which is within them … It is a great message which is given to us, that the Light overcomes the darkness. But to give the message we must also be the message.”
After Thomas Kelly’s death, Douglas Steere with some help from “the gang” accomplished a vicarious service of love by bringing into print the book which we agreed to call A Testament of Devotion. The book is a testimony to the miracle Thomas Kelly knew in his life. It continues to speak to the spiritual need of thousands, more than 40 years after his death. Are we people whose lives can only be explained by saying, the Eternal Life & Love are breaking through into time, at these points? Do we hunger for the same sort of miracle in our life which transformed Thomas Kelly’s? If we do so with all the energy of our souls, it will also happen in us.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
401. 3 Ravens & 2 Widows: A Perspective on Controversy among Friends (Richard Macy Kelly; 2009)
About the Author—Richard Macy Kelly has served as a YMCA professional, Executive Director of the MD Council of Churches, and for the Baltimore City Health Dept. He was part of the adjunct faculty in the Applied Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins. He is the author of Thomas Kelly: A Biography and edited The Eternal Promise, a posthumously published work by his father Thomas Kelly.
Introduction—From time to time controversy erupts within the Religious Society of Friends. Friends have found themselves divided by significant issues. [The old divisions have been put aside], but controversies and disagreements still arise. The Friends United Meeting (FUM) limited employment opportunities and leadership positions in FUM to those in traditional heterosexual marriages or who are celibate.
This has dominated New England YM session for 4 or 5 years. Some are frustrated by lack of progress or avoidance, or are uncomfortable with confrontation. We seek to hear, to understand, to appreciate the various points of view. Ultimately we seek to understand what is the right thing to do. In reality we cannot predict or control the outcome of any approach. I suggest that we describe the situation in an entirely new manner, through metaphor. Our controversies today are part of the ongoing story of our community—a continuing expression of the journeys of those who raised us. I begin [by using a] ballad as a metaphor.
Three Ravens—[I am using] 3 variations of the 3 Ravens. The earliest was 1st published in 1611 [in a time before the Quakers]. The 2nd was published in the 19th century in northern England or Scotland. The 3rd version is American, from the early 20th century. The song’s basic theme is of scavenger crows who feast on the dead. [The 1st is] a romantic version of a noble knight’s corpse being lovingly protected by, hounds, eagles & maiden. The 2nd has only 2 crows & a cynical quality. The 3rd has become a silly children’s song with no reference to its noble rider. Nonetheless, they are the same song: different singers, different styles, different times, different pain. A Quaker today is not unlike a minstrel who loves and performs one version of the old song. Let us love all the versions; sing them all, and see each version as adding something to the whole.
Two Widows: The Song Begins—I also sing the old ballad as a song of 2 widows. It is a song of tenderness & strength, & like the old ballad, it has more than 1 version. 1 version is my grandmother’s song; Madora Kersey, who married Carlton Kelly in 1889. The other version is my mother’s song; Lael Macy married Thomas Kelly, Madora’s only son, in 1919. They were both brokenhearted by death, loss, lack of opportunity, & problems of health, & by lack of resources. They both loved my father, my sister, and me. It is still the same song.
Father died in January of 1941. My mother had no professional credentials, no occupation. She was too independent to accept the offer of a place to stay from family members. She took a course in institutional cooking at Drexel University, & became a dietician at the PA Hospital. I didn't like Grandma Linton much that year. Neither did my mother. Both women had lost their husband at a young age. They clashed over everything.
Grandma went back to Wilmington OH the next June; I had short visits with her. Over the years I have come to know & appreciate her life & example. Long after her death, I discovered letters & family records, which have further expanded my vision of what I remember from childhood. She told of how Carlton Kelly died in his 30’s. She told of her disappointment that she didn’t go to college. I understood the drive for academic excellence she instilled in my father. [I remember well our visit to her brother, Uncle Rufus: him lying in his bed in the parlor, chickens laying eggs in armchairs, a rooster strutting through the kitchen. Grandma became custodian of the family records he had compiled over the years. I am proud to be custodian of these same papers to this day.
[Madora’s Life]—Madora, or “Bea,” as she preferred to be called, was the 3rd of 7 children. She wrote: “My parents were Quakers and training strict. As I look back on those days of quiet contentment, my world was not very large.” Her parents were descendants of Quakers who came to PA in William Penn’s time, followed the migration of Friends south, and then in the 1800’s, to states north and west with new farmland available. Her grandfather was recording clerk for half a century and was among the early supporters of Earlham College.
Grandma met her husband, Carlton Kelly, through the offices of a traveling Quaker minister who encouraged them to correspond. She wrote of her wedding: “In late September … we gathered arm-loads of wild aster, lavender, and white, and banked them against the mantels, and long-stemmed Queen Anne’s Lace … limbs from the gum tree … with glossy leaves bright red, and the rooms were gay and festive, in tune with our hearts.”
Madora was a child of the late Victorian era. In her presence one never spoke of sex or sexuality. She denied that my father ever smoked cigarettes, that he was ever deeply depressed or near suicide, or that he didn’t like Wilmington & couldn’t wait to get out of the Midwest. For her, Wilmington & her circle of friends were the center of the universe. She seemed preoccupied with the rituals and proper procedure for interment of the body. [Plots for her entire Wilmington family were laid around her own. Her concerns around death may have been influenced by the stealing of her husband’s body]. Another area of difference related to Madora’s understanding of religion. Her religious views were different from those of Friends in the Philadelphia area. She was a child of the holiness revival movement, which swept through rural and small town Quakerism in the 19th century.
[Holiness Revival Movement: Effect on my Family]—[Back on the East Coast], prior to the American Revolution, many Friends withdrew from public life to avoid the evils of the French & Indian War & later the American Revolution. We saw ourselves as a peculiar people, & spoke of maintaining a “hedge” around the Quaker community; John Woolman’s message was largely to Friends alone. [Collaboration with] non-Friends on the social justice issues of larger society was criticized. “Disownments” were frequent occurrences for marrying contrary to discipline, improper dress, service in the military, going to a local fair, drinking and improper speech.
Great, great, great, great grandfather John Wilkins was “read out” of meeting for attending a public gathering to discuss the War of Independence. His daughter Hannah married Francis Williamson and had 4 children. Her daughter Harriet and Harriet’s 2 sons were influenced by tent revival meetings. Harriet Williamson Kelly felt she was a Quaker. As a result of the evangelist John Henry Douglas’ “visits” to Londonderry, virtually all of Harriet’s children joined Friends. Separation, plain language, & plain dress were ended; Friends were reinvigorated. All that was required was a commitment to Christ and acceptance of Him as Savior. The letters of Grandma and Carlton Kelly show the same enthusiasm for revivals and camp meetings as we would for a hit movie.
Change released a tidal wave of spiritual energy which contributed to the diverse Society of Friends of today. The Quaker Herbert Hoover was involved in humanitarian activities, & Nixon brought reconciliation with China. There were specific outward changes as well. [My ancestors became recorded ministers & pastors; meeting houses got steeples]. Many now spoke of “Friends churches” rather than “Friends meetings,” & of creeds & formal structures. Maybe the Inner Light was no longer relevant, & we shouldn't seek more understanding.
Luke Smith Mote [literally cut Hicksite Motes out of the family genealogy] after holiness preachers. [Unity was sought & Richmond Declaration of Faith was developed in 1887]; it was only modestly successful & not universally adopted. Rufus Jones, a product of a similar evangelical movement in New England, asked: What about continuing revelation or Inner Light, long held Quaker concepts? [What about Darwin & Scriptures]? What about modern biblical criticism? Should outreach be service, not proselytizing?
[Thomas and Lael]—Thomas Kelly graduated from Wilmington College and went to Haverford College for a year. This was his 1st serious exposure to what historians call the Quaker modernist movement championed by Jones. The modernist recalled the deep mystical roots which were fundamental to George Fox’s message. Though young Tom Kelly did not fully embrace this modernist movement, it was the beginning.
While at Hartford Seminary he met my mother, Lael Macy, a Congregational minister’s daughter in near-by Newington, Connecticut. They were married in a church by her clerical father. Her new meeting accepted her letter of transfer & she was now a Quaker. It was perhaps because of her last name: Macy. It's the surname of 1 of Nantucket’s founding families. Right now we were the family's poor branch, not heirs to the department store. The Nantucket MM self-destructed in the course of the Hicksite-Orthodox separation. The Macy family lost their affiliation with the Society of Friends, but carried on their commitment to religious life & Quaker values. [The members of Lael’s extended family were Congregational but behaved in what seems to me to be a very Quakerly fashion]. I don’t think she recognized that influence on her and her family. It was just who she was.
My mother wasn't a Victorian. Our home was always filled with overt affection. We knew the facts of life years before our classmates learned them from whispers on the playground. [Sexuality was openly discussed]. [Mother felt that] if she had done her job correctly by the time you were 10 or 11, then she had done her job. You would make good choices in life. In spite of her open & affectionate nature, Lael never dated or remarried. Her family had long ago left the farm. Herbert Macy often invited students from the Hartford Seminary for Sunday dinner. That’s where Tom & Lael met. They spent 1½ years in Berlin finishing up the American Friends Service Committee’s Child Feeding program and helping establish the German YM. She ended her career on the faculty of Westtown School as assistant librarian; [she is remembered fondly by my Westtown classmates].
Lael & Tom became progressively more liberal, fully embracing Rufus Jones’ views; they believed in science & scholarship. Mother became more committed to civil rights & freedom of thought as she got older. She was a Progressive Party supporter in 1948, & [friends of people who had done organizing work in the Soviet Union or had been blacklisted in the McCarthy era.] Lael’s strategy for change was her warmth, her cooking, & her graciousness. She delighted in the long preparation & could hardly wait for a reaction to her joyful cooking. Any visitor would be hard pressed to resist political views & social values accompanying such [cooking]. [Tom’s mother], in spite of conservative religious views, was committed to women’s right to education; this led her & her daughter to be members of the PEO Sisterhood. Racial equality & full integration weren’t concepts that her life had prepared her for.
The Song of 2 Widows—In the song, would my grandma be a rigid fundamentalist, not open to new ideas? Would my mother be a loving, liberal spirit who gives away the world, but lacks Grandma Linton’s toughness? No. Grandma Linton’s views were just who she was. They were what she knew & how she survived. My mother was just as fiercely independent in her quiet loving way & as steadfast in her modernist views. Philadelphia Quakers saw to [our family’s] employment & educational opportunities. Ambiguity & complexity might be the song’s message. Both widows, bright women with gifted minds, were denied opportunity in a culture which limited women’s roles. It would be a song that inspires social justice work, & an expanding understanding of God’s love.
