tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10737238.post6493724630981798973..comments2024-03-22T03:10:08.766-05:00Comments on The Good Raised Up: From spiritual refugee to spiritual citizenUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10737238.post-64785395612463564332007-05-03T07:49:00.000-05:002007-05-03T07:49:00.000-05:00John the Tentative Quaker -Thanks for sharing some...<B>John the Tentative Quaker</B> -<BR/><BR/>Thanks for sharing some of your own journey. Y'know, I believe we each have our own faith journey to walk, including our journey among Friends (and our journey away from Friends). <BR/><BR/>You ask if you are "still a spiritual immigrant..." To me, it sounds as if you are a seeker and a spiritual world traveler, making the world your home, given your self-acknowledged radicalism and openness. <BR/><BR/>Still, being a spiritual citizen requires a commitment to a spiritual country and I would say you are wise to take the time to travel among Friends once more, to take the time to get to know us and to get to know yourself among us and to get to know God and the Living Presence among us.<BR/><BR/>My mantra...?<BR/><BR/><I>Do what works for you.<BR/>Ask for what you want.<BR/>Trust your own timing.<BR/>Risk when you are ready.</I><BR/><BR/>. . . * * * . . . * * * . . .<BR/><BR/><B>Forrest</B> -<BR/><BR/>Glad to see you back here! and thanks for the book suggestions. Your comment reminds me of what I have heard one Friend say:<BR/><BR/><I>God accepts us and loves us exactly as we are, right now. And God loves us so much that God asks us to grow into all that we can become. ...We can do no more to make God love us, and we can do no less to make God love us. We are already loved.</I><BR/><BR/>Of course, not all of us realize this yet. <I>wink</I><BR/><BR/>As to your invitation to join the <A HREF="http://kwakerskripturestudy.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow"> Friendly skripture study</A>, I'm not there yet and my time is already exceedingly tight! Still, all I need is the right Opportunity and the proper sense of leading. <BR/><BR/>. . . * * * . . . * * * . . .<BR/><BR/><B>Cubbie</B> - <BR/><BR/>Thanks for the compliment. ...Gosh, I'm sorry I've read so little from you: I'll have to take a look at your blog when my life slows down!<BR/><BR/><B>Laurie</B> -<BR/><BR/>See my "mantra" that I offered to Tentative Quaker, above! And "Wear thy sword as long as thou canst." And: Be gentle with yourself. <BR/><BR/>This experience, as difficult and trying as it is right now, is an important one, regardless of where you end up. If I can be of help, or if a phone conversation would be better, do let me know: lizopp AT gmail DOT com.<BR/><BR/>Blessings,<BR/>LizLiz Opphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09802348848085930901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10737238.post-21157384050317844032007-05-03T02:03:00.000-05:002007-05-03T02:03:00.000-05:00Hi Liz,Thanks for this insight into your own spiri...Hi Liz,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for this insight into your own spiritual metamorphosis. I have been really struggling with my own faith, my own direction, where I fit into the larger picture of the world, etc. You speak to my heart, so thank you for showing me I am not alone in the ups and downs of the journey.<BR/><BR/>Laurie PS thanks for stopping in at my blog and leaving encouraging words. It is greatly appreciated :)Laurie Chase Kruczekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15517846044382639311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10737238.post-39415694220871185142007-05-02T18:50:00.000-05:002007-05-02T18:50:00.000-05:00this was really good to read, both for the languag...this was really good to read, both for the language and ideas that you presented, and... because of the way you describe your increasing comfort with christian language and your understanding of the ways different people express their faith. thank you.cubbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01967417546891684102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10737238.post-21648722746032872762007-05-01T15:15:00.000-05:002007-05-01T15:15:00.000-05:00Returning your visit, seeing what you're up to lat...Returning your visit, seeing what you're up to lately... and now you turn out to be of Jewish origin.<BR/><BR/>My wife Anne (_Meditations on the Prayer of St Francis_) & I are currently reading a book to one another, something we do sometimes when the right book comes along.<BR/><BR/>& that book is: _One God Clapping_ by Alan Lew. I've read many good Jewish/Buddhist books; but this one is truly wonderful, so far. (& so was _Stalking Elijah_ by Roger Kamenetz, which our study group is now reading, about the Jewish Renewal movement we encountered during our time at Pendle Hill.)