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March 2004
YouthQuake Reflections
By Tom Fox
YouthQuake, a triennial conference of Quaker youth ages 1420, had its most recent gathering in Estes Park, Colorado on December 27, 2003. As the Baltimore Yearly Meeting (BYM) representative to the Planning Committee for the past two and a half years, I have been working with Friends from the unprogrammed, programmed and evangelical traditions. YouthQuake is one of the very few organizations drawing from all three traditions in its work.
Challenging and rewarding are two words that most fit the years of work in preparation for YouthQuake 2003, speaking to the committee process as well as the conference itself. I was led to represent BYM on the planning committee because I felt the three branches of North American Quakers have more in common than differences. I left Estes Park on January 1 convinced of that reality. In fact, it is through the exploration of our differences at events like YouthQuake that what we have in common becomes evident. This statement would not speak to some in all three traditions and I respect that. It is, however, what I experienced and I want to testify to that experience.
Over the course of the week at Estes Park my sense was that the thing that made the programmed (I am combining the FUM and EFI youth together in this, recognizing that there are differences between the two traditions) youth most uneasy was the silence. Over the course of the week at Estes Park my sense was that the thing that made the unprogrammed young Friends most uneasy was the scripture. Beyond those two elements there was a secondary sense of unease. From the programmed youth I felt a sense of unease over what I would call head energy maybe best expressed by the concept of "continuing revelation." From the unprogrammed young Friends (the programmed adults almost always say "youth" and the unprogrammed adults almost always say "young Friends") came a sense of unease over what I would call heart energy emotional expressions of worship such as praise songs.
In reflecting on this I am led to say that all four together formed the foundation of early Quakerism Silence, Scripture, Head and Heart. I asked John Punshon a number of years ago if I could condense a chapter from his book Encounter with Silence that dealt with silent worship to create a pamphlet for my yearly meeting. He agreed, with the proviso that he would write an afterward expressing his leading to move out of the unprogrammed tradition toward the programmed tradition. The key point of the afterward was the query, "Do you worship in silence or do you worship the silence?" [emphasis added]
I must admit to finding myself (and others in my yearly meeting) at times seeing the silence as not a means to an end but as an end unto itself. Do we find ourselves worshiping the silence and not using it as a medium for experiencing God? It seems clear that the early Friends would have held to the latter not the former. The term "expectant waiting" might be a better way of representing this understanding and a better way of communicating it to those in the programmed traditions. Is it possible that we are seeing the first step as being the only step? George Fox described "expectant waiting" in this way, "When you see all this in the Light, stand still. Don't turn away to the left or right. This is where you need to be patient, where your ego will be brought down, where (in what may seem like death) you will experience the forgiveness of God For the first step to peace is to stand still in the Light. And standing there you will receive the power and strength to resist that part of you which the Light has exposed. This is where grace grows, where God alone is seen to be glorious and powerful and where the unknown truth (unknown to the outside world) is revealed."(1)
It was somewhat painful for me to see the ignorance (and in some cases hostility) that many unprogrammed young Friends (and adults who were present as well) had toward the scriptures. It was equally painful for me to see the rigid and authoritarian view of the scriptures held by some programmed Friends. Continuing revelation and scripture work hand in hand, and ignorance of either creates difficulties. Here again Friend George put it very well, "I was moved to say this, that the scriptures emanated from the spirit of God and that people must first come to the spirit of God in themselves so that they can get to know God and Christ. This is essentially what the prophets and apostles [who wrote the scriptures] had themselves come to know. Then, with the help of the spirit which gives them this knowledge, they will get to know the holy scriptures and the spirit of those people who wrote them." (2)
"Continuing Revelation" and "Obedience to God" may seem the opposite. But as with silence and scripture, aren't they both necessary to create the transformational life experience evident in the first generation of Friends? Just as our bodies could not function with just a head or just a heart, neither can our spiritual selves function with just one or the other. What most concerned programmed youth was the concept they could question the scriptures. What most concerned unprogrammed young friends was the concept they could allow emotion to enter into their worship experience. Is it possible that when the two are in balance neither head nor heart take over and push God out?
Without humility in my heart, my head can turn into pure ego and try to become the ruler not the servant the programmer not the operating system and do great harm to me and those around me. Without a sense of inquisitiveