Comments on: On the Web: Where’s that Power of the Lord?

By: Joe G.

Joe G. — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 10:19:47 +0000

By the way, Julie, your attending Earlham might offer you a lot of exposure to all sorts of Quakers, especially at the graduate level. Earlham tries to reachout to all branches of Friends. It’s history is with pastoral Friends on the east coast of the States.
I’m less familiar with the Holiness movement. Time to do some googling and checking around. 🙂

By: Alice M.

Alice M. — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 01:04:11 +0000

Oooh, thankyou Friend Martin. Yes! I feel this is the key question. It’s kind of what I was trying to ask with this rather wordy and rambling post in the third month this year, but I like how they say it better.
And great to meet you, julie — I just checked out your blog Pacificus and I like it already.

By: Liz Opp

Liz Opp — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 19:33:22 +0000

Martin, thanks for lifting this article up. Sometimes I am awed with just who you are connected to and what articles and books and resources you get your hands onto... In your post, you quote this sentence: Most modern Quaker reporting is perfunctory — accounts with the spiritual quality of recipes in a cookbook. Y'know, I take issue with this remark! I would say that the "modern Quaker reporting" that goes on among certain Quaker blogs is anything but "recipes in a cookbook"! Smile. On a more serious note, when I read the article online, I came across this part: Early Quaker descriptions of the power of God are usually brief, without details. What they meant by the power of the Lord is a challenge today. When I consider pieces I have written in my journal, and epistles I have been led to help write, I have used the phrase "The Power was over all" or "I felt God over all." I would say that the "descriptions of the power of God are usually brief" because it is such an awesome experience of the power of God, to be felt over all. I have known that power of the Lord in more ways than I can count on my two hands, but to offer details...? It's not something I am able to do. You either Know the power of the Lord over all or you don't. Such has been my experience, at least. I would also venture to add that just because there is no singularly prominent Friend among us who is using the phrase "I have felt the power of the Lord," doesn't mean that I or Martin or others aren't experiencing that power. Grrrrr. To be fair, there are other parts of the article that overlap with certain concerns I have, like this excerpt: When Friends discuss controversial topics, an all-too-familiar corruption of the discerning process frequently occurs. After lengthy and heated consideration, even over several meetings, the discussion continues in an atmosphere of uncertainty and strain until someone suggests an option for approval. Subsequent meetings then reveal that the matter was not settled — the approved minute resulted from desperation, exhaustion and frustration, not from any leading from the Lord. Still: Maybe in our lifetime, some contemporary Friend's journal will turn up, be published, and be widely quoted. And maybe that Friend's journal will include the quote "The power of the Lord was over all." And maybe it will include another quote that speaks powerfully to modern Friends that also resonates with the Truth which George Fox had touched, experienced, and preached. We never know. Maybe that's ultimately what keeps me searching—and finding—among Friends. Blessings, Liz, The Good Raised Up

By: Martin Kelley

Martin Kelley — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 18:26:26 +0000

Thanks for the link report, I’ve fixed it (see what happens when one tries to crank out a post between work and errands?) Please don’t be intimidated, as the secret truth is that I only have three topics I ever talk about. Read it for a week and you’ll have a pretty good idea about what I have to say.
There’s a lot of Quaker-Holiness crossover: Thomas Kelly (via his family) and Hannah Whitall Smith come most immediately to mind. Welcome!
Your Friend,
Martin

By: julie

julie — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 15:19:14 +0000

I think your first link is broken. Also, I wanted to introduce myself, since I've been reading through your online collection. My name is Julie, and I'm going to be attending Earlham School of Religion in the fall. I don't have any experience with Quakers, having grown up in a solidly Holiness home and attended a Wesleyan college, but I felt the Spirit leading me to ESR anyway. I've really enjoyed your site- there's a lot here to learn, so it's a bit intimidating, but I'm starting to feel like I can answer my friends' questions about who the Quakers are. grace.