Friend Brinton’s insightful study of the Quaker Movement in the last 300 years, how the Society has 4 different emphases

Currently, in the U.S. and many other nations (and in various ideological or religious movements in history), most humans seem given to extremes and fragmentation.
This leaves us often divisive, unbalanced, and distorted in our quest for truth.

As Howard H. Brinton insightfully explains in Friends for 300 Years this divisiveness and fragmentation even happens to good renewal movements such as the Friends, who came into being for the very purpose of regaining wholistic truth and avoiding all destructive tendencies of human history.

"Through the three centuries of Quaker history the four primary elements present in all religion have at different times exerted their influence in varying degrees."
-Brinton

Mystic Inner Life
Evangel Outreach
Social Justice
Rationalism

From 1650 to about 1750, mysticism and evangel outreach were in balance in the group as a whole though some individuals tended to stress one or the other.

But then mysticism and evangelicalism became a major conflict, each pressing the other to bad extremes among Quakers as a whole.

By the 1800’s, Quietism, (an excessive focus on mysticism—the inner life) became dominant, and the early expressive evangel preaching and sharing of truth with those outside of the society greatly receded.

Instead, the Friends became “a peculiar society” which besides their “inner life” focused on exclusive boundaries and rigid rules.
Exactly the Opposite of the Early Friends who emphasized the CENTER, not exclusion and conformity to outward rules and dress.

During the latter half of the 20th century and the 1st 23 years of the 21st, rationalism and social justice took over and have assumed greater prominence,
(except for a few fundamentalist Friends who have abandoned the key points of the Society and, instead, inserted-asserted Reformed theology, the exact opposite of ALL that Quakerism means)!

Brinton:
"The best type of religion is one in which the mystical, the evangelical, the rational and the social are so related that each exercises a restraint on the others. Too exclusive an emphasis on mysticism results in a religion which is individualistic, subjective and vague."

Too dominant an evangelicalism results in religion which is authoritarian, creedal and external; too great an emphasis on rationalism results in a cold, intellectual religion which appeals only to the few.

Too engrossing a devotion to the social justice results in a religion which, in improving the outer environment, ignores serious defects of the inner life which cause the outer disorders.

Brinton also goes on to warn against "vitalism which worships the life-force in its biological sense" which has very little in common with the central message of the Early Friends.

My response to Brinton's excellent analysis: About the only point where I disagree with Brinton is when he says the 4 qualities "each exercise a restraint on the others."

No--and that sounds too negative--it is rather that when Most bathed in the Light, the 4 parts of true transcendental reality relate/commune, giving a redeeming uplifting of each other and are the Seed of true moral and spiritual becoming.

Read Friends for 300 Years (or the updated version, Friends for 350 Years) and be not only intellectually enlightened, but raised up in the LIGHT!
Friend on the edge, Daniel

Again, that Wondrous Spiritual 'Pick-up' Line of Light-centered Hope

Remember back to our young teen years when many of us were dying to talk to the individual we had a crush on, and kept trying to figure out what we could say that sincerely stated our care and hope?:_)

Religions, too, sincerely, speak words of love, sacred pickup lines, heart-centered--
in Judaism
(Jewish Bible's extended metaphor of God saying 'He' is Israel's lover),
in Christianity, especially in Quakerism and Pietism
(Christians are Christ's bride),
in Sufi Islam,
in Bhakti Hinduism,
in some forms of Mahayana Buddhism,
in Unity/New Thought,
and so forth...

According to Quakerly, Wesleyan, Pietistic movement, God infinitely loves every single human
who has ever existed, and loves every single human
who will ever exist in the future.

"I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love,
which flowed over the ocean of darkness."
--George Fox

Talk about spiritual hyperbole...
up close and personal
but as a young, naive, troubled teen, I loved this hope, this spiritual pickup line
(made famous by spiritual crooners from George Fox
to John Wesley, John Woolman, D. L. Moody, Billy Graham, Thomas Kelly, Henri Nouwen, etc.)...



--

I Love This Line
“For God so loves everyone."
I love this line

That the Light, the Divine, Transcendent Reality, the Good--
the inexplicable TRANSCENDENCE at the center of the whole cosmos
cares for each of one of us
to the utmost!



What a wonder, what a hope, what an Everest height
that ultimate linguistic sign.
Yes, I love this line

Yet born with a constant why in my mouth
always seeking,
always looking beyond every belief, every doctrine,
I struggled far past usual doubt

Got gore-baptized by the horrors of Christian history...
heck, even rich Quakers owned slaves until 1776
though they bespoke that heartfelt spiritual pickup line,
their many brutal actions belied their spiritual romantic claim.
Yet I still love their line.

Despite Fox supporting the slaughters of Cromwell;
despite early Jesus wars in the 4th century
and ever since down to this troubled present;

and endless doctrinal horrors:
Augustine claimed Original Sin
in human sexual love-making, then
abandoned his long-time common lover
for God and, seeking for a high class woman,
he lined this line to eternal death.

And most Christians, including some Friends, while lipping "For God so loved.."
spoke darkly of God's hidden foreordinations to hell for God's glory,
total depravity, limited atonement, forced adoration,
and His constant killings for His own "good pleasure."

