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Pendle Hill Pamphlets
Marking the Quaker Path: Seven Key Words Plus One
The life of a fully committed Quaker can be described as a series of passages, beginning with a truthful understanding of one’s spiritual condition and deepening through attention to inward experience, spiritual covenant, discipline, and the practice of discernment, culminating ultimately in the maturation of spiritual authority in a beloved community. Robert Griswold explains these passages for modern Friends, drawing from the writings of early Quakers, and offers us a glimpse of the profound growth that can flourish when we turn ourselves over to a life dedicated to the Spirit. Discussion questions included.
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #439
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #439
34 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 18, 2021
Griswold provides an outlay of signposts along the Way for Quakers. I am not a Quacker but much appreciate the spirituality arising from the early Friends.
The author's Way-steps are universal, stated differently in different spiritual paths. As with all such developmental models, Griswold's is an over-simplification. The path is not so linear. It is forward then backward, forward then backward ... - yet, there is a maturation, or an unfolding of innate graces implanted within us as offspring of one Life.
I appreciated the author's fidelity to the traditional wisdom of Quakerism in a time when it seems Friends need to revisit its past and reassert its truth-claims in a time when truth appears whatever one wishes it to be. When inclusivity becomes an openness that does not maintain identity in the Inner Life, a group loses its grounding and center. Griswold is reminding Friends of what makes Friends truly Friends, not just a justice loving, equality preaching humanism. Griswold reminds us spiritual life as Friends - as anything -is grounded in Spirit and is a journey demanding wise effort alone and in community to cultivate the Way in love for Spirit and unity with All-Beings as manifestations of Spirit.
The author's Way-steps are universal, stated differently in different spiritual paths. As with all such developmental models, Griswold's is an over-simplification. The path is not so linear. It is forward then backward, forward then backward ... - yet, there is a maturation, or an unfolding of innate graces implanted within us as offspring of one Life.
I appreciated the author's fidelity to the traditional wisdom of Quakerism in a time when it seems Friends need to revisit its past and reassert its truth-claims in a time when truth appears whatever one wishes it to be. When inclusivity becomes an openness that does not maintain identity in the Inner Life, a group loses its grounding and center. Griswold is reminding Friends of what makes Friends truly Friends, not just a justice loving, equality preaching humanism. Griswold reminds us spiritual life as Friends - as anything -is grounded in Spirit and is a journey demanding wise effort alone and in community to cultivate the Way in love for Spirit and unity with All-Beings as manifestations of Spirit.
April 7, 2018
A hot tub, a sauna, and a Pendle Hill pamphlet: the ingredients of a perfect day.
And what a pamphlet! I knew it would be good; Griswold wrote one of my favorites, Creeds and Quakers (#377). But it was one of those times that I knew that I had been sent this particular book for this particular moment. A wonderful laying out of an entire spiritual path to be lived out over the course of a lifetime, living deeper and deeper into its truths. All in 34 pages! One could search a long time for a better guide to the spiritual path of being a Quaker in community. It was also a humbling read (especially right after I had a disagreement with Ministry & Worship and retreated to grumble quietly). This path isn't for the faint of heart or impatient of mind!
And what a pamphlet! I knew it would be good; Griswold wrote one of my favorites, Creeds and Quakers (#377). But it was one of those times that I knew that I had been sent this particular book for this particular moment. A wonderful laying out of an entire spiritual path to be lived out over the course of a lifetime, living deeper and deeper into its truths. All in 34 pages! One could search a long time for a better guide to the spiritual path of being a Quaker in community. It was also a humbling read (especially right after I had a disagreement with Ministry & Worship and retreated to grumble quietly). This path isn't for the faint of heart or impatient of mind!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews