Be encouraged by letters not held by them
A friend stood up in meeting this morning and read the following extract from the introduction to Quaker faith & practice,
Dearly beloved Friends, these things we do not lay upon you as a rule or form to walk by, but that all, with the measure of light which is pure and holy, may be guided; and so in the light walking and abiding, these may be fulfilled in the Spirit, not from the letter, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.
My own ideas of living seem to be corresponding with the Quaker way, live from experience, live from the moment. Maybe having attended Quaker meetings for 4 years I have been influenced. Had I started to think this way and maybe thinking this way led me to the Quakers?
The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. The Spirit giveth life which is often communicated in letters, spoken or written. I believe the point is that almost as soon as the ink is dry it is time to move on. Too often a spiritual experience becomes a dogma, we want to hold on to the experience but you can’t for as soon as you do you fossilise it.
That said written words can be given life on the hearing or reading. I have been writing over the past few days about stories that have shaped my life, stories that on hearing stayed with me.
In that vein I return to the second book of Kings. In chapter 7 a story is told of a group of lepers who sit at the city gates. There is a famine inside and the lads are faced with the choice of staying where they are and dying or venturing beyond their comfort zone and possibly living. They decide it is better to venture than stay. There is a risk they will be killed by the enemy but if they stay they will die anyway.
I first heard this story 29 years ago in a church meeting in a local community centre. I am not sure the reason the story stayed with me but often when I want to stay where I am usually due to fear the story comes to mind and encourages me to take steps towards the future.
One such occasion comes to mind. It was 1990 and I had been invited to be part of events in Switzerland, Portugal and Denmark. I agreed to go though when it came to going I had little money. I was determined to go so I stuck out my thumb in my hometown and within a couple of days, I was in Strasbourg, France. I had slept in a campsite the night before but now I was on the road waiting again for a lift. Emotionally I felt low and mentally I was thinking, “I can’t do this.” The story of the lepers came to mind and with it the encouragement to believe. I did eventually get a lift to Basel and hence I was moved on in my journey. Living like that I survived 7 weeks in Europe and got to all my planned destinations. Thinking about it now even then I was learning how to ‘live the day’ as there is nothing else. The Chinese proverb sums it up, “ Even journey starts with one step” and so it is with living, one breathe, one step, one day.
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