2021/09/20

Quaker Theology Group : Rufus Jones (1863-1948) on the spiritual impact on him of a November 1922 car accident in Morristown, New Jersey, recalled a decade later | Facebook

(3) Quaker Theology Group : Rufus Jones (1863-1948) on the spiritual impact on him of a November 1922 car accident in Morristown, New Jersey, recalled a decade later | Facebook

Rufus Jones (1863-1948) on the spiritual impact on him of a November 1922 car accident in Morristown, New Jersey, recalled a decade later. (Jones was a Haverford College Philosophy Professor, a founder of the AFSC and author of 54 books.)
There was no single moment of invasion or of uprush. I discovered that a new life and power -had come- to me without my knowing precisely when it came.
I was hit by an automobile one night while away from home. It happened without any preparation for it. No sound, no light, no consciousness of danger, preceded the startling event.
Suddenly I felt my chest break and cave in. At the same time there was a powerful impact in my leg and my body was hurled through space with tremendous force. The odd thing was that I did no thinking. I just felt.
I was vaguely aware that an irresistible force was crushing the life out of my body, but I felt no touch of fear. There was a huge boulder of undifferentiated experience, undisturbed by reflection and without the emergence of overwhelming emotions.
I was near neighbor to death as I shall ever be while actually living, as close to the border of our world here as one can ever be and return again to the fullness of life, and yet not the least sense of fear or terror.
When a doctor arrived a few minutes after the accident my heart was beating regularly and my pulse was normal. In a few days I was brought home, carried to my spacious library and settled into a high modern hospital bed.
I was strapped tight to protect my broken ribs. My leg was fastened in a ‘fracture case’ so that I could not turn, for the slightest movement hurt me. My students brought moveable chairs, filling the room, and I went on with my college lectures and finished all my courses, lying thus flat on my back, feeling all the time an unusual élan.
Gradually I began to discover the amazing power of regeneration which living tissue reveals. Forces as gentle as the fall of snow flakes began to operate as though miracles had not ceased.
The split and broken bones were woven together again. The ligaments were stretched back and fastened in their old places. The lacerated muscles are healed by some hidden alchemy. The torn skin and contused flesh were made whole by unseen processes. Every broken fibre was regenerated as though nature’s whole business was restoration and renewal.
It was a long time before I realized that a still deeper miracle had been taking place within me. I cannot quite date the discovery. But it began to dawn upon me that a 'restoration' of another sort had gone on. I seemed in a new way to be liberated from fears and anxieties and worries. I had entered into an unexpected tranquility and peace.
More than that I had gained an immense increase of vitality and ‘vis viva.’ Life had become a more joyous and radiant affair than I had ever known. I no longer cared anything about arguments to prove the reality of God, any more than I did to prove the incomparable worth of the human love which surrounded my life as I lay quietly recovering.
Rufus Jones, “Why I Enroll with the Mystics,” in Contemporary American Theology: Theological Autobiographies, ed. V. Ferm, New York: Roundtable Press, 1932, p. 208-9.
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  • Jim Fussell
    Admin
    Richard Penaskovic: “We’re composed of matter (body) that is finite and corruptible, plus a soul that’s eternal and incorruptible or infinite.
    We have been made a little less than the angels. We’re in a reciprocal relationship with God with whom we live, move, and have our being.
    As Rufus Jones notes, “The Spiritual Universe is thus a concrete reality, not an abstract one.”
    The mystic of everyday life: Rufus Jones
    AUBURNVILLAGER.COM
    The mystic of everyday life: Rufus Jones
    The mystic of everyday life: Rufus Jones
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  • Teri Lynn Bookless
    Embracing life and leaving the peripheral to take care of itself by the grace of God. Living in the moment.
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  • Teri Lynn Bookless
    Jim, I think this would be an excellent post for sharing with my relatively new FB friends who are pushing against unsubstantiated claims that some of our former beliefs hinged upon.
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    • Teri Lynn Bookless
      I am finding my FB experience very positive because I have purposefully sought friends who identify themselves as Christians, who are still seeking, and are progressives in social justice issues.
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  • Muriel Edgerton
    Moderator
    Thank you, Jim, for sharing this. I find it very helpful.
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  • Rich Accetta-Evans
    Jim, this is a great post, but somewhat marred by several typos. I assume they were not in RJ's original document, but were introduced when pasted or retyped into your post. IMO it would be worthwhile for you to edit the post and correct these. (I find that I have to correct typos in my own posts and comments all the time. There are probably some in this one. I like to blame predictive text or autocorrect. )
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    • Carter Nash

    I wish I could share this




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    Jim Fussell
    Admin


    Carter Nash I’ve also sent the same post this afternoon to the Quakers Facebook open group, which is shareable.
    It hasn’t been approved yet, but the moderators there often lag for 12 to 24 hours.

    =
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The mystic of everyday life: Rufus Jones
Richard Penaskovic | Columnist


With Covid-19, the entire human race now lives in a fog, unaware of where we’re headed. It’s like we’re on a gigantic cruise ship, plowing through a thick fog, sirens blaring, thus warning other ships to beware. Passengers cannot see the sun and much less are the stars and sky open to their gaze. As daily cases rise exponentially, so far there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. As the July 13, 2020 edition of the Wall Street Journal, page one noted, experts warn that the Covid-19 crisis seems to be turning “uncontrollable.”


Correspondingly, low visibility on the horizon might be a parable for the physical health and spiritual climate around the world today. Global leaders today from China to Russia to the U.S. and Brazil can’t agree on a strategy to clear the fog and go full speed ahead, politically, economically, and spiritually. In this connection we need to think globally and act locally. This means we need to take the advice of infectious disease experts and use social distancing and the wearing of a mask when in public as ordered by the CDC.


In this article, I reflect on the thought of Rufus Jones, a Quaker, writer, and spiritual guru from the 20th century. I like to think of him as a mystic of everyday life, as described in the book, "Rufus Jones: Essential Writings: Selected with an Introduction by Kerry Walters," (Maryknoll, N.Y.: 2001).


In times of crisis, God appears to be absent when needed most. It’s akin to the sun on a cloudy day. Though the Lord on high seems to be distant, the Transcendent One is there like the sun, behind and above the clouds. As Muslims teach us, God is nearer to us than our jugular vein. Also, in the Hebrew Scriptures, Yahweh made a covenant with Israel, according to Jeremiah 31:33 “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” This implies that the Lord is the One who’s there when needed by those suffering the ravages of disease and tribulations. As Rufus Jones puts it, “Every situation may be turned into an occasion for winning a nearer view” of the Lord.


At the end of the day, we must all bow down in silent awe to the mystery that is the divine. Jones reminds us why we’re here on the planet. He remarks that “the major business we are here for in this world is to be a rightly fashioned person as an organ of the divine purpose.” What we do in terms of our work, success, and the like doesn’t seem to matter in the sight of the Lord of the universe. The kingdom of God is what it says, “God’s” kingdom, not ours.

Within each human being there exists a Beyond in us, a “More yet,” (or as William James calls it “our Mother Sea), since we are in our constitution temporal-eternal, finite-infinite beings. We’re composed of matter (body) that is finite and corruptible, plus a soul that’s eternal and incorruptible or infinite. We have been made a little less than the angels. We’re in a reciprocal relationship with God with whom we live, move, and have our being. As Rufus Jones notes, “The Spiritual Universe is thus a concrete reality, not an abstract one.” (See Rufus Jones, “Why I Enroll with the Mystics,” in Contemporary American Theology: Theological Autobiographies, ed. V. Ferm, New York: Roundtable Press, 1932).

As human beings, we live in an Over-World that influences the entire world-drama. The Spirit that is God may be found in the middle of our everyday world, if only we took the time to look. We humans contain within ourselves a capacity for the divine as noted by the early Christians after the event of Pentecost. The 17th-century Quakers constructed their religion on the premise that the presence of God may be found in every human being.

Hence, the Quakers down through the centuries speak of getting in touch with the “Inner Light” or the “Divine Seed.” In short, we humans have a divine origin and a divine goal or destiny. This “Inner Light” must be seen, known, and felt by each of us experientially. We humans are way More than who we are because of this “Inner Light” within our consciousness.

In this connection I am reminded of Psalm 36:9 “in your light we see light.”

Richard Penaskovic is an Emeritus Professor at Auburn University. His writings have appeared in the Birmingham News, Columbus- Ledger Enquirer, Montgomery Advertiser and online by Informed Comment and Politurco.
====

Rufus Jones: Essential Writings
(Modern Spiritual Masters)
by Rufus Matthew Jones, Kerry S. Walters
 4.36  ·   Rating details ·  25 ratings  ·  0 reviews
A Quaker mystic and social activist, Rufus Jones was awarded a Nobel Prize as co-founder of the American Friends Service Committee. Widely considered one of the most significant religious voices in America at the time of his death in 1948, 
his writings impart an Emersonian vision of the ever-present reality of God in our souls and in our world. Indeed, his quintessentially American "affirmative mysticism" infuses all contemporary spirituality and offers an uplifting, positive, and powerful message today. (less)
GET A COPY
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Paperback, 160 pages
Published January 10th 2002 by Orbis Books 



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How Christian dual citizenship matters to politics – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 3 – Let's Talk About Sunday

How Christian dual citizenship matters to politics – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 3 – Let's Talk About Sunday



How Christian dual citizenship matters to politics – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 3
Posted byjoelkimeFebruary 5, 2020Posted inUncategorizedTags:christians, citizenship, Daniel, dual citizens, election, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Persecuted church, politics, vote


Christians, did you know you have dual citizenship? I, for example am a citizen of the United States of America because I was born in the city of Alexandria, which is the state of Virginia. I have a birth certificate with raised seal to prove it. Which is the land of your birth? Where is your citizenship? For those of us who are Christian, we are also citizens of the Kingdom of Jesus. How do these two citizenships work together or differ?