So many billions of religious folk lie that Lightful line--
with Biblical infanticide,
the Inquisition, heresy trials, burnings-at-the-stake,
multi-millions slaughtered dutifully for God and country,
Trinity, Jehovah,Allah,Shiva, Shinto, Buddha...

And Black Deaths, influenzas, plagues and famines
tsunamis, floods, and disasters,
and 30,000 children
dying daily--21 each minute;
such glaring harsh facts
bloody and leech all hope
from that lied line.

It does appear that Love’s not an endless YES,
never an the transcendent sphere,
not our Beloved’s ring,

No, not a never ending line of peace and mercy
but only a paltry pickup conning.

Now at 76 years, I hate this false line, the constant
come-on starter by Jews, Christians, Muslims and other con crooners.

How do we ever truly trust again?

Heck, some American and British Quakers even claim
there is NO Light, that only matter and energy exist!

Is there only Mere--as these Friends claim, no Transcendent myrrh?

What of the "impossible possibility" of a Niebuhr,
of the romantic one-liners of George Fox
and Margaret Fell?
That God never says never?

But only,
(to quote Tillich and St. Paul),

Yes, and Yes, and Yes.

But critical assessment of existence
cleavers God’s promise line--
I love you!

Still, I refuse to bow to that despairing cut
The slash of Never--
by creedalists, nontheists.

Let us hope against the brutal facts of religious history...
as did early Quakers though persecuted, abused, and killed--
that ever Past is
never
always Future.

Despite all negation, somehow,
let's still love this LIGHTFUL line--
Love wins.


In the Transcendent Light,

Dan Wilcox

No comments:

UNDERSTANDING “I”

UNDERSTANDING “I”

Every human "I" experiences at least 3 experiential senses of self, sometimes called "ego states."

Our
TAUGHT/FELT/THOUGHT

For instance, notice how the 3 senses of self exist in a juvenile delinquent's statement:

"I knew we were harming the old woman; (THOUGHT)

we shouldn't have hurt her; (TAUGHT)

but I felt like it."* (FELT)


Or another way of describing our 3 ego states of TAUGHT/FELT/THOUGHT:

CONSCIENCE/EMOTION/REASON

Or

RECEIVE/EXPERIENCE/COMPUTE

Or in more abstract terms:

RELIGION/MYSTICISM/SKETICISM

This is adapted from Dr. Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis. His creative, life-changing theory of the human psyche
was transformational for millions of people in the last 60 years. Dr. Berne demonstrated keen insight into human nature
in his books such as Games People Play.

Sometimes his terms got misapplied or misunderstood however.

For instance, in his effort to get away from psychoanalytical abstract terms--and displaying a sense of playfullness--Berne defined
the inner realities of the
Human Psyche as

“PARENT” (implanted instructions from adults)

"CHILD" (creative, how we felt as a child, and feel experientially now)

"ADULT" (fact-checking now)

Berne wrote that these senses of "I" were real and experiential, not abstract descriptions such as earlier psychologists and psychiatrists had termed
3 divisions of the human psyche.



For examples, Sigmund Freud's abstract terms:
SUPER-EGO or CONSCIENCE
ID (BERNE’S “Little Fascist”)
EGO or CONSCIOUS ME

The most misunderstood aspect of Berne's theory was his statement of "I'M OKAY; YOU"RE OKAY." This view of positive psychology was popularized by other psychologists including Thomas Harris in his famous book, I'M OK, YOU'RE OK.

Too often, people in general, and scoffers thought that "okay" meant that TA leaders were stating, every human is fine just as he is.

NO!

Obviously, based on the wars of the 20th century which slaughtered multi-millions of humans, the millions of rapes and enslavements, constant abuse of children, and unending domestic violence,
this wasn't Berne's key point at all.

Rather Berne was giving the Enlightenment, humanistic ethical truth of "inherent human value/worth" a new-face-over uplift into popular user-friendly words.


The central key of Transactional Analysis was that every single human is of inherent worth, is "ok."

That ALL of human miscommunication, intolerance, abuse, and destruction come from distortions and denials of each human being inherently valuable.







In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

*Adapted from Games People Play by Berne, I'M OK, You're OK by Harris, Introduce Yourself to T.A. by Paul McCormick and Leonard Campos, etc.

One Heart-felt Spiritual Pickup Line

Remember the days of your youth--
back when we obsessed with trying to find exactly the most heartfelt sweet something to say to our one and only?

In so many cases in organized religions, too, the words of love, sincere pickup lines, have been heart-center--
in Judaism
(Jewish Bible's extended metaphor of God saying 'He' is Israel's lover),
in Christianity, especially Pietism
(Christians are Christ's bride),
in Sufi Islam,
in Bhakti Hinduism,
in some forms of Mahayana Buddhism,
in Unity/New Thought,
and so forth...

According to Pietistic, Wesleyan Christian religion, God infinitely loves every single human
who has ever existed, and loves every single human
who will ever exist in the future.

Talk about spiritual hyperbole...
up close and personal
but as a young, naive, troubled teen, I loved this hope, this spiritual pickup line
(made famous by evangelistic crooners such
as D. L. Moody and Billy Graham)...

