Eshtine

quote of the day

From Richard J. Foster's Celebration of Discipline, an amazing book, a description of how Quakers (the Society of Friends) realized something in 1758 that, well, you'll see:
"John Woolman and others had pricked the conscience of the Society of Friends over their involvement in the demonic institution of slavery. As Philadelphia Yearly Meeting gathered for its business meetings that year, the slavery issue was a major agenda item. A great deal was at stake and the issue was hotly debated. John Woolman, with head bowed and tears in his eyes, sat through the various sessions in complete silence. Finally, after hours of agonizing prayer he rose and spoke. 'My mind is led to consider the purity of the Divine Being and the justice of His judgment, and herein my soul is covered with awfulness [probably in the "full of awe" sense--me]...Many slaves on this continent are oppressed and their cries have entered into the ears of the Most High...It is not a time for delay.' Firmly and tenderly Woolman dealt with the problems of the 'private interests of some persons' and the 'friendships which do not stand upon an immutable foundation.' With prophetic boldness he warned the Yearly Meeting that if it failed to do its 'duty in firmness and constancy' then 'God may by terrible things in righteousness answer us in this matter.'
"The entire Yearly Meeting melted into a spirit of unity as a result of this compassionate witness. They responded as one voice to remove slavery from their midst. John Greenleaf Whittier states that those sessions 'must ever be regarded as one of the most important religious convocations in the history of the Christian Church.'
"That united decision is particularly impressive when we realize that the Society of Friends was the only body that asked slaveholding members to reimburse their slaves for their time in bondage."