Grandma’s song would be about strength, not rigidity. It would be a song of living with death & sorrow, for which there's no magic answer. Mother’s song would also be about strength & pain, just softer, more subtle, more open to change. It would be a song about love for their children. Does history limit our vision, control us, distort our understanding of the present, or does it inform and guide us to new understandings? Let us see truth as an evolving journey of discovery. It is the trip itself that is the most important. The truth, the meaning of life, the nature of God’s love is messy and ambiguous. Things that may set us free also imprison us.
Every family’s song is a song of pain, love, inspiration, lost dreams, unspoken memories, and ties that bind as well and support us. Those 2 widows are around me always, just as are those who raised you, loved you, wrestled through the night with you, and are with you as a piece of who you are. The old songs never stop. Feel [their] pain and [their] hope.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
393. Rebecca Janney Timbres Clark: Turned in the Hand of God (by Lyndon S. Back; 2007)
About the Author—Lyndon Back grew up in the care of Haddonfield (NJ) MM; she attended Haddonfield Friends School & George School. She married in 1960 & divorced in 1978. She became Director of Planned Giving at AFSC. In 1998, she followed a call from God and joined a peace team working in Serbia and Kosovo; she was there for 3 years. One day at Swarthmore Friends Historical Library, she discovered a book by Rebecca & Harry Timbres. The book affected her deeply and she began to research the life of Rebecca Janney Timbres Clark.
[Introduction]—Rebecca Janney Timbres Clark (1896-2000) was a nurse, humanitarian, social activist, wife, mother, educator & author. Her journey took her from a sheltered Quaker upbringing in Baltimore to Europe’s war-torn regions at WWI’s end. She served in Russia & India as well as in her own country. Rebecca lived creative tension between Utopia & every day [reality], earnest devotion & joyful abandon, adventure & the longing for a normal life.
Rebecca’s year as a volunteer for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Poland at the 1st World War’s end formed a crucible, a transformation. What drew her to leave comfort & safety for the unknown? What nourished [& sustained] her spirit? Rebecca’s writing from that period, fresh, open, & candid, offers a rare opportunity to follow the development of a young Quaker woman in the early days of the 20th century.
Background/ The Call—Rebecca Sinclair Janney was born May 6, 1896, the younger of 2 daughters. Her parents, O. Edward Janney & Anne Webb Janney were members of Baltimore MM; her mother’s mother helped start Swarthmore. Rebecca was sent to Goucher College & Columbia University’s Teachers’ College. [2 classes of note were English & home nursing]. The English subject of note was Rabindranath Tagore’s writings. She played her guitar, “Jonah,” & delighted in opera, attending Boris Godunov, Rigoletto, Lohrengrin, & Madame Butterfly. She was athletic, & received congratulations & acceptance from teammates for winning a swim meet.
The Great War broke out in 1914, & coincided with Rebecca’s college years. When the US entered the war on April 6, 1917, representatives from the Religious Society of Friends’ several branches acted quickly. The AFSC began on May 11, 1917; Vincent Nicholson was the 1st executive secretary. Board chairman Rufus Jones, organized an emergency unit of conscientious objectors. The 1st 100 volunteers joined British Friends working in France under the Red Cross. Joint British American missions continued into the period of post-war reconstruction.
Women volunteers were welcomed from the beginning. Rebecca recalls applying to AFSC in the fall of 1917, though there is no record of her application. Rebecca said: “It may have been Vincent Nicholson who 1st put the thought of becoming a nurse into my head.” The thought of nursing had no appeal at 1st. She wrote: “There is nothing I’d rather do than have a young, peppy, idealistic, common-sense American fall madly in love with me … marry, settle down more or less … Careers are splendid, but a normal life is the great one.”
A woman who returned from the fighting in France spoke at Union Seminary. “She spoke of the need for nurses … As I listened … I was lifted outside of myself & felt placed in God’s hand, which turned me, not my body, but my spirit … I was returned to my body knowing that God wanted me [as] a nurse. [I felt joy & ecstasy] for days afterwards.” The path she saw clearly before her would be clouded with distractions & unexpected obstacles.
Preparation—In the fall, after a summer of classes, Rebecca entered Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia for 2 of practical training. Hospitals were overflowing with victims of the Spanish flu and there was great need for nurses. Rebecca resented the way she was treated. Her sense of humor and resilient spirit kept her going. Rebecca’s older sister Nell encouraged her not to give up, and [provided refuge for her up in Media].
B.A. Thomas was 18 years older than Rebecca, a Quaker and a widower with 3 children. Rebecca was not ready to step into the picture of domestic tranquility that he offered. She declined his proposal of marriage. In the summer of 1920, Rebecca applied to a volunteer with the AFSC, which was deeply involved in relief and reconstruction projects throughout Europe and Russia.
The executive secretary Wilbur Thomas persuaded her to go to Poland, where there was a joint British/ American Friends mission. She told B.A. of her calling. They agreed to postpone the decision until she returned from Poland. Rufus Jones confessed that one of the most difficult challenges was to figure out what AFSC’s true mission would be & to how to select the right people for the work. The people who spread out through war-torn Europe to bring a “service of love in wartime” did not proselytize. Applicants to the AFSC were required to be healthy, willing & able to do physical work, & to come from a solid family background; Rebecca measured up nicely.
The Journey/ The Quaker Mission in Poland—It took almost 2 weeks to travel from New York to Liverpool and then on to Warsaw in postwar Europe. After crossing Germany by train, having been stopped at many checkpoints, her luggage searched by suspicious soldiers, and getting very little sleep, she had developed a nasty sore throat and cold. She arrived in Warsaw at 4:30 in the morning on February 21, 1921. Rebecca awoke in a city that was struggling under weight of a million tragedies which confronted her down every street and on every corner. [She was especially affected by the poor health of the children].
The Russians had retreated leaving scorched earth behind; central Poland was a barren landscape of trampled earth with few trees or villages intact. As thousands more refugees returned to Poland, a new crisis arose; they brought typhus. The small band of Quaker volunteers attacked disease with ruthless but effective measures, implementing a model used by the American Relief Administration and the Red Cross. [Quakers also worked in distributing goods, restoring the land and buildings, and organizing cottage industries].
The Red Army returned to eastern Poland in 1920 and retreated again, [laying waste to the Lublin district]. Disruption, disorganization, and discouragement developed among the Mission volunteers. There was concern about lack of leadership in the Mission. William Fogg, an American Quaker businessman was recruited to help organize the unit. Rebecca immediately noticed friction in the team. Fogg seemed overwrought and depressed and caved into staff pressure. The British volunteers were not all Quakers.
Rebecca was to be part of the Cotton Seed Meal (CSM) Project, which was intended to feed starving cows and help increase the milk supply. The farmers would pay by supplying orphanages and children’s homes. Rebecca was to visit where children were, take an inventory of how many children were in each facility and how much milk they were getting. She traveled several hours to Lublin alone, arriving at midnight and finding her own way to her quarters. She was able to organize a women’s committee with the help of Princess Woroniecka to make contacts with the orphanages and distribute milk.
She spent sleepless nights examining her feelings for B.A. She prayed & received the thought “look for his soul, not his body.” Rebecca feasted on letters. She wrote to her parents, to her sister, & to B.A., whose letters she read & reread. One letter said: “I believe only because of the fulfillment of an ideal, she will always remain enshrined in my heart & soul.” Rebecca’s ability to laugh at herself helped her adjust to difficult surroundings. As winter gave way to spring, the coldness she had experienced from members of the unit began to thaw & her social life improved. From time to time Rebecca would be given nursing duties. In a very short time she had become something of an expert on the CSM Project. Rebecca was called in to brief visiting ARA & Red Cross officials.
Courtship—The end of April she noticed a new volunteer. His name was Harry Timbres and he had just arrived in Warsaw. “He doesn’t seem too exciting a type.” They went together on a bicycle trip and got lost and rained on. Throughout the next month Rebecca traveled back and forth visiting children’s institutions [for the CSM Project]. [Harry showed great interest in Rebecca, much like a courtship]. Rebecca was not sure what to do about Harry, whose attentions she did not take very seriously; he was several years younger.
The hectic schedule demanded of Rebecca allowed little time for reflection. Although she felt Spirit-guided during her work in Poland, she missed sadly the opportunity for more quiet meditation. Konstanin, a beautiful village just a few miles from Warsaw, was a favorite place for rest, relaxation, & retreat. She & Harry found time to be alone together reading Tagore’s poetry & talking. She wrote: “Harry looked at me as no man has ever looked at me before & I had the strangest feeling … Surely I’m not in love with this boy just out of college.”
Rufus Jones and Wilbur Thomas from AFSC and Harrison Barrow and Frederick Roundtree from Quaker Service arrived for “Representatives Day.” In the afternoon the volunteers learned that work in Poland would be winding down by the end of the year. Harry was excited by the prospect of being reassigned. Rebecca told B.A. not to come to Vienna for just a marriage proposal.
Anne Janney urged Rebecca not to yield to any impulse but real affection & trust. Anne Janney’s advice to look to B.A.’s soul & heart was the same advice Rebecca had received [from prayer]. [She was to look for someone whose soul was stirred by humanity’s big questions]. Rebecca felt “honor bound” not to commit to Harry until she had seen B.A. face to face. Pulled as she was in several directions, Rebecca maintained her balance by focusing on her work. By July’s end she was doing the nursing she had hoped to do when she 1st volunteered.
Engagement—She asked herself: Do I love him enough? Is he going to prove big enough, strong enough to carry us both? Harry was a convinced Quaker from a poor farming family in Canada. She longed for her parents’ consent & approval. Rufus Jones had been Harry’s professor at Haverford; since he approved of Harry, that was enough for Rebecca’s parents. Rebecca wrote: “I am not radiant, feeling a little uncertain about things.”
Thousands of refugees arrived at the tiny Drohiczen station on freight cars shipped from Russia, [poorly clothed and fed]. Refugee work on this scale was new to her, and the suffering that she saw during that short visit impressed her deeply. During the fall Rebecca wrestled with her mood swings. “I was not in the best of humors, fairly sure that I did not want to marry a man who could not argue without raising his voice and losing his sense of humor and politeness.” Other times she was “radiantly joyful, and so much at peace.”
