My Faith in the Light

 It was only after graduating from a Quaker college that I began to practice meeting for worship with the Religious society of Friends.  Raised Catholic in a parish so small we had to have visiting priests, the New Garden Friends Meeting in my new city of Greensboro felt like coming home.  Perhaps that's because there's really not that many Quakers in the world.  In fact, half of them live in Kenya.  The other half are spread around the US and England. But while the size felt familiar, everything else about my experience was completely different.  And perfect.  And wonderful in a way that defies words.  Sitting in silence to wait upon the presence of God is an extraordinary feeling.  Even more extraordinary is when the Spirit calls me to stand up and bring a spoken message to the meeting.  Like a live wire plugged into an electrical outlet, my heart begins to hammer (hence, "quaking") until I cannot take it anymore and stand up to speak.  The messages that have come out in the last few years always seem to explain some truth or beauty or struggle that I'm experiencing and I feel immediately connected to everyone.  Today I want to share some messages from other Quakers to go along with my pictures of light.  The Light is another way of explaining God's presence within each person.

 "Men seek, often without realizing it, to know what they are and what may arise from the depths of their own being to give meaning and direction to their life" ---Howard H. Brinton

"God can lead us by more ways than one.  Some he makes ready before he sends them out, others he sends out so that they may be made ready" ---Mildred Young

Listen, then to the silence. Listen to what they say who say nothing.  Open yourself to the silence within, to the Inward Light that shines in every soul."  ---Frederick Parker-Rhodes


"Once having the vision, the second step to holy obedience is this:  Begin where you are.  Obey now.  Use what little obedience you are capable of even if it be like a grain of mustard seed."  ---Thomas Kelly


The final quote is particularly important to me now as I commence with creating a home school for our son.  And while I didn't know of it's existence before starting Knees and Paws, the line "begin where you are" is a thought that gave me the courage to try.