 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winslow_Homer#/media/File:Winslow_Homer_-_The_Gulf_Stream_-_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art.jpg In the book, Walking In The World As A Friend, Nadine Hoover asks the questions:
Love is the essence of the Christ impulse (or however you wish to name it). John 15:15 states that Jesus no longer calls his followers servants but friends because he has made known to them everything he learned from his Father. This shift signifies a relationship of trust and intimacy. As Quakers we call ourselves Friends for a reason. We relate to one another as sharing an experience of the living spirit. In our own way Spirit moves through us. And it moves in a particular way ... through the deep respect and love we have for each other as seekers on the path to greater understanding; accepting of our foibles and missteps as well as our moments of insight into the continuing revelation. As Nadine Hoover put it: "Love is to feel a tender affection for and a sense of the preciousness of another, while free to take leave without ill judgment or retribution." What a pleasant counterpoint to our current social situation in which harsh words, anger and violence seem to be the "norm." Thoughts of anger, violence, hatred, revenge and the like are like the sharks circling the disabled vessel in Homer's painting, The Gulf Stream. These are the farthest from love and bring us no closer to the movement of Spirit. What is deeply important now is to observe how we act toward not only our beloved ones but also the least of those amongst us and the ones we wish to revile. To maintain decency and equanimity in the face of our own disgust is vital. It may be our access to love and how the spirit moves within us. ~ Joseph Olejak
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