Rebecca wrote to her family: “The Light has been shown me & I must go to Russia. If Hal can’t go, I must go anyway. [Harry wrote a similar letter to Rufus Jones]. Harry emphasized their love, their engagement, while Rebecca was still thinking as an individual. They had to wait until the end of February. Harry couldn’t be spared from the CSM Project, & Rebecca was nursing Mary Tatum, the unit physician, who had contracted typhus.
Crisis & Transformation/ Epilogue—There was no cure for typhus. The only “treatment” was to build up the patient & strengthen the heart with injections of insulin, camphor & strychnine in order to withstand the crisis when the fever dropped & strain was put on the heart. Rebecca & Harry worked well together. Harry was a staunch, willing assistant [with the patient’s physical needs]. Rebecca wrote: “Tonight Dr. Tatum died … She held out her hand blindly & Hal took hold of it … I am sure it was God working through Hal who saved her for us. After 4 hours she relaxed his hand … The crisis is over & her heart came through nobly, Love, Bocca, (who has just witnessed a miracle).” Dr. Tatum said that someone had hold of her & would not let her go. [Rebecca thought it was Harry].
A new tone was evident in Rebecca’s letters following Mary Tatum’s crisis & recovery: “Hal is such a dear, but I’m not blind to his faults nor he to mine, thank goodness. It looks as if we [are] building a solid foundation.” It wasn’t until late February that Rebecca & Harry were able to leave for a vacation in the Austrian Alps. On March 21, 1922 a cable was received with her parents’ approval, but they didn’t come to the wedding, which took place on March 24 in the free city of Gdansk, with special permission from the Danzig Senate. There was a Friends meeting ceremony where Rebecca stayed when she 1st came to Warsaw. 2 days later they boarded the train to Moscow. Harry would work on famine relief & Rebecca Janney Timbres would nurse, possibly typhus.
Harry and Rebecca returned to the US in the fall of 1922. Harry graduated from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1928. They worked for 3 years in India with Tagore. In the summer of 1936, Harry sailed for the Soviet Union, followed by the family 2 months later; they settled in Marbumstroy on the Volga River. In the spring of 1937 Harry contracted typhus. Rebecca nursed him in their log cabin apartment with no running water and an outside toilet. He died in a hospital on May 12. Rebecca buried Harry in his “beloved Russia” before returning to America. Rebecca received her Master’s degree in social work from Columbia University in 1941 and served as Dean of nursing at Meherry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She married Edgar Clark in 1943 and moved with him to Honolulu. She practiced medical social work there until his death in 1961. She then lived in Medford Leas, a Friends retirement home in New Jersey, where she died in 2000 at the age of 103.
Queries: What were the factors that contributed to your development? What role have close personal relationships played in the formation of your character? What sense of call or leading has drawn you to the present role you play in the world?
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
232. The life journey of a Quaker artist (by Dorothea Johnson Blom; 1980)
Introduction—From time to time controversy erupts within the Religious Society of Friends. Friends have found themselves divided by significant issues. [The old divisions have been put aside], but controversies and disagreements still arise. The Friends United Meeting (FUM) limited employment opportunities and leadership positions in FUM to those in traditional heterosexual marriages or who are celibate.
This has dominated New England YM session for 4 or 5 years. Some are frustrated by lack of progress or avoidance, or are uncomfortable with confrontation. We seek to hear, to understand, to appreciate the various points of view. Ultimately we seek to understand what is the right thing to do. In reality we cannot predict or control the outcome of any approach. I suggest that we describe the situation in an entirely new manner, through metaphor. Our controversies today are part of the ongoing story of our community—a continuing expression of the journeys of those who raised us. I begin [by using a] ballad as a metaphor.
Three Ravens—[I am using] 3 variations of the 3 Ravens. The earliest was 1st published in 1611 [in a time before the Quakers]. The 2nd was published in the 19th century in northern England or Scotland. The 3rd version is American, from the early 20th century. The song’s basic theme is of scavenger crows who feast on the dead. [The 1st is] a romantic version of a noble knight’s corpse being lovingly protected by, hounds, eagles & maiden. The 2nd has only 2 crows & a cynical quality. The 3rd has become a silly children’s song with no reference to its noble rider. Nonetheless, they are the same song: different singers, different styles, different times, different pain. A Quaker today is not unlike a minstrel who loves and performs one version of the old song. Let us love all the versions; sing them all, and see each version as adding something to the whole.
Two Widows: The Song Begins—I also sing the old ballad as a song of 2 widows. It is a song of tenderness & strength, & like the old ballad, it has more than 1 version. 1 version is my grandmother’s song; Madora Kersey, who married Carlton Kelly in 1889. The other version is my mother’s song; Lael Macy married Thomas Kelly, Madora’s only son, in 1919. They were both brokenhearted by death, loss, lack of opportunity, & problems of health, & by lack of resources. They both loved my father, my sister, and me. It is still the same song.
Father died in January of 1941. My mother had no professional credentials, no occupation. She was too independent to accept the offer of a place to stay from family members. She took a course in institutional cooking at Drexel University, & became a dietician at the PA Hospital. I didn't like Grandma Linton much that year. Neither did my mother. Both women had lost their husband at a young age. They clashed over everything.
Grandma went back to Wilmington OH the next June; I had short visits with her. Over the years I have come to know & appreciate her life & example. Long after her death, I discovered letters & family records, which have further expanded my vision of what I remember from childhood. She told of how Carlton Kelly died in his 30’s. She told of her disappointment that she didn’t go to college. I understood the drive for academic excellence she instilled in my father. [I remember well our visit to her brother, Uncle Rufus: him lying in his bed in the parlor, chickens laying eggs in armchairs, a rooster strutting through the kitchen. Grandma became custodian of the family records he had compiled over the years. I am proud to be custodian of these same papers to this day.
[Madora’s Life]—Madora, or “Bea,” as she preferred to be called, was the 3rd of 7 children. She wrote: “My parents were Quakers and training strict. As I look back on those days of quiet contentment, my world was not very large.” Her parents were descendants of Quakers who came to PA in William Penn’s time, followed the migration of Friends south, and then in the 1800’s, to states north and west with new farmland available. Her grandfather was recording clerk for half a century and was among the early supporters of Earlham College.
Grandma met her husband, Carlton Kelly, through the offices of a traveling Quaker minister who encouraged them to correspond. She wrote of her wedding: “In late September … we gathered arm-loads of wild aster, lavender, and white, and banked them against the mantels, and long-stemmed Queen Anne’s Lace … limbs from the gum tree … with glossy leaves bright red, and the rooms were gay and festive, in tune with our hearts.”
Madora was a child of the late Victorian era. In her presence one never spoke of sex or sexuality. She denied that my father ever smoked cigarettes, that he was ever deeply depressed or near suicide, or that he didn’t like Wilmington & couldn’t wait to get out of the Midwest. For her, Wilmington & her circle of friends were the center of the universe. She seemed preoccupied with the rituals and proper procedure for interment of the body. [Plots for her entire Wilmington family were laid around her own. Her concerns around death may have been influenced by the stealing of her husband’s body]. Another area of difference related to Madora’s understanding of religion. Her religious views were different from those of Friends in the Philadelphia area. She was a child of the holiness revival movement, which swept through rural and small town Quakerism in the 19th century.
[Holiness Revival Movement: Effect on my Family]—[Back on the East Coast], prior to the American Revolution, many Friends withdrew from public life to avoid the evils of the French & Indian War & later the American Revolution. We saw ourselves as a peculiar people, & spoke of maintaining a “hedge” around the Quaker community; John Woolman’s message was largely to Friends alone. [Collaboration with] non-Friends on the social justice issues of larger society was criticized. “Disownments” were frequent occurrences for marrying contrary to discipline, improper dress, service in the military, going to a local fair, drinking and improper speech.
Great, great, great, great grandfather John Wilkins was “read out” of meeting for attending a public gathering to discuss the War of Independence. His daughter Hannah married Francis Williamson and had 4 children. Her daughter Harriet and Harriet’s 2 sons were influenced by tent revival meetings. Harriet Williamson Kelly felt she was a Quaker. As a result of the evangelist John Henry Douglas’ “visits” to Londonderry, virtually all of Harriet’s children joined Friends. Separation, plain language, & plain dress were ended; Friends were reinvigorated. All that was required was a commitment to Christ and acceptance of Him as Savior. The letters of Grandma and Carlton Kelly show the same enthusiasm for revivals and camp meetings as we would for a hit movie.
Change released a tidal wave of spiritual energy which contributed to the diverse Society of Friends of today. The Quaker Herbert Hoover was involved in humanitarian activities, & Nixon brought reconciliation with China. There were specific outward changes as well. [My ancestors became recorded ministers & pastors; meeting houses got steeples]. Many now spoke of “Friends churches” rather than “Friends meetings,” & of creeds & formal structures. Maybe the Inner Light was no longer relevant, & we shouldn't seek more understanding.
Luke Smith Mote [literally cut Hicksite Motes out of the family genealogy] after holiness preachers. [Unity was sought & Richmond Declaration of Faith was developed in 1887]; it was only modestly successful & not universally adopted. Rufus Jones, a product of a similar evangelical movement in New England, asked: What about continuing revelation or Inner Light, long held Quaker concepts? [What about Darwin & Scriptures]? What about modern biblical criticism? Should outreach be service, not proselytizing?
[Thomas and Lael]—Thomas Kelly graduated from Wilmington College and went to Haverford College for a year. This was his 1st serious exposure to what historians call the Quaker modernist movement championed by Jones. The modernist recalled the deep mystical roots which were fundamental to George Fox’s message. Though young Tom Kelly did not fully embrace this modernist movement, it was the beginning.
While at Hartford Seminary he met my mother, Lael Macy, a Congregational minister’s daughter in near-by Newington, Connecticut. They were married in a church by her clerical father. Her new meeting accepted her letter of transfer & she was now a Quaker. It was perhaps because of her last name: Macy. It's the surname of 1 of Nantucket’s founding families. Right now we were the family's poor branch, not heirs to the department store. The Nantucket MM self-destructed in the course of the Hicksite-Orthodox separation. The Macy family lost their affiliation with the Society of Friends, but carried on their commitment to religious life & Quaker values. [The members of Lael’s extended family were Congregational but behaved in what seems to me to be a very Quakerly fashion]. I don’t think she recognized that influence on her and her family. It was just who she was.