--

I Love This Line

I love this line
“For God so loves everyone."
I love this line

That the Divine, Transcendent Reality, the Good--
the inexplicable Essence at the center of the whole cosmos
cares for each of one of us
to the utmost!

What a wonder, what a hope, what an Everest height
that ultimate linguistic sign.
Yes, I love this line

Yet born with a constant why in my mouth
always seeking,
always looking beyond every belief, every doctrine,
I struggled far past usual doubt

Got blood-baptized by the horrors of Christian history...
though Christians bespeak that heartfelt spiritual pickup line,
their nearly constant brutal actions belie their romantic claim.
Yet I still love this line.

But early Jesus wars in the 4th century
and ever since down to current slaughters,
and endless doctrinal abuses--
Augustine created Original Sin
in sexual love-making, then
abandoned his long-time common lover
for God and, seeking for a high class woman,
he lined this line to eternal death.

And theologians' while lipping For God so loved,
spoke darkly of God's hidden foreordinations to hell for God's glory,
total depravity, limited atonement, forced adoration,
and His constant killings for His own "good pleasure."

They lie the line--
Bibical infanticide,
the Inquisition, heresy trials, burnings-at-the-stake,
multi-millions slaughtered dutifully for God and country,
Jehovah,Allah,Shiva, Shinto, Buddha...

And Black Deaths, influenzas, plagues and famines
tsunamis, floods, and disasters,
and 30,000 children
dying daily--21 each minute;
such glaring harsh facts
bloody and leech all hope
from that lied line.

It does appear that Love’s not an endless yes,
never an eternal sphere,
not our Beloved’s ring,

No, not a never ending line of grace and mercy
but only a paltry pickup conning.

Now at 70 years, I hate this false line, the constant
come-on starter by Jews, Christians, Muslims and other con crooners.

How do we ever truly trust again?

Is there only mere--as secularists claim, no myrrh?

What of the "impossible possibility" of Niebuhr,
of the romantic one-liner Good News—
That God never says never?

But only,
(to quote Tillich and St. Paul),

Yes, and Yes, and Yes.

But critical assessment of existence
cleavers God’s promise line--
I love you!

Still, I refuse to bow to the cut
The slash of Never--

Let us hope against the brutal facts of religious history..
that ever past is
never
always future.

Despite all, somehow,
let's still love this line--
love wins.


In the Transcendent Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Quaker Speak's Engaging Interviews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnABqiDoIlc

Kudos to Jon Watt, Quaker Speak, and Friends Journal for putting out these engaging, inspirational videos.

"QuakerSpeak is a project of Friends Journal, in collaboration with New England Yearly Meeting, Quaker House, the American Friends Service Committee, and Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas. The project is directed by Jon Watts."


With all the fragmenting, disagreements, even conflicts going on amongst Quakers, in contrast, these spiritually enriching interviews with individual Friends are very encouraging.
http://quakerspeak.com/


In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

The Wholeness Necessary in Faith

Religion, indeed all human thought and action, seems given to divisive fragmentation--to one extreme or another; almost always leaving us unbalanced, often distorted in our quest for truth.

As Howard H. Brinton insightly explains in Friends for 300 Years this fragmentation even happens to renewal movements such as the Friends who came into being for the very purpose of regaining the wholistic truth.

Yet the Quaker movement itself swings between 4 poles, seldom seeming to walk in wholeness.

An excerpt by Brinton:
--

CHAPTER 10
Quaker Thought and the Present

"Through the three centuries of Quaker history the four primary elements present in all religion have at different times exerted their influence in varying degrees."

"During the first century an a half mysticism and evangelicalism were in balance in the group as a whole though many individuals tended to stress one or the other;

during the nineteenth century mysticism and evangelicalism were in conflict, each pressing the other to extremes in the group as a whole, though in many individuals the two were in balance; and during the past half century rationalism and humanitarianism have assumed greater prominence, sometimes becoming dominant, though here again there are some individuals in whom the four tendencies are in balance."

"The best type of religion is one in which the mystical, the evangelical, the rational and the social are so related that each exercises a restraint on the others. Too exclusive an emphasis on mysticism results in a religion which is individualistic, subjective and vague;

too dominant an evangelicalism results in religion which is authoritarian, creedal and external; too great an emphasis on rationalism results in a cold, intellectual religion which appeals only to the few; too engrossing a devotion to the social gospel results in a religion which, in improving the outer environment, ignores defects of the inner life which cause the outer disorder."

"In Quakerism the optimum is not equality in rank of the four elements. The mystical is basic."
--

Brinton goes on to warn against "vitalism which worships the life-force in its biological sense" and the other distortions of true worship.

About the only point where I disagree with Brinton is when he says the 4 qualities "each exercise a restraint on the others." It is rather that when most bathed in the Light, the 4 parts of true spiritual reality relate/commune, giving a redeeming uplifting of each other and are the Seed of Ultimate Fulfillment.

Read Friends for 300 Years (it has been updated to Friends for 350 Years)
and be not only intellectually enlightened, but raised up in the Spirit!

Friend Daniel