Friendly Reminder: A bi-weekly reflection from QLC
By Della Stanley-Green
This past summer two essential Quaker principles, or testimonies, that are deeply embedded in my Quaker identity and experience, had new life breathed into them at the point of their intersection.
I got to be part of an adult study discussion of an article called “Consensual Honesty: Tim Ashworth on a ‘tool for effective change’” in The Friend (an independent British Quaker weekly magazine). I joined Friends of Coleraine Meeting in Northern Ireland in discussing the article’s premise that practicing honesty in a radical, yet faithful, way within our Meetings could both increase the health of our Meetings and strengthen our ability to speak truth to power in the wider world.
In essence, the author challenged us, as Friends, to work at the intersection of community and integrity. And to do that work FIRST inside our Meetings.
When I first started to read the article, I thought, “well, of course, we as Friends, know how to speak with honesty; it’s foundational.” And as I read further and then engaged in the discussion, I realized how often we give lip service to plain-speaking, speaking t/Truth to power, and letting our “yes, be yes, and our no, be no,” while actually dodging the hard work of Divinely-assisted honesty.
As Ashworth notes, Truth “evokes grand religious themes and philosophical ideas. So how about replacing it with ‘honesty?’ Down-to-earth- and revolutionary, everyday – honesty. This is what Friends have been known for: keeping their word, and honest dealing.” This fresh look at integrity and the challenge to practice this in our Meetings has stayed with me.
I shared this article with the planning team for the Publishers of the Truth conference, a collaboration of Pendle Hill’s Quaker Institute and QLC’s Quaker Leadership Conference. We are focusing one of the panels on “Publishing Truth within Our Meetings.” I’ve found myself returning to the powerful potential of the intersection of community and integrity as we work on shaping the upcoming offerings of the Quaker Leadership Center.
As I re-read the article today, I noticed another aspect where integrity and community were connecting. Ashworth drew upon many generations of wise, weighty Friends from John Woolman to Eden Grace in creating his invitational challenge to start at “home” in our Meetings. For me this was a strong reminder that community transcends time and place. Our community includes the wisdom of the ages — in scripture, in devotional classics, in our Faith & Practices, and in the remembered words and actions of Friends who have been part of our lives. I would add that community extends into the future as well. Would that we cultivate the Truth in all our interactions for the sake of the emerging generations and those who are not yet born!
Here are some ways that we can dig deeper into this challenge:
Read and discuss this article, “Consensual honesty: Tim Ashworth on a ‘tool for effective change’” https://www.thefriend.org/…/consensual-honesty…
Participate in the Publishers of the Truth conference, there are a few spots still available: https://pendlehill.org/events/publishers-of-the-truth/
Ponder these queries:
What really can happen when we listen carefully in a stance of humility and speak in that same way?
What really does happen when we firmly put aside our opinions and engage in this vital corporate spiritual discipline that Ashworth calls “consensual honesty”?
What difference might it make to embrace this intersection of the testimonies of integrity and community?