My mother wasn't a Victorian. Our home was always filled with overt affection. We knew the facts of life years before our classmates learned them from whispers on the playground. [Sexuality was openly discussed]. [Mother felt that] if she had done her job correctly by the time you were 10 or 11, then she had done her job. You would make good choices in life. In spite of her open & affectionate nature, Lael never dated or remarried. Her family had long ago left the farm. Herbert Macy often invited students from the Hartford Seminary for Sunday dinner. That’s where Tom & Lael met. They spent 1½ years in Berlin finishing up the American Friends Service Committee’s Child Feeding program and helping establish the German YM. She ended her career on the faculty of Westtown School as assistant librarian; [she is remembered fondly by my Westtown classmates].
Lael & Tom became progressively more liberal, fully embracing Rufus Jones’ views; they believed in science & scholarship. Mother became more committed to civil rights & freedom of thought as she got older. She was a Progressive Party supporter in 1948, & [friends of people who had done organizing work in the Soviet Union or had been blacklisted in the McCarthy era.] Lael’s strategy for change was her warmth, her cooking, & her graciousness. She delighted in the long preparation & could hardly wait for a reaction to her joyful cooking. Any visitor would be hard pressed to resist political views & social values accompanying such [cooking]. [Tom’s mother], in spite of conservative religious views, was committed to women’s right to education; this led her & her daughter to be members of the PEO Sisterhood. Racial equality & full integration weren’t concepts that her life had prepared her for.
The Song of 2 Widows—In the song, would my grandma be a rigid fundamentalist, not open to new ideas? Would my mother be a loving, liberal spirit who gives away the world, but lacks Grandma Linton’s toughness? No. Grandma Linton’s views were just who she was. They were what she knew & how she survived. My mother was just as fiercely independent in her quiet loving way & as steadfast in her modernist views. Philadelphia Quakers saw to [our family’s] employment & educational opportunities. Ambiguity & complexity might be the song’s message. Both widows, bright women with gifted minds, were denied opportunity in a culture which limited women’s roles. It would be a song that inspires social justice work, & an expanding understanding of God’s love.
Grandma’s song would be about strength, not rigidity. It would be a song of living with death & sorrow, for which there's no magic answer. Mother’s song would also be about strength & pain, just softer, more subtle, more open to change. It would be a song about love for their children. Does history limit our vision, control us, distort our understanding of the present, or does it inform and guide us to new understandings? Let us see truth as an evolving journey of discovery. It is the trip itself that is the most important. The truth, the meaning of life, the nature of God’s love is messy and ambiguous. Things that may set us free also imprison us.
Every family’s song is a song of pain, love, inspiration, lost dreams, unspoken memories, and ties that bind as well and support us. Those 2 widows are around me always, just as are those who raised you, loved you, wrestled through the night with you, and are with you as a piece of who you are. The old songs never stop. Feel [their] pain and [their] hope.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
393. Rebecca Janney Timbres Clark: Turned in the Hand of God (by Lyndon S. Back; 2007)
About the Author—Lyndon Back grew up in the care of Haddonfield (NJ) MM; she attended Haddonfield Friends School & George School. She married in 1960 & divorced in 1978. She became Director of Planned Giving at AFSC. In 1998, she followed a call from God and joined a peace team working in Serbia and Kosovo; she was there for 3 years. One day at Swarthmore Friends Historical Library, she discovered a book by Rebecca & Harry Timbres. The book affected her deeply and she began to research the life of Rebecca Janney Timbres Clark.
[Introduction]—Rebecca Janney Timbres Clark (1896-2000) was a nurse, humanitarian, social activist, wife, mother, educator & author. Her journey took her from a sheltered Quaker upbringing in Baltimore to Europe’s war-torn regions at WWI’s end. She served in Russia & India as well as in her own country. Rebecca lived creative tension between Utopia & every day [reality], earnest devotion & joyful abandon, adventure & the longing for a normal life.
Rebecca’s year as a volunteer for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Poland at the 1st World War’s end formed a crucible, a transformation. What drew her to leave comfort & safety for the unknown? What nourished [& sustained] her spirit? Rebecca’s writing from that period, fresh, open, & candid, offers a rare opportunity to follow the development of a young Quaker woman in the early days of the 20th century.
Background/ The Call—Rebecca Sinclair Janney was born May 6, 1896, the younger of 2 daughters. Her parents, O. Edward Janney & Anne Webb Janney were members of Baltimore MM; her mother’s mother helped start Swarthmore. Rebecca was sent to Goucher College & Columbia University’s Teachers’ College. [2 classes of note were English & home nursing]. The English subject of note was Rabindranath Tagore’s writings. She played her guitar, “Jonah,” & delighted in opera, attending Boris Godunov, Rigoletto, Lohrengrin, & Madame Butterfly. She was athletic, & received congratulations & acceptance from teammates for winning a swim meet.
The Great War broke out in 1914, & coincided with Rebecca’s college years. When the US entered the war on April 6, 1917, representatives from the Religious Society of Friends’ several branches acted quickly. The AFSC began on May 11, 1917; Vincent Nicholson was the 1st executive secretary. Board chairman Rufus Jones, organized an emergency unit of conscientious objectors. The 1st 100 volunteers joined British Friends working in France under the Red Cross. Joint British American missions continued into the period of post-war reconstruction.
Women volunteers were welcomed from the beginning. Rebecca recalls applying to AFSC in the fall of 1917, though there is no record of her application. Rebecca said: “It may have been Vincent Nicholson who 1st put the thought of becoming a nurse into my head.” The thought of nursing had no appeal at 1st. She wrote: “There is nothing I’d rather do than have a young, peppy, idealistic, common-sense American fall madly in love with me … marry, settle down more or less … Careers are splendid, but a normal life is the great one.”
A woman who returned from the fighting in France spoke at Union Seminary. “She spoke of the need for nurses … As I listened … I was lifted outside of myself & felt placed in God’s hand, which turned me, not my body, but my spirit … I was returned to my body knowing that God wanted me [as] a nurse. [I felt joy & ecstasy] for days afterwards.” The path she saw clearly before her would be clouded with distractions & unexpected obstacles.
Preparation—In the fall, after a summer of classes, Rebecca entered Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia for 2 of practical training. Hospitals were overflowing with victims of the Spanish flu and there was great need for nurses. Rebecca resented the way she was treated. Her sense of humor and resilient spirit kept her going. Rebecca’s older sister Nell encouraged her not to give up, and [provided refuge for her up in Media].
B.A. Thomas was 18 years older than Rebecca, a Quaker and a widower with 3 children. Rebecca was not ready to step into the picture of domestic tranquility that he offered. She declined his proposal of marriage. In the summer of 1920, Rebecca applied to a volunteer with the AFSC, which was deeply involved in relief and reconstruction projects throughout Europe and Russia.
The executive secretary Wilbur Thomas persuaded her to go to Poland, where there was a joint British/ American Friends mission. She told B.A. of her calling. They agreed to postpone the decision until she returned from Poland. Rufus Jones confessed that one of the most difficult challenges was to figure out what AFSC’s true mission would be & to how to select the right people for the work. The people who spread out through war-torn Europe to bring a “service of love in wartime” did not proselytize. Applicants to the AFSC were required to be healthy, willing & able to do physical work, & to come from a solid family background; Rebecca measured up nicely.
The Journey/ The Quaker Mission in Poland—It took almost 2 weeks to travel from New York to Liverpool and then on to Warsaw in postwar Europe. After crossing Germany by train, having been stopped at many checkpoints, her luggage searched by suspicious soldiers, and getting very little sleep, she had developed a nasty sore throat and cold. She arrived in Warsaw at 4:30 in the morning on February 21, 1921. Rebecca awoke in a city that was struggling under weight of a million tragedies which confronted her down every street and on every corner. [She was especially affected by the poor health of the children].
The Russians had retreated leaving scorched earth behind; central Poland was a barren landscape of trampled earth with few trees or villages intact. As thousands more refugees returned to Poland, a new crisis arose; they brought typhus. The small band of Quaker volunteers attacked disease with ruthless but effective measures, implementing a model used by the American Relief Administration and the Red Cross. [Quakers also worked in distributing goods, restoring the land and buildings, and organizing cottage industries].
The Red Army returned to eastern Poland in 1920 and retreated again, [laying waste to the Lublin district]. Disruption, disorganization, and discouragement developed among the Mission volunteers. There was concern about lack of leadership in the Mission. William Fogg, an American Quaker businessman was recruited to help organize the unit. Rebecca immediately noticed friction in the team. Fogg seemed overwrought and depressed and caved into staff pressure. The British volunteers were not all Quakers.
Rebecca was to be part of the Cotton Seed Meal (CSM) Project, which was intended to feed starving cows and help increase the milk supply. The farmers would pay by supplying orphanages and children’s homes. Rebecca was to visit where children were, take an inventory of how many children were in each facility and how much milk they were getting. She traveled several hours to Lublin alone, arriving at midnight and finding her own way to her quarters. She was able to organize a women’s committee with the help of Princess Woroniecka to make contacts with the orphanages and distribute milk.
She spent sleepless nights examining her feelings for B.A. She prayed & received the thought “look for his soul, not his body.” Rebecca feasted on letters. She wrote to her parents, to her sister, & to B.A., whose letters she read & reread. One letter said: “I believe only because of the fulfillment of an ideal, she will always remain enshrined in my heart & soul.” Rebecca’s ability to laugh at herself helped her adjust to difficult surroundings. As winter gave way to spring, the coldness she had experienced from members of the unit began to thaw & her social life improved. From time to time Rebecca would be given nursing duties. In a very short time she had become something of an expert on the CSM Project. Rebecca was called in to brief visiting ARA & Red Cross officials.
Courtship—The end of April she noticed a new volunteer. His name was Harry Timbres and he had just arrived in Warsaw. “He doesn’t seem too exciting a type.” They went together on a bicycle trip and got lost and rained on. Throughout the next month Rebecca traveled back and forth visiting children’s institutions [for the CSM Project]. [Harry showed great interest in Rebecca, much like a courtship]. Rebecca was not sure what to do about Harry, whose attentions she did not take very seriously; he was several years younger.
The hectic schedule demanded of Rebecca allowed little time for reflection. Although she felt Spirit-guided during her work in Poland, she missed sadly the opportunity for more quiet meditation. Konstanin, a beautiful village just a few miles from Warsaw, was a favorite place for rest, relaxation, & retreat. She & Harry found time to be alone together reading Tagore’s poetry & talking. She wrote: “Harry looked at me as no man has ever looked at me before & I had the strangest feeling … Surely I’m not in love with this boy just out of college.”
Rufus Jones and Wilbur Thomas from AFSC and Harrison Barrow and Frederick Roundtree from Quaker Service arrived for “Representatives Day.” In the afternoon the volunteers learned that work in Poland would be winding down by the end of the year. Harry was excited by the prospect of being reassigned. Rebecca told B.A. not to come to Vienna for just a marriage proposal.
