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SPRING
1999Phil Anthony
O Lord, you have enticed me,
and I was enticed;
you have overpowered me,
and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
everyone mocks me. ...
If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
then within me there is something like a burning fire
shut up in my bones;
I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
—Jeremiah 20:7, 9 (NRSV).This was the prophet Jeremiah’s cry of anguish over his leading. Jeremiah was an extreme, of course. The leading he was given set him against the entire religious and political establishment of his nation. The message he was called to deliver announced hardship to his people and the overturn of their lives. His tender soul rebelled against it. But, he found, he couldn’t lay the burden of his calling down.
Most leadings aren’t so heavy as Jeremiah’s, nor so unpleasant. In fact, they’re often a great source of joy for the person led, and a blessing to the community. And there’s certainly a great sense of relief when they can be laid down! Nevertheless, a leading is first and foremost a responsibility, a lighter or heavier weight laid on one of us. Many people, I think, have felt the unease of not having followed one of God’s little nudges. Others have experienced discomfort resisting—for all the “right” reasons!—a call that demands changing one’s life style, scrapping carefully laid plans, disrupting one’s home, giving up cherished comforts or even the respect of friends and family.
For Jeremiah, and for many others, the hardest thing to face is lack of understanding. “The death penalty is wrong, but won’t you at least be home for dinner? Yes, Pat is very sick, but you’re giving up your entire Saturday! The dentist keeps calling—can’t you get a job that pays the bills? You’ve been praying for two solid hours now! Of course you have to mow the burial ground, but the committee meets from one til three. ...”
Then there’s lack of support. God’s gifts are great, but there’s plenty of room for human offers of baby sitting, casseroles, scholarships to attend conferences, maybe even financial aid to help with car repairs. A hug, a word of encouragement, a moment to listen, or a brief period of worship together means a lot. Sometimes the most important thing is to provide the person with a quiet time and place, free from interruption—and then get out of the way while she does the work she’s called to. Careful discernment will show what’s needed; and discernment is a calling too.
And a person under the weight of a concern often needs help to find out just what it means. One friend recently told me, “I’ve followed my leading to prepare myself for years. Now I’m ready—and I don’t know what I’ve been prepared for!”
Historically, addressing these needs was a meeting function. Verifying a leading, helping a Friend come to clearness about it, affirming a ministry, searching for Way forward in corporate worship, and yes, providing resources of all kinds for what God wants done, all are places where meetings can still support the prophetic act or word through the person to whom it’s been given.
There’s great benefit for the meeting, too. At the very least, there’s a sense of being drawn together in God’s love. Often searching for one Friend’s direction helps others find their own way forward individually, or the meeting may corporately find itself being led. The movement of the Spirit among us can affect all of the meeting’s activity, from worship to washing dishes after a potluck. The Light shining through us, directly or indirectly, reaches the larger community to testify to what Quakerism is—and can be.
Very few of us are called to do alone the work we’ve been given. Quakers are a worshipping community under divine guidance. At one time or another, each of us is called, in a little or big way, and needs the meeting’s affirmation, care, understanding, and support. Perhaps this is a good time, God’s good time, to reclaim our heritage, recognize the leadings among us, hone our personal and corporate gifts of discernment, and move forward in the Spirit together.
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Last modified:
Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM
