Searching for where to start

I've been reflecting on how easy it is and how hard it is to write a blog post for The Good Raised Up these days.

It's easy because I have had so many rich, Spirit-led experiences as well as heart-wrenching trials since the start of 2011.

It's hard because the experiences I've had between May 2011 and November 2012 have given me a view of American Quakerism that I could not have had until now... of how White we really are... of how invested we unconsciously are as a whole in not examining our own Whiteness... of how powerless and ill-equipped I feel to shine the little glow of Light I may have into some very dark, cobwebby corners...

As a peculiar people in America, we are broken.  We are separated from our brothers and sisters of color in the struggle of their lives.  Maybe not all of us, maybe not each day, but systemically as a people of faith.

So I'm searching for the stories I can share of how I myself have been transformed, of how the Spirit called me to tasks I couldn't have dreamed of--or wanted to do!

In the meantime, the beginning of this TED Talk taps into a reason why, even when we are intently reflecting on the story of the Good Samaritan itself, for example, we can walk right by a person who is in pain.

I have found in the past 20 months that the more humility I practice, the more likely I am to risk moving out of my own comfort zone.  The more I move out of my comfort zone, the more God can use me in unexpected ways.  The more I am used in unexpected ways, the more I learn about the kin(g)dom of God and all who are a part of it.

And that makes me more humble.