Anne Janney urged Rebecca not to yield to any impulse but real affection & trust. Anne Janney’s advice to look to B.A.’s soul & heart was the same advice Rebecca had received [from prayer]. [She was to look for someone whose soul was stirred by humanity’s big questions]. Rebecca felt “honor bound” not to commit to Harry until she had seen B.A. face to face. Pulled as she was in several directions, Rebecca maintained her balance by focusing on her work. By July’s end she was doing the nursing she had hoped to do when she 1st volunteered.
Engagement—She asked herself: Do I love him enough? Is he going to prove big enough, strong enough to carry us both? Harry was a convinced Quaker from a poor farming family in Canada. She longed for her parents’ consent & approval. Rufus Jones had been Harry’s professor at Haverford; since he approved of Harry, that was enough for Rebecca’s parents. Rebecca wrote: “I am not radiant, feeling a little uncertain about things.”
Thousands of refugees arrived at the tiny Drohiczen station on freight cars shipped from Russia, [poorly clothed and fed]. Refugee work on this scale was new to her, and the suffering that she saw during that short visit impressed her deeply. During the fall Rebecca wrestled with her mood swings. “I was not in the best of humors, fairly sure that I did not want to marry a man who could not argue without raising his voice and losing his sense of humor and politeness.” Other times she was “radiantly joyful, and so much at peace.”
Rebecca wrote to her family: “The Light has been shown me & I must go to Russia. If Hal can’t go, I must go anyway. [Harry wrote a similar letter to Rufus Jones]. Harry emphasized their love, their engagement, while Rebecca was still thinking as an individual. They had to wait until the end of February. Harry couldn’t be spared from the CSM Project, & Rebecca was nursing Mary Tatum, the unit physician, who had contracted typhus.
Crisis & Transformation/ Epilogue—There was no cure for typhus. The only “treatment” was to build up the patient & strengthen the heart with injections of insulin, camphor & strychnine in order to withstand the crisis when the fever dropped & strain was put on the heart. Rebecca & Harry worked well together. Harry was a staunch, willing assistant [with the patient’s physical needs]. Rebecca wrote: “Tonight Dr. Tatum died … She held out her hand blindly & Hal took hold of it … I am sure it was God working through Hal who saved her for us. After 4 hours she relaxed his hand … The crisis is over & her heart came through nobly, Love, Bocca, (who has just witnessed a miracle).” Dr. Tatum said that someone had hold of her & would not let her go. [Rebecca thought it was Harry].
A new tone was evident in Rebecca’s letters following Mary Tatum’s crisis & recovery: “Hal is such a dear, but I’m not blind to his faults nor he to mine, thank goodness. It looks as if we [are] building a solid foundation.” It wasn’t until late February that Rebecca & Harry were able to leave for a vacation in the Austrian Alps. On March 21, 1922 a cable was received with her parents’ approval, but they didn’t come to the wedding, which took place on March 24 in the free city of Gdansk, with special permission from the Danzig Senate. There was a Friends meeting ceremony where Rebecca stayed when she 1st came to Warsaw. 2 days later they boarded the train to Moscow. Harry would work on famine relief & Rebecca Janney Timbres would nurse, possibly typhus.
Harry and Rebecca returned to the US in the fall of 1922. Harry graduated from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1928. They worked for 3 years in India with Tagore. In the summer of 1936, Harry sailed for the Soviet Union, followed by the family 2 months later; they settled in Marbumstroy on the Volga River. In the spring of 1937 Harry contracted typhus. Rebecca nursed him in their log cabin apartment with no running water and an outside toilet. He died in a hospital on May 12. Rebecca buried Harry in his “beloved Russia” before returning to America. Rebecca received her Master’s degree in social work from Columbia University in 1941 and served as Dean of nursing at Meherry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She married Edgar Clark in 1943 and moved with him to Honolulu. She practiced medical social work there until his death in 1961. She then lived in Medford Leas, a Friends retirement home in New Jersey, where she died in 2000 at the age of 103.
Queries: What were the factors that contributed to your development? What role have close personal relationships played in the formation of your character? What sense of call or leading has drawn you to the present role you play in the world?
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
232. The life journey of a Quaker artist (by Dorothea Johnson Blom; 1980)
About Author—Teacher, writer, & artist, Dorothea Blom began art career as designer of batiks in a Madison Avenue studio, & later wrote on design & color. A major event changed her life; since then she has focused on art as link between inner & outer worlds, a link which can determine our relation to ourselves & to culture.
[Introduction]—The Past Changes as I change; even while I ponder & write, transformations take place. There is no “objective reality,” only vantage points, or different levels in inner space, from which we see, & which transform what we see. My 1st 25 years were unmitigated depression, a “sick period.” The 2nd to my early 40s, consisted of discovering new relations to life & learning to trust inner [geography]. The 3rd period is characterized by reconciling opposites.
I. Stepchild of the Culture—As long as I, the adult, closed the little girl out (fearful I might be her), she could not heal; but she has healed, and I rejoice in her secrets. She has become a growing point for me. [There is a picture of a blissful Baby in Red Chair by an unknown American artist in a Williamsburg, VA folk art center]. The infant soul represents the incorruptible core of innocence always present in the life journey; when we lose touch, it waits within us for rediscovery. [My 1st experience with a Christmas tree in the firelight is surely where my relation to the Tree of Life began; I didn’t realize until my 30s that this experience was a religious or mystical experience. The little girl [felt distant from her godlike parents and used] her dream world as an escape. [Her mother did not believe touch was necessary if you really loved someone].
As a child she had an instinctive trust of images that came to her in dreams, & was even curious rather than frightened by an occasional nightmare. One lasting image was of a spring, a pond, & rich plant growth. Toward the end of pre-school years, she found that she hated oatmeal, and as a result rejected a God so stupid as to give her oatmeal, and let those who needed it starve. On her aunt’s large farm she wandered in the fields. One day she crossed a boundary, through a gate down a road to the forest. She walked part way down the road and then retreated to her favorite field. It was an intense experience that must never happen again.
Entering school was a frightening experience for me, one I didn’t get over for years. I seemed introverted to others and still couldn’t read by the age of 10. Through a substitute art teacher, I found a lively satisfaction in art work, discovering in it a lifeline between me and world. After 10 the imaginary family came into competition with the world of my peers, [which I wanted to be part of]. I had a baby sister who died in infancy who was very important to me, the center of my life. I was beginning to develop close friendships with girls more stable and slightly older than I. After a summer adult art class, I was bored with high school and was allowed to enter Walden, an expensive private school on a scholarship.
The students there were the most brilliant, articulate and expressive peers I’d ever known; the students helped plan the curriculum. [While I had cultural shock and retreated into shyness] I acquired a self-motivation and excitement about learning that I never lost. I began to see life on this planet as process, and hoped I could take part in it. One of the richest friendships of my young years was with a visiting art teacher from Vienna. She insisted on my working to music, [which I now do to] experience with my body a meditation theme I am focusing on in some art medium. The year after leaving Walden I was employed in a batik business producing freehand designs in dress lengths; on a modest scale I seemed to have everything important to me.
But something was missing, and I began shopping around for [a place of worship]. I had severe depression, but when the doctors wanted to send me to a State Hospital, my father rebelled, took me home & became my nurse-companion. I used to think of the following 5 years as a period of unspeakable suffering. There seemed an almost invisible black veil between me and future. Now I see breaking point postponed until I was a student in a good hospital. My father emerged as an instinctive therapist. Even at the time I was affected by the transformation in my father. [He open up outside of our relationship], doing new things and making new friends. A man I met in the hiking club started coming to the house. Christian was 15 years older, we were both frightened people clinging to each other. A year after we met we married and began to live with my family.
In Hinduism, I found confirmation of my temperament, a sense of worth [& a living in the present] which my own culture hadn't validated. 3 months before my 1st baby was to arrive, my father died of a heart attack. 10 years after that were to pass before I could even begin to forgive him for having withdrawn his attention from me as a little girl. As I grew older I came to see that my introversion was discredited by an extroverted culture.
II. The Courage to Change—Life became a gradual trusting of unfamiliar states of mind. I had periods of bad depression & so did Chris. [Even as slim earners] we didn’t have any more problems than the others. One Quaker said: “The Bloms live on a shoestring, but the shoestring is always long enough.” When I first walked into the Friends Meeting of Chappaqua, NY, I said: “I’ve come home for the 1st time in my life.” My homeland in the Society of Friends opened many things, [from a Peace Forum, to Fellowship of Reconciliation, to AFSC, to providing rest for Nazi refugees].
[Once each in my 20s & 30s, I fell in love]. I didn’t think I could endure my marriage if I developed a sexual relationship outside of it. I have come to realize how idealized this kind of love can be, because it never gets tested [through all the hard years]. Each step my husband or I took tended to lead us away from each other. For me, the raising of children was like climbing the hard stone steps of necessity, one which maybe held me together. Fritz Kunkel once said that the greatest gift a parent can give a child is the testimony of his or her continuing growth. The most significant landmark for those decades was Gerald Heard. People like Heard and Howard Brinton who move comfortably between science and religion, finding a relationship between the 2, appeal to me.
I was 28 when I read Heard’s Pain, Sex, and Time, a survey of Western history based on changing relations to these 3 elements in the culture. Gerald Heard has said that most illness reflects other problems. He concluded that we and our world can’t change significantly unless we make time every day for meditation. I had my 1st religious experience since I was a child as a result of meditation.
It was as if God said to me, “This is your mountain. Your are at its base, ready to climb. How can you move to higher ground without sometimes losing the view and finding the going rough? You will always be on this mountain.” The Sienese artist, Sassetta, gave me another relation to the mountain as life journey with his Meeting of St. Anthony and St. Paul. The author writes, “this comes most often to my mind as representing the life journey, moving [in and out of the woods, meeting important figures] in relation to self, world and God.”
I have never completely forsaken daily meditation, even though there have been long dry periods and many half-hearted ones. [I had a difficult time being with my mother as she recovered from a broken hip but she found a miracle of forgiveness for her alcoholic mother. It improved the relationship my mother and I had]. Once on a day off I wandered around the Metropolitan Museum in an isolating fog until I found myself in front of Rembrandt’s Head of Christ. This painting awakened in me a new relation to life that led to a fresh beginning. When I left the museum the whole world looked different, everything and everybody. Even strangers on the street were lovable—not from my love, but from a love coming through me.
