Make sure to be watching Robin’s list of the top ten things that drive HER crazy about Quakers…

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(This is a part of my “Top Ten things that drive me crazy about Quakers” list. Thanks to Barclay Press for the opportunity to think about this.) 1. Living in the past Yes, we have a heritage. Yes, we have a wonderful history. But we are the heirs of a living, breathing, present-tense vibrant experience [...]

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(This is a part of my “Top Ten things that drive me crazy about Quakers” list.) 2. Our naiveté about symbol In our right pursuit to have our faith in Jesus be pure and real and unencumbered by ritual, we have wrongly framed our spirituality as if only the mind exists. Bare rationality is not [...]

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(This is a part of my “Top Ten things that drive me crazy about Quakers” list.) 3. The separation of Jesus and social action I know that the identity wars among Quakers in the early 20th century were painful and rooted in the deep convictions of Friends who disagreed. But I honestly don’t understand how [...]

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(This is a part of my “Top Ten things that drive me crazy about Quakers” list.) 4. Why aren’t U.S. Quakers exploding in growth? Our combination of inward, deep spirituality with outward, passionate social activism is one that a postmodern world is crying out for. It drives me crazy that we aren’t catching on like [...]

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(This is a part of my “Top Ten things that drive me crazy about Quakers” list.) 5. Our “Just Say No” attitude toward anything charismatic We believe God speaks to us all, but hush the prophetic voice. We want to yield completely to God’s Holy Spirit, but know the Spirit would never lead us to [...]

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(This is a part of my “Top Ten things that drive me crazy about Quakers” list.) 6. Our lack of humility in wider Christian circles There are Nazarenes who earnestly want to hear from God. There are Baptists who long for God’s justice to roll down like the mighty waters. There are many who take [...]

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(This is a part of my “Top Ten things that drive me crazy about Quakers” list.) 7. Individualistic, self-defined faith George Fox famously described the power of a real encounter with God in his journal: “When all my hopes…in all men were gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to help me…then, oh then, I [...]

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(This is a part of my “Top Ten things that drive me crazy about Quakers” list.) 8. Pride in our peculiarities While we often give lip service to our frustration at being a marginalized minority, we can also take a quixotic pride in our uniqueness. We seem to like being different a little too much. [...]

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(This is a part of my “Top Ten things that drive me crazy about Quakers” list.) 9. Our jargon “Are you FGC or EFI?” “Are all hearts clear?” “Is that an FUM or EFM field?” “That of God in each person.” NWYM, AFSC, YAF, FWCC. “The Light Within.” Acronyms. Phrases. Insider code. If we were [...]

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