In a country with a strong Christian heritage like the USA, it can sometime be very hard to know how to distinguish these two citizenships. In many countries, however, it is very easy to see the difference. Think, for example, of the earliest Christians. Many of them lived as citizens of Rome, and yet Rome did not accept their Christian faith and sometimes even persecuted them. Some early Christians didn’t have Roman citizenship. They were literal strangers and aliens in the Roman Empire.

It might be like Christians in a persecuted country today. Take China where the church is often underground, secret, hidden. People in China know that their citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven leads them to hold a far different set of values and beliefs than their Chinese citizenship. Their two citizenships are drastically at odds with one another, and to follow their citizenship in the Kingdom of God, they sometimes have to disobey the terms of their citizenship of China. Many earthly nations actually say that it is illegal to be a citizen of the Kingdom of God. We saw an example of this in the story of Daniel and his friends a month ago in our Characters series, when in order to follow God’s ways, they had to defy the way of the earthly king.

For us in a free nation like America, it can be much more difficult to distinguish between our two citizenships. Historically there have been many ways which our two citizenships have aligned. Being a good Christian and a good American, for some people, seem to be identical. But are they?

First, citizenship in heaven does not equate to an earthly nation or political party. That’s where it gets confusing. Some Christians will tell you that in order to be a faithful Christian, you must be in a certain political party. That is false. It is impossible to identify whether or not you are a citizen of the kingdom of God simply based on which political party you are registered with.

Therefore is to be expected that your church likely has members from both major American political parties, and maybe some of you support third parties too. That diversity is okay. Our true citizenship is in heaven and it transcends political parties. Therefore we should never allow political differences to get in the way of our family bond in Christ.

Second, our citizenship in heaven means that our affinity and brotherhood with Christians is our top priority. We can say that we are supportive of Christians around the world, like our sister churches in Liberia or Mexico, and that we pray for the persecuted church. But because of our common citizenship in heaven, we have more connection with those Christians around the world, wherever they are found, then we do with our next door neighbor who, though an American citizen, is not a Christian. That next door neighbor might be a really good person, flying the American flag, and they might look, talk and even think like us in many ways. All the while that international Christian might be halfway around the world, speak a different language, and think very differently than we do. Because of our citizenship in heaven, though, it is the international Christian with whom we share the bonds of Christ.

That does not mean we don’t love and interact and get to know all of our neighbors. It means that we must recognize that our citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven is a deeper connecting bond – no matter the political party, no matter the country we live in, no matter the language we speak, no matter the color of our skin. We will all be serving the same God, learning to walk with Jesus the same way, desiring to understand and be more and more filled with the same Holy Spirit.

Think about what that means for your views on foreign policy. Citizens of the Kingdom, in other words, think, talk and act in line with Jesus, above all else, above their political party, above their earthly citizenship.

I’m writing this in 2020 and there is an election in our earthly country coming up soon. Yes, we are citizens of Heaven, and yes, we should vote. Depending on your views of how biblical teaching relates to politics, it is more likely that you will vote for one political party or the other. Our citizenship in heaven should influence how we vote here on earth. How, then, should our citizenship in heaven inform our vote?

First of all, we need to be people who can have healthy discussion about the issues. So often what happens within a group of Christians is that political discussion begins and the walls go up, making it impossible to have a healthy discussion. When that happens, it is almost certainly a signal that those people have allowed their citizenship in an earthly nation to supersede their citizenship in heaven. When our citizenship in heaven is our priority, though, we are able to worship with and love people from all other nations and political parties, even if we strongly disagree with the way they view politics. Thus we can be willing to hear and learn from people, especially including those who say they are citizens of the Kingdom, and yet believe differently than we do. We do not want to fall victim to echo chambers. What is an echo chamber, and how does it matter to Christians and politics? I wrote about that in a series starting here.

Second, we should examine whether we have allowed one political or social issue to dominate our thinking to the detriment of all others. Let me illustrate. A person, in keeping with their view of citizenship in the Kingdom of God might believe that abortion is wrong, and thus they should turn a blind eye to everything else about a candidate and vote for them anyway because they are pro-life. Likewise a person might believe that that their citizenship in the Kingdom leads them to vote for the candidate who wants to help people in poverty, despite the fact that the candidate might have a multitude of other policy issues the voter disagrees with.

Many times Christians have directly opposing political views, but those on either side believe they are aligned with the Kingdom of God. My encouragement to you as you consider candidates and their politics and how they do or do not align with the Kingdom of God, is to avoid letting a single issue dominate your opinion. Try to step back and see the broader view. Admittedly, this is complex, but it can be done, if we start from a position of humility and seek to learn from Jesus.

And that goes for me too. You might not agree with my political views. That’s okay. We Christians have a higher authority, as Jesus is our King! That’s where we find common ground, far above any national leader or politics. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God.
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