III. Continuing Creation (Hilltop Experience)—I knew I must change my life. I knew I must explore the function of art as it heals and transforms. A lot of things needed sorting out, and I didn’t know how to start. I walked down the 2nd important forest road of my life. It took me to a hilltop-crowned with an open field. The sky hovered close. I discovered Mother Earth and Father Spirit as my parents, freeing my biological parents to be fallible human beings. The experience released new energy to explore “what next.”
I found a half-time job [which at times demanded I be fully present with demanding customers, often seeing through the crustiness to a little child who never grew up. The rest of the week I spent on my own custom-made education, & in the pursuit of my question: what is the inherent function of art? [It is] at its best is a by-product of religious experience. Every culture, period, & true artist educates us to a different relation to reality. Art has power to transform inner & outer reality. After two years I began teaching in adult schools. This teaching arose from a place where art, religion and growth processes converge within the context of our changing world.
Increasingly I felt a “possession,” an irrational fixation I could not get rid of. A friend suggested I see Martha Jaeger, a Quaker, Jungian therapist in New York. Martha saw my possession as the healthy assertion of my weakest endowment. My sense experiences had a hard time holding their own against the tide of feeling that swamped them. If the artist in me was not starved to death [for lack of sense experiences], at least she was weak from undernourishment and neglect. One new beginning was re-discovery of the artist in me. I work as an apprentice to a student of mine. I found working in 3-dimensions exhilarating.
If clay was a gift of my 40s, & free stitchery, reveling in yarns, was a gift of my 50s, water color as meditation was a gift of my 60s. But teaching remained my 1st art. I was teaching 3 sections of the same class each week. There always several Friends in the classes, which Martha said were a better education than I could buy, because I always had to be a step ahead of the students. The children had moved off, & Chris & I developed a relationship that became simpler & more deliberately supportive of each other in our different interests & needs.
[He died of a heart attack and a younger sister of mine died almost exactly one year later]. The presentness I had in death with these 2 that I shared much life with was surely awesome, affecting deeply my relation to death. The day before Chris died he had the 1st mystical experience of our life together, [after an argument we had]. [After the deaths], I soon noticed how the psychological space had changed. If someone’s presence is withdrawn there is an unfamiliar climate. I was told to notice the gifts of the dead. Both of us needed to forgive and be forgiven. Important life relationships continue after death. Even now, 12 years later, I dream of Chris twice a year, and I’m always amazed at what is obviously a further stage in the development of our relationship.
After Joe and Teresina Havens invited me to London to do a seminar, I continued to do programs in far places. Quakerism is where I belong, supplying me with a long range continuity through which I have struggled, grown, suffered, and rejoiced. For me it is my spiritual laboratory in which I have tasted truth, relationship, and vision. During the 1960s my growing spiritual relation to art led to widening circles within Quakerism and other groups. I was invited to Pendle Hill for 1 year as a guest teacher, and I stayed for 6. The students come to spend 8 months taking a new look at life, so as to know themselves and life in a new depth of understanding.
[Even I gain a new understanding, and a name to go with my lifelong handicap. One of my young students recognized my problems as dyslexia]. I was 60 when that happened, and I still enjoy laughing over it and its effects on me. I often feel younger than when I was young, physically healthier and more playful. Growing old for me is easier than growing up or being young.
From Pendle Hill I moved on to another adult learning retreat center, Koinonia Foundation in Baltimore; I am in my 5th year there. I do short-term teaching at Woodbrooke in England and Vittakivi in Finland. These years have made of me a bit of a connoisseur of group living in adult learning and retreat centers. Persons return again and again to places like Pendle Hill for renewal. Each place becomes a “Mecca with blemishes.”
A word which has meant much during this decade is “convergence,” adapted from Teilhard de Chardin. Through it I find aspects of myself discovering one another. This culminates in the impulse toward organic wholeness of life. Teilhard says the center of the universe is where a person is, and that God is the Center of centers. When these 2 centers come together the way opens, as at a crossroad in all directions. The mandala with its center and related parts, is the ideal tool in an age of monumental convergence. It has taught me what Heaven is: a 5th dimension, encompassing and containing all lesser dimensions.
As for simplicity, the artist in me wants to simplify, to choose what rings true, and to slough off what gets in the way. That of God within us is the creative aspect of human nature. Continuing revelation is the essential partner of continuing creation. Art at its best is part of continuing revelation. Habitual, mechanical patterns of thought and action are the real enemies of revelation. Living with strong imagery through reproductions of art is an enormous help in freeing me from dead habit. My favorites of these are Michelangelo’s “Unfinished Statues” in Florence. [e.g. The Captive Atlas is a powerful art image which reveals the struggle to pull oneself loose from the habits and attitudes that stand in the way of finding one’s own shape.
Revelation sometimes comes to us in spite of ourselves, whether we can make good use of it or not. Sometimes the Christ figure stands in for Mystery, walking on the troubled waters of our world or of my troubled spirit, or leaping from the Cross to bless us. Maybe my greatest miracle of convergence is my relation to my own culture. I recognize the one-sided natures of both Eastern and Western culture. My culture needs the likes of me if it is to survive, just as I need my culture to be healthy and whole.
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
417. John Yungblut: Passing the Mystical Torch (by Charles C. Finn; 2012)
About the Author—Charlie Finn joined the Society of Jesus after graduating from a Cincinnati high school [& spent 10 years there]. He switched from teaching to counseling & moved to southwest VA. His counseling specializes in addictions & life transitions. Finn resigned himself to being a spiritual maverick. He is open to the wealth of many paths. [With the inputs of] Jesus the mystic, Jesuits, Taoists, Native Americans, & ongoing creation & revelation, Charlie Finn has found a home in the Society of Friends, specifically Roanoke MM.
The diaphany of the divine at the heart of the universe on fire! Teilhard de Chardin
[Introduction]/ Yungblut’s Life and Work—The dichotomy of matter vs. spirit is false. Matter’s evolution across billions of years is but spirit unfolding. Yungblut sang of the stupendous journey of the universe toward ever-greater complexity & interiority with Teilhard & Carl Jung. From his books & Pendle Hill Pamphlets, Quakers are aware of his gospel of evolutionary Christianity & the gentling presence & power of his person.
John and his twin brother Charlie were born on April 29, 1913 in Dayton KY. He attended Harvard College and Harvard Divinity School. After participating for a year in the Mission to Isolated Liberals in LA & MS (AFSC), he joined the Society of Friends in 1960. From 1960-68, he worked at Quaker House in Atlanta, GA, & with Martin Luther King, Jr. He directed the International Student House in Washington, D.C. from 1968-72, & directed studies at Pendle Hill from 1972-1976. From 1978-88 he was director of the Guild for Spiritual Guidance. In his last years he struggled with and wrote pamphlets about struggling with Parkinson’s and cancer (PHP 292, On Hallowing One’s Diminishments; PHP 316, For that Solitary Individual)
My Introduction to John Yungblut/ All are Special Kinds of Mystics, at Least Potentially—In November of 1988, I reached out of curiosity for Speaking for Silence. In it Yungblut described “Contemplatives in actions,” a Jesuit ideal still the essence of my spiritual vision, as central to the Quaker vision. 2 of the prime movers in my spiritual evolution, de Chardin and Jung, were prime movers for Yungblut too. The book and the new force of Yungblut in my hands were what I call a “destiny thing.” The relationship went from correspondence, to visits, to friendship until Yungblut’s death. Those journeying toward integration of the interior, contemplative life with action on behalf of peace and social justice will find in John Yungblut a luminous guide on their mystical journey.
[John Yungblut writes on mysticism & spiritual evolution]: “What I plan to say will be persuasive only to those… drawn to the mystical religious experience, [rather than] the acceptance of creeds … Just as life emerged from matter, thought from life, spirit from thought, mystical awareness now emerges from spirit ... I believe that all … humans, possess a mystical faculty designed for the perception of interrelatedness. Only those who cherish this faculty as the growing edge of man’s continuing evolution will respond affirmatively to my contribution.”
“Building religion by furthering the mystical approach to religious experience means a new capacity to see analogies, to see dogmas and doctrines as metaphors that point to realities others may see in other terms. It means seeing the historical Jesus and Christ in space-time and depth psychology.” Throughout his writings, Yungblut interweaves primacy of the metaphoric and mythic, differentiating Jesus and the evolving Christ, and grounding the spirit-journey in the science of depth psychology with his Quaker faith.
The Primacy of the Metaphorical over the Literal/ The Christ Myth Must Evolve—John Yungblut writes: “Church doctrines need to be re-examined for the metaphors they are, for a healthy reality, [one that avoids] the idolatry of literal belief. [It must be determined] in what sense doctrines are still viable … & in what sense they need to be revised, restated or replaced [as they are revealed to be inadequate, misleading, or false] … Revelation didn’t cease with the NT. Man’s concept of God & of one’s self must evolve, or one is destined to stagnation.” Joseph Campbell writes: “Myth is the only language religion can speak to express the truth on which it is founded … The moment it [stops being a metaphor], & is taken as literally true it may become a graven image … A myth must be kept fluid & flexible … so that it can evolve as man’s perception of religious truth evolves.”
[Yungblut]: “I must distinguish between the Jesus of history and the Christ myth about him.” “Many Christians still proclaim that Jesus was God or God’s only Son … Alas we shall never again be able to embrace the ancient metaphor, in its earlier literal sense, even by a leap of faith.” Does one cling to the literal teaching of the faith that has grounded and sustained their entire religious journey despite [their intellect’s growing objections]? Does one abandon what they can no longer intellectually assent to?
We de-mythologize in order to re-mythologize. Yungblut reformulates the NT Christ myth thus: “God so loved the world that God implanted deeply and darkly in matter itself the seed which would … by evolution, bear fruit in the Christ life of one Jesus of Nazareth … the flower of the Christ seed which resides in all … The Christ myth disengaged from the Jesus of history can continue to evolve so as to be viable for our new age … Other living religions [can then] communicate with us about the Christ myth & its counterpart in their faiths. Experiencing our respect, how more open they may be to learning of the significance of the Jesus phenomenon in our lives.
The Phenomenon of Jesus/ What Then of Atonement and Salvation?—Jesus was the fullest human being yet, a flowering of our species gifted with an extraordinary mystical consciousness to which he called the rest of us to awaken. [“Jesus the only Son of God”] is idolatry]. [Jesus]: Who do you say that I am? [Yungblut]: I believe that which was in him, the Christ seed and potential is also in me. I am drawn to Jesus because he has the greatest capacity to love the unlovable.” [Author]: “The goal is less the ego’s to figure out/ than Spirit’s to discern the deepest attraction,/ then risk all to follow.” The spirit Jesus tapped into in an extraordinary way, in an evolutionary breakthrough way, is also available to each of us.
