Gentle strokes: Dana Littlepage Smith’s Thought for the Week

‘It was time to commit.’

This morning in Meeting, a bunch of daffodils opened in the light. Each petal glowed, and it seemed to me that this is what we all long for: the birthright of being and belonging. The grace of having a safe space in which to be vulnerable and find unity feels increasingly precious.

As the silence held me, I reflected on the Quaker lawsuit against Donald Trump’s government (see News, 7 February). It’s part of a broader resistance to the destruction of the US constitution and its ideals. These ideals have not always been upheld, yet they do form part of the country’s experiment. As Abraham Lincoln stated after the civil war, the nation must have a ‘new birth of freedom,’ and government ‘by the people, for the people’ must not perish. That is the dream.

US Friends are attempting to block Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents from entering houses of worship. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting writes: ‘Our faith requires us to do justice, oppose war and violence, love our neighbors with no exceptions… The DHS policy impedes all these things… We are committed to continuing what we started more than 300 years ago.’

The US government has disrupted religious practice for many minorities in our history. In 1883, the Sun Dance, a sacred Native American ceremony, was outlawed, a ban that wasn’t lifted until 1970. Today, the lawsuit states, ‘Allowing armed government agents [to] monitor who enters or to interrupt the service and drag a congregant out… is anathema to Quaker religious exercise.’

When Donald Trump was elected, I applied for membership of our Religious Society. It was time to commit. I reflect on Quaker elders like Lucretia Mott, who wrote, ‘the world has never seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of women…’ (and here I read any human, of any race, creed or sexual orientation) ‘…the fountains of life are poisoned at their source.’

An octogenarian who joins us for tea reminds me, ‘We all know what bullies are. Our job is to make the kingdom of God wherever we are.’ This peaceable kingdom is not one place – it exists wherever we are, right here, right now.

When I ask my US Friends about their resistance efforts, they offer rich replies. Witnessing and letting our lives speak is integral to Quakers, so perhaps we are all protesters, albeit quiet ones. Some act locally, volunteering in schools as funding is cut. One Friend holds potluck suppers. Some send mugs with unicorns to federal employees banned from displaying rainbow symbols. 

Finally, I reflect on Elizabeth Bathurst’s words in her preface to Truth’s Vindication: ‘I saw a Field before me which cost me some spiritual travel before I got thorow.’ The fuller part of her title is A gentle stroke to wipe off the foul aspersions, false accusations, and misrepresentations cast upon the people of God called Quakers. Some gentle strokes to wipe off the foul and the false may be called on in the days, weeks and months ahead. No doubt this will cost us some spiritual travel before we get through. 

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