Return to the Q: How does Truth favored friendship?

In a modern world, where news flashes connect us to concerns/events on any corner of the globe we feel innate relation between revelation and truth across different spiritual traditions. Friends’ coined a new phrase for how this impacts our Meetings. We have underdeveloped ‘NPR messages’. An NPR message reflects whatever we listened to instead of listening to Spirit as we were readying ourselves for Meeting for Worship. We know many Friends often feel discouraged when they arrive at Meeting already full of messages to share. Many modern Friends experience ‘popcorn’ Meeting for Worship (MfW), where ministry sparks rapidly around a room, leaving no pause for regathering the Spirit. Messages sometimes emerge in cross-talk, appearing more like a response or debate rather than a spontaneous expression of Spirit.

Evidence of this union can be found in religious texts like the Bible and the Gospels of Thomas. Let us return to examine three of the aphorisms from Thomas that highlight Expectant Revelation and miracles of love. For example, sayings four, five, and six from the Gospel of Thomas state:

“(4) For everything is disclosed in view of the truth. (5) For there is nothing hidden that will not become revealed. (6) And there is nothing covered that will remain undisclosed.” Considered from thee POV of experience; How does Truth favored friendship? Can Truth permit less than love?

Instead, Friends are encouraged to sit in silence, anchored in Expectant Waiting for a Light of Truth that may not be known to the messenger until they stand and speak. As we embrace pluralism, welcoming diverse points of view, sects, backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs, Quakerism is becoming more universalist, secular, and non-theist. Despite these changes, can we find a core spiritual vocation that ties 21st-century Quakerism to its 17th-century Christian roots in England and Europe? We believe we can. We act by putting our faith into practice.

How do we become a pluralistic interfaith community? 

We unite on what doesn’t divide: our Experience. This journey includes exploring spirituality from various traditions, such as the teachings of Jesus and Buddha, and engaging with different cultures along historic trade routes like the Great Silk Road.

Ancient Asian spirituality offers insights, such as mantra “Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ” (Sanskrit: ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ), which means “praise to the jewel in the lotus.” This mantra encapsulates the essence of Buddhist teachings, representing a union between human experience and divine revelation.

Similar spiritual unions exist in Judaic, Islamic, Christian traditions, Indigenous, Native American spirituality, and other global spiritualities. These experiences reflect a relationship with the divine characterized by generosity, faith, and practice, explored for millennia yet ultimately irreconcilable.

This union of heaven and earth, mystical and sublime, nature and supernature, is embraced by mystics, Quakers, and many ancient religions. Quakers conform to the Unity of the body and shared experiences of a constantly evolving Faith and Practice. Without a central church, decisions are made in Monthly Meetings for Worship for the Conduct of Business.

Highlights of innate connections between revelation and truth across different spiritual traditions.