Yungblut writes: “I don’t believe that all men inherit a fallen state from a mythical Adam & that Jesus’ death on the cross reconciled God to man by vicarious suffering. I understand my personal salvation in terms of being made whole… moving toward genuine integrity in which I may be one with myself & God.” Yungblut holds to a mystical apostolic succession inaugurated by the Jewish mystic Jesus of Nazareth. Yungblut has no trouble with the enflaming spirit of love at the heart of the universe being called the Christ as long as it isn’t identified exclusively with Jesus Christ. “Christ is that of God in you & me… the Holy Spirit, the Light, & the Seed … Although this Christ was revealed most fully in Jesus, we mustn’t think … of Jesus & the Christ as identical. Christ who lived in Jesus also lives in me.” Informed by the evolutionary & depth psychology revelations of the past century, Yungblut was convinced this Christianity could become a true spirituality of the Earth, & a beacon to others.
Teilhard’s Myth of Cosmogenesis/ Jung’s Myth of Individuation—Teilhard’s cosmogenesis was a cosmos continuing to be born, a creation story & revelation of divinity unfolding across billions of years. Yungblut writes: "Teilhard’s basic insight … is that life evolved out of … inanimate matter, but which from its inception contained life's seed … Teilhard insisted he wasn’t saying that matter was God, but rather God shone through matter in a luminous way from within [i.e.] panentheism, God at the heart of matter…Religion has never known how to speak of the ultimate truth which it believes it has perceived save through myth & metaphor.”
“The macrocosm of a cosmos being born has its counterpart in the microcosm of a human being assimilating into wholeness its ever changing and enlarging experiences … the solitary process of individuation in each of us.” Jung went so far as to say that the journey to the self is simultaneously the journey to the Self, God within. “If one wants to be a faithful disciple of Jesus then one must strive to be as much one’s self as Jesus became himself.” [Gerald Manley Hopkins would add]: “For Christ plays in 10,000 places.”
Quakerism’s Fertile Soil—Yungblut was thrilled to see the mystic Teilhard articulate an understanding that “that of God” has been present (long before humankind’s emergence in the great universe story) since the Big Bang. “To see Jesus in evolutionary terms as the Son of Man, as a forerunner of man’s successor, Homo Spiritus, the Second Adam … keeps communication flowing … Jesus differs from other men and women, not in kind, but in degree. We are all sons and daughters of the living God.”
Yunglut writes of Jungian psychology: “The objective is to assist us in the process of individuation.” Jung asks: “Have I any religious experience and immediate relation to God, and hence that certainty which will keep me, as an individual, from dissolving in the crowd? Jungian psychology and Quakerism have 2 things in common: equality of the sexes and synchronicity, what Quakers call “way opening.” Yungblut writes: “The leaders of the Society have in their own persons reflected an observable balance between masculine and feminine qualities … They have known intuitively integration between [Jung’s] animus and anima.”
“[Both] Quakers and Jungian psychology denote trust in the meaningfulness of seeming coincidences.” Rufus Jones said: “Nobody knows how the kindling flame of life and power leaps from one life to another. You hear a few quiet words from the man with the kindling torch and you suddenly discover what life means to you forever more, and you become another man—carrying perhaps your own torch ... [I heard my “man with torch.”] I felt the kindling power of his mind on my mind and a new faith was born in me in answer to the great faith that possessed him.” The fire is less taught than caught from one heart to another.” Yungblut writes: “My guess is that most of us would tremble with a sense of the uncanny if we took the time to count up all the “happy accidents” or “lucky coincidences that have transformed our lives … We humans are frequently nudged onto unexpected pathways by events that suddenly drop … from heaven.”
One of the points at which Quakerism has something to offer Jungian psychology is its meeting for worship as an experiment in group mysticism. The Jungian concept of the shadow, on the other hand challenges Quakers to take into fuller account God’s “dark side” and the problem of evil. “Perhaps it is their emphasis on the light that makes Quakers peculiarly vulnerable to this insight of Jungian psychology.”
Evangelical Roots/ On Hallowing One’s Diminishments—John Yungblut writes: “Oh God, I wish I could preach again … I would speak of Jesus as the first “Homo Spiritus,” successor to Homo sapiens. In this way he is the 1st-born for me … Inherent in Christianity from the beginning has been passion to spread the good news. Early Quakers were as zealous evangelists as the world has ever known ... Strange & unendurable irony—that Friends who speak so much about the Inward Light should so timidly hide their own light under a bushel.”
In PHP 292, On Hallowing One’s Diminishments, Yungblut wasn’t only aging, but contending with the debilitating Parkinson’s disease. Teilhard had written that the spirit task before us is to divinize the activities & passivities, [i.e.] factors outside our control. [Teilhard had this prayer]: “O God, grant that I may understand that it is you (provided only my faith is strong enough) who is painfully parting the fibers of my being in order to penetrate to my very marrow & substance & bear me away within yourself… Teach me to treat my death as a communion.” Yungblut writes: I practiced imaging acceptance of the diminishments as if they were the gift of a companion to accompany me on my way to the great diminishment, death … The most effective workshop for learning how to hallow one’s diminishments is contemplative prayer, the practice in letting to of the insistent demands of the ego in favor of the realization of the self.”
An Octogenarian’s Wise Counsel/ Words with the Power to Gentle—“There is an inescapable connection between contemplative prayer & motivation to engage in social reform; contemplative prayer confirms the inseparable unity of all things.” In his final counsel to us, Yungblut returned yet again to the [idea] of the evolving universe. “The contemporary world scene may certainly foster pessimism, but in the context of evolution there is ground for optimism … [Having] higher consciousness against enormous odds & myriad potential abortions justifies hope that the species will find a way … to climb the steep ascent to even higher consciousness.”
[For all the advice that Yungblut had to give in his final years], Yungblut had this final counsel: “I, too, want to address that solitary individual in you, to whose condition it might speak. To realize this hope would require a delicate synchronicity between your inner journey and my own … My only authority is that bestowed by you if the seeker in you resonates to what I have to say.”
“[The author of John’s Gospel] radiates compassion because he was compassionately received by the Master. This same John became, through his writings, a spiritual guide to countless thousands. The unbroken authority, [true apostolic succession] extends even to this day.” His words still have the power to ‘gentle’ because he was gentled. Yungblut writes: “Spiritual guidance is gentle art, a gentling art. It can be administered only by one who has been profoundly gentled, [and is confident of being profoundly loved by God].”
The Primacy of Forgiveness/ Conclusion—[I sat with John Yungblut one November night in 1991] while he talked of a scene of forgiveness in Les Miserables, & William Blake’s conclusion that the “original note” of Jesus’ message was the primacy Jesus placed on the transformative power of forgiveness. Yungblut writes: “Jesus & John together began to forge a chain of forgiveness, the end of which hasn't been reached… The Good News of Jesus wasn't a cerebral thing; it was a contagious thing passed from heart to heart.” Yungblut writes: “Forgiveness’ importance is on the scale of evolution & it springs from evolution's Creator. It invariably releases love, & love is creation's energy … Jesus had fantastic confidence. It came to him at his baptism. God said, ‘You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.’ That did it. That galvanized him. That energized him … That empowered him. And he went forth with all the energy that it took to build the kingdom on earth.”
Imagine yourself as that solitary individual John Yungblut was so fond of addressing. [Listen] as he tells you of his gospel of the evolutionary Christianity. Listen to Jesus’ experience of forgiveness which unleashed a torrent of love. Listen to reflections on Rufus Jones, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Carl Jung, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others. Catch from him the wonder of being a link in a great chain, Part of a great mystical succession in the vanguard of the universe’s evolution of consciousness.
Queries—How do you respond to seeing Jesus as the flowering of the Christ seed present from the beginning? What do you think Yungblut meant by “profoundly gentled”? How has forgiveness been important in your life?
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
The diaphany of the divine at the heart of the universe on fire! Teilhard de Chardin
[Introduction]/ Yungblut’s Life and Work—The dichotomy of matter vs. spirit is false. Matter’s evolution across billions of years is but spirit unfolding. Yungblut sang of the stupendous journey of the universe toward ever-greater complexity & interiority with Teilhard & Carl Jung. From his books & Pendle Hill Pamphlets, Quakers are aware of his gospel of evolutionary Christianity & the gentling presence & power of his person.
John and his twin brother Charlie were born on April 29, 1913 in Dayton KY. He attended Harvard College and Harvard Divinity School. After participating for a year in the Mission to Isolated Liberals in LA & MS (AFSC), he joined the Society of Friends in 1960. From 1960-68, he worked at Quaker House in Atlanta, GA, & with Martin Luther King, Jr. He directed the International Student House in Washington, D.C. from 1968-72, & directed studies at Pendle Hill from 1972-1976. From 1978-88 he was director of the Guild for Spiritual Guidance. In his last years he struggled with and wrote pamphlets about struggling with Parkinson’s and cancer (PHP 292, On Hallowing One’s Diminishments; PHP 316, For that Solitary Individual)
My Introduction to John Yungblut/ All are Special Kinds of Mystics, at Least Potentially—In November of 1988, I reached out of curiosity for Speaking for Silence. In it Yungblut described “Contemplatives in actions,” a Jesuit ideal still the essence of my spiritual vision, as central to the Quaker vision. 2 of the prime movers in my spiritual evolution, de Chardin and Jung, were prime movers for Yungblut too. The book and the new force of Yungblut in my hands were what I call a “destiny thing.” The relationship went from correspondence, to visits, to friendship until Yungblut’s death. Those journeying toward integration of the interior, contemplative life with action on behalf of peace and social justice will find in John Yungblut a luminous guide on their mystical journey.
[John Yungblut writes on mysticism & spiritual evolution]: “What I plan to say will be persuasive only to those… drawn to the mystical religious experience, [rather than] the acceptance of creeds … Just as life emerged from matter, thought from life, spirit from thought, mystical awareness now emerges from spirit ... I believe that all … humans, possess a mystical faculty designed for the perception of interrelatedness. Only those who cherish this faculty as the growing edge of man’s continuing evolution will respond affirmatively to my contribution.”
“Building religion by furthering the mystical approach to religious experience means a new capacity to see analogies, to see dogmas and doctrines as metaphors that point to realities others may see in other terms. It means seeing the historical Jesus and Christ in space-time and depth psychology.” Throughout his writings, Yungblut interweaves primacy of the metaphoric and mythic, differentiating Jesus and the evolving Christ, and grounding the spirit-journey in the science of depth psychology with his Quaker faith.
The Primacy of the Metaphorical over the Literal/ The Christ Myth Must Evolve—John Yungblut writes: “Church doctrines need to be re-examined for the metaphors they are, for a healthy reality, [one that avoids] the idolatry of literal belief. [It must be determined] in what sense doctrines are still viable … & in what sense they need to be revised, restated or replaced [as they are revealed to be inadequate, misleading, or false] … Revelation didn’t cease with the NT. Man’s concept of God & of one’s self must evolve, or one is destined to stagnation.” Joseph Campbell writes: “Myth is the only language religion can speak to express the truth on which it is founded … The moment it [stops being a metaphor], & is taken as literally true it may become a graven image … A myth must be kept fluid & flexible … so that it can evolve as man’s perception of religious truth evolves.”
[Yungblut]: “I must distinguish between the Jesus of history and the Christ myth about him.” “Many Christians still proclaim that Jesus was God or God’s only Son … Alas we shall never again be able to embrace the ancient metaphor, in its earlier literal sense, even by a leap of faith.” Does one cling to the literal teaching of the faith that has grounded and sustained their entire religious journey despite [their intellect’s growing objections]? Does one abandon what they can no longer intellectually assent to?
We de-mythologize in order to re-mythologize. Yungblut reformulates the NT Christ myth thus: “God so loved the world that God implanted deeply and darkly in matter itself the seed which would … by evolution, bear fruit in the Christ life of one Jesus of Nazareth … the flower of the Christ seed which resides in all … The Christ myth disengaged from the Jesus of history can continue to evolve so as to be viable for our new age … Other living religions [can then] communicate with us about the Christ myth & its counterpart in their faiths. Experiencing our respect, how more open they may be to learning of the significance of the Jesus phenomenon in our lives.
The Phenomenon of Jesus/ What Then of Atonement and Salvation?—Jesus was the fullest human being yet, a flowering of our species gifted with an extraordinary mystical consciousness to which he called the rest of us to awaken. [“Jesus the only Son of God”] is idolatry]. [Jesus]: Who do you say that I am? [Yungblut]: I believe that which was in him, the Christ seed and potential is also in me. I am drawn to Jesus because he has the greatest capacity to love the unlovable.” [Author]: “The goal is less the ego’s to figure out/ than Spirit’s to discern the deepest attraction,/ then risk all to follow.” The spirit Jesus tapped into in an extraordinary way, in an evolutionary breakthrough way, is also available to each of us.
Yungblut writes: “I don’t believe that all men inherit a fallen state from a mythical Adam & that Jesus’ death on the cross reconciled God to man by vicarious suffering. I understand my personal salvation in terms of being made whole… moving toward genuine integrity in which I may be one with myself & God.” Yungblut holds to a mystical apostolic succession inaugurated by the Jewish mystic Jesus of Nazareth. Yungblut has no trouble with the enflaming spirit of love at the heart of the universe being called the Christ as long as it isn’t identified exclusively with Jesus Christ. “Christ is that of God in you & me… the Holy Spirit, the Light, & the Seed … Although this Christ was revealed most fully in Jesus, we mustn’t think … of Jesus & the Christ as identical. Christ who lived in Jesus also lives in me.” Informed by the evolutionary & depth psychology revelations of the past century, Yungblut was convinced this Christianity could become a true spirituality of the Earth, & a beacon to others.
Teilhard’s Myth of Cosmogenesis/ Jung’s Myth of Individuation—Teilhard’s cosmogenesis was a cosmos continuing to be born, a creation story & revelation of divinity unfolding across billions of years. Yungblut writes: "Teilhard’s basic insight … is that life evolved out of … inanimate matter, but which from its inception contained life's seed … Teilhard insisted he wasn’t saying that matter was God, but rather God shone through matter in a luminous way from within [i.e.] panentheism, God at the heart of matter…Religion has never known how to speak of the ultimate truth which it believes it has perceived save through myth & metaphor.”
“The macrocosm of a cosmos being born has its counterpart in the microcosm of a human being assimilating into wholeness its ever changing and enlarging experiences … the solitary process of individuation in each of us.” Jung went so far as to say that the journey to the self is simultaneously the journey to the Self, God within. “If one wants to be a faithful disciple of Jesus then one must strive to be as much one’s self as Jesus became himself.” [Gerald Manley Hopkins would add]: “For Christ plays in 10,000 places.”
Quakerism’s Fertile Soil—Yungblut was thrilled to see the mystic Teilhard articulate an understanding that “that of God” has been present (long before humankind’s emergence in the great universe story) since the Big Bang. “To see Jesus in evolutionary terms as the Son of Man, as a forerunner of man’s successor, Homo Spiritus, the Second Adam … keeps communication flowing … Jesus differs from other men and women, not in kind, but in degree. We are all sons and daughters of the living God.”
Yunglut writes of Jungian psychology: “The objective is to assist us in the process of individuation.” Jung asks: “Have I any religious experience and immediate relation to God, and hence that certainty which will keep me, as an individual, from dissolving in the crowd? Jungian psychology and Quakerism have 2 things in common: equality of the sexes and synchronicity, what Quakers call “way opening.” Yungblut writes: “The leaders of the Society have in their own persons reflected an observable balance between masculine and feminine qualities … They have known intuitively integration between [Jung’s] animus and anima.”
“[Both] Quakers and Jungian psychology denote trust in the meaningfulness of seeming coincidences.” Rufus Jones said: “Nobody knows how the kindling flame of life and power leaps from one life to another. You hear a few quiet words from the man with the kindling torch and you suddenly discover what life means to you forever more, and you become another man—carrying perhaps your own torch ... [I heard my “man with torch.”] I felt the kindling power of his mind on my mind and a new faith was born in me in answer to the great faith that possessed him.” The fire is less taught than caught from one heart to another.” Yungblut writes: “My guess is that most of us would tremble with a sense of the uncanny if we took the time to count up all the “happy accidents” or “lucky coincidences that have transformed our lives … We humans are frequently nudged onto unexpected pathways by events that suddenly drop … from heaven.”
One of the points at which Quakerism has something to offer Jungian psychology is its meeting for worship as an experiment in group mysticism. The Jungian concept of the shadow, on the other hand challenges Quakers to take into fuller account God’s “dark side” and the problem of evil. “Perhaps it is their emphasis on the light that makes Quakers peculiarly vulnerable to this insight of Jungian psychology.”
Evangelical Roots/ On Hallowing One’s Diminishments—John Yungblut writes: “Oh God, I wish I could preach again … I would speak of Jesus as the first “Homo Spiritus,” successor to Homo sapiens. In this way he is the 1st-born for me … Inherent in Christianity from the beginning has been passion to spread the good news. Early Quakers were as zealous evangelists as the world has ever known ... Strange & unendurable irony—that Friends who speak so much about the Inward Light should so timidly hide their own light under a bushel.”
In PHP 292, On Hallowing One’s Diminishments, Yungblut wasn’t only aging, but contending with the debilitating Parkinson’s disease. Teilhard had written that the spirit task before us is to divinize the activities & passivities, [i.e.] factors outside our control. [Teilhard had this prayer]: “O God, grant that I may understand that it is you (provided only my faith is strong enough) who is painfully parting the fibers of my being in order to penetrate to my very marrow & substance & bear me away within yourself… Teach me to treat my death as a communion.” Yungblut writes: I practiced imaging acceptance of the diminishments as if they were the gift of a companion to accompany me on my way to the great diminishment, death … The most effective workshop for learning how to hallow one’s diminishments is contemplative prayer, the practice in letting to of the insistent demands of the ego in favor of the realization of the self.”
An Octogenarian’s Wise Counsel/ Words with the Power to Gentle—“There is an inescapable connection between contemplative prayer & motivation to engage in social reform; contemplative prayer confirms the inseparable unity of all things.” In his final counsel to us, Yungblut returned yet again to the [idea] of the evolving universe. “The contemporary world scene may certainly foster pessimism, but in the context of evolution there is ground for optimism … [Having] higher consciousness against enormous odds & myriad potential abortions justifies hope that the species will find a way … to climb the steep ascent to even higher consciousness.”
[For all the advice that Yungblut had to give in his final years], Yungblut had this final counsel: “I, too, want to address that solitary individual in you, to whose condition it might speak. To realize this hope would require a delicate synchronicity between your inner journey and my own … My only authority is that bestowed by you if the seeker in you resonates to what I have to say.”
“[The author of John’s Gospel] radiates compassion because he was compassionately received by the Master. This same John became, through his writings, a spiritual guide to countless thousands. The unbroken authority, [true apostolic succession] extends even to this day.” His words still have the power to ‘gentle’ because he was gentled. Yungblut writes: “Spiritual guidance is gentle art, a gentling art. It can be administered only by one who has been profoundly gentled, [and is confident of being profoundly loved by God].”
The Primacy of Forgiveness/ Conclusion—[I sat with John Yungblut one November night in 1991] while he talked of a scene of forgiveness in Les Miserables, & William Blake’s conclusion that the “original note” of Jesus’ message was the primacy Jesus placed on the transformative power of forgiveness. Yungblut writes: “Jesus & John together began to forge a chain of forgiveness, the end of which hasn't been reached… The Good News of Jesus wasn't a cerebral thing; it was a contagious thing passed from heart to heart.” Yungblut writes: “Forgiveness’ importance is on the scale of evolution & it springs from evolution's Creator. It invariably releases love, & love is creation's energy … Jesus had fantastic confidence. It came to him at his baptism. God said, ‘You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.’ That did it. That galvanized him. That energized him … That empowered him. And he went forth with all the energy that it took to build the kingdom on earth.”
Imagine yourself as that solitary individual John Yungblut was so fond of addressing. [Listen] as he tells you of his gospel of the evolutionary Christianity. Listen to Jesus’ experience of forgiveness which unleashed a torrent of love. Listen to reflections on Rufus Jones, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Carl Jung, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others. Catch from him the wonder of being a link in a great chain, Part of a great mystical succession in the vanguard of the universe’s evolution of consciousness.
Queries—How do you respond to seeing Jesus as the flowering of the Christ seed present from the beginning? What do you think Yungblut meant by “profoundly gentled”? How has forgiveness been important in your life?
http://www.pendlehill.org/product-category/pamphlets
www.facebook.com/pendlehill?fref=ts
Comments
Post a Comment