Living Adventurously: Experiencing Quaker testimonies in Spirit and in the world

Review by Yvonne Dixon of a booklet by David Brown and Rosemary Brown of The Kindlers

‘Live adventurously’ is a Quaker Advice that trips easily off the tongue, but I suspect that many of us are more comfortable in familiar settings and in the company of those people we see as being of our own kind. This latest title in the series of booklets produced by The Kindlers takes us on a challenging journey through the testimonies of peace, equality, simplicity, sustainability, and truth, exploring them in terms of an internal and external adventure, and examining them in terms of their impact on both our daily life and practice as well as our inner experience and habits of mind.

The authors say that what was most exciting for them when they wrote the booklet was the discovery of the ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ aspects of being adventurous. For example, there is the inner adventure of finding our peace within, and the outer adventure of making peace in the world. The exploration of inner and outer adventures offers fruitful results with all the testimonies.

They were delighted to discover this moving quotation by George Fox, which goes to the heart of the matter: ‘The Lord taught me to be faithful, in all things, and to act faithfully in two ways; viz., inwardly to God and outwardly to men.’ We are invited to be both mystics and activists!

The structure of each chapter includes extracts from Quaker writings, personal reflections from the authors, and questions to mull over individually or share in a discussion group. The longer pieces have been selected from the testimonies of key figures in Quaker history and there are references to the Bible and the life and sayings of Jesus, as well as insights from other faith traditions.

Many of the suggestions for reflection and inquiry point to quite small and reassuringly homely possibilities for change and growth rather than major shifts of perspective and habit, which could be discouraging, but running throughout is the challenge of the truly magnificent adventures of courage and faith shown in the lives of our Quaker forbears.

The authors write from the vantage point of many years seeking and exploring as Quakers and prior to becoming Quakers. At my own stage of life I need reminding that ‘We must be confident that there is still more “life” to be “lived” and yet more heights to be scaled’ (Evelyn Sturge Quaker faith & practice 21.45). I wondered what might be the thoughts of younger Friends on the theme of adventure and maybe my call to adventure could be to find ways to have this conversation with them.

Activism arising from spirituality was very much the theme of the recent Yearly Meeting. Our Swarthmore lecturer, Eden Grace, put the goal poetically as ‘On earth as it is in Heaven, the Kingdom of God and the yearning of Creation’. We are being asked to look through ‘the lens of privilege’ not just to see where we are lacking awareness but to do something about it – even if there may be penalties and discomfort. It is truly said that ‘a ship is safe in harbour, but that’s not what ships are built for.’

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