<BR/><BR/>So what's it about, being "a people" that the Lord has "called to be gathered"? We want everybody to go on up that thundering mountain; meanwhile we have always people among us saying, "That's all right, Moshe, you go up and we'll just listen from here."<BR/><BR/>And though God offers to wipe out this stubborn, difficult people and give Moses a better one, Moses talks him out of it.<BR/><BR/>I don't think God is going to really let go of us until we've all climbed up, but meanwhile... it's a lengthy climb and we don't need to see everyone make it today. God is at work in our discomfort, in other people's resistence to change, in everyone's reluctant recognition of the need. I gave another message last Sunday, was told, fondly, "Forrest, you just keep pushing us, don't you?" While Anne's message was about how the meeting is healing us all, and was likewise true.<BR/><BR/>Come join us at http://kwakerskripturestudy.blogspot.com/?forresthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03214745625847174676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10737238.post-41404451185663065372007-04-28T06:11:00.000-05:002007-04-28T06:11:00.000-05:00Hi very timely post. It reminded me of a group I o...Hi very timely post. <BR/><BR/>It reminded me of a group I once ran with a group of Quakers that was exploring notions of Quaker worship as part of an education program. Many were weighty friends of long standing <BR/>but were all spiritual refugees in that they had escaped from a narrow and stifling experience of Christianity. But which often stopped them from exploring Friend's Christian roots as they had become blocked by their notions of Christianity. I had come into Friends in the 1970's from a radical and communist background. This meant ironically that I was the most open from exploring traditional religious props and routes such as the Bible, prayer, fellowship etc to see their value without accepting traditional values only.<BR/><BR/>It also throws up an issue for me in that I have been in and around Quakers for 30 years. I have been an overseer, worked on national committees, been a warden but joined, revoked my membership some 25 years ago and yet remain involved. I have had a break for the past two years but two weeks ago reading a non-quaker blog gave me the nudge to start to reconnect. I leaped into doing a blog and finding communities to link to. Not many in the UK yet and London Yearly Meeting may need some ministry on the opportunities for outreach in the new world of Blogs! <BR/><BR/>This morning a friend rings me out of the blue to ask me to attend our local quaker meeting as he is running a group on silence for his local church.A hint and nudge I think.<BR/><BR/>Yet am I still a spirtual immigrant or do I think that Citizenship for me is being the "Fool" the one who runs counter to convention, who raises irrelevances, pokes fun at the weighty and serious, mocks the common understanding, questions literalness to jolt us back to when the question and journey was new and the answers and questions not yet fabled.John (@bookdreamer)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11576434749272275190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10737238.post-13506721201189532402007-04-27T23:26:00.000-05:002007-04-27T23:26:00.000-05:00Linda and Nancy -Thanks for dropping by. One thin...Linda and Nancy -<BR/><BR/>Thanks for dropping by. One thing I'll add is that I started to wonder why the "spiritual refugees" in our meetings didn't seem to care about moving away from that "status" or stage... or maybe they didn't know how to.<BR/><BR/>So then I thought how sometimes it's easier to move out of my own comfort zone when I have a sense of where I want to move <B><I>towards.</I></B> I can't imagine that refugees from oppressive regimes or war-torn countries always want to retain their identity as refugees. Wouldn't they want to claim someplace as their home and hearth, a place where they can belong again and feel welcome...?<BR/><BR/>Anyway, if this description of inward transformation and spiritual shifts is helpful to some, that will be enough.<BR/><BR/>Blessings,<BR/>LizLiz Opphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09802348848085930901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10737238.post-61221195312442809042007-04-27T20:58:00.000-05:002007-04-27T20:58:00.000-05:00Very nice imagery. Taking "spiritual refugee" to "...Very nice imagery. Taking "spiritual refugee" to "spiritual citizen" is a very grounding idea.Nancy Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14260235828442346455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10737238.post-68917447340082504522007-04-27T20:27:00.000-05:002007-04-27T20:27:00.000-05:00Thanks for sharing this lovely description of the ...Thanks for sharing this lovely description of the spiritual shifts that you have experienced over time. It's good to remember that faith is a process.Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07902966318737643742noreply@blogger.com