Thought for the Week: All life is sacred
John Myhill reflects on the sacred and the secular
For me a foundation of Quaker faith is the idea that there is no division between the sacred (spiritual, meditative, religious, sacramental) and the secular (material, busy, atheistic, mundane). Quakers aspire to live and have their being within the sacred.
Thus we are all priests. We abolished the laity, not because priests thought they were more important than the rest of us, but because lay people were failing to accept the significance of the Light within and live up to their priestly calling. Thus we make every action sacramental, not because we object to eucharistic symbols, marriage ceremonies or other rituals; but because every sharing of food is a chance to remember the sacrificial life, our duty to feed the hungry and care for those in trouble. Thus we seek to be peacemakers, not because we are cowards willing to watch others die in our defence or allow evil dictators to rule the world; but because we know experientially that the seeds of war lie within each of us. Only when we have overcome our own demons, and learned to absorb the prejudice and hatred of others, can we move towards a peaceful world, based on selfless service and love.
