102 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
john 15:12
103
And now also some ancient women-friends did meet together, to consider
what appertained to them as their most immediate care
and concern to inspect the circumstances and conditions of such
who were
imprisoned on truth’s account, and to provide things needful
to supply
their wants. And what did or might more immediately concern menfriends,
the women would acquaint them there with. These women did also
inquire into, and inspect the wants and necessities of the poor,
who were
convinced of the truth. And they sat not still until the cry of the
poor came
to their houses.
william crouch, 1712
104 A care has lived in my mind that more time might be employed
by parents at home, and by tutors at school, in weightily attending
to the
spirit and inclination of children, and that we may so lead, instruct,
and
govern them in this tender part of life that nothing may be omitted
in our
power to help them in their way to become children of Our Father who
is
in Heaven.
john woolman, 1758
105
That divine Light which enlightens man, I believe, does shine often
in the minds of children very early; and to humbly wait for
Wisdom that our conduct toward them may tend to forward their
acquaintance
with
it and strengthen them in obedience thereto appears to me to be a
duty toward them.
author unknown
106 To watch the spirit of children, to nurture them in Gospel Love,
and labor to help them against that which would mar the beauty of their
minds, is a debt we owe them; and the faithful performance of our duty
not
only tends to their lasting benefit and our own peace, but also to
render
their company agreeable to us…
john woolman, journal, 1758
107
Is Christianity capable of contributing to the overcoming of tensions
and showing the way to their solution? I am convinced that
we can
find a clear, positive answer by investigating how Christ himself
met the
tensions of his time; for him tensions which separate people simply
do not
exist. Jesus knows no fear, nothing holds him apart from other people.
His
fearlessness, however, flows from his communion with God. But this
communion with God can be achieved by all men. Thus he sees in the
other
man only his brother, his neighbor. Next to the love of God, the
commandment “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is for Jesus
the most essential
of all commandments.
margarethe lachmund, 1958
108
Friends are most in the Spirit when they stand at the crossing point
of the inward and outward life. And that is the intersection
at which
we find community. Community is a place where the connections felt
in the
heart make themselves known in bonds between people, and where
tuggings and pullings of those bonds keep opening up our hearts.
parker palmer, 1977
109
The meeting must be at heart a spiritual quest and the people who
are members must be seekers after a life of the spirit. This
doesn’t
mean
that they will do nothing else, but, everything else should be grounded
in
this spiritual seeking.
robert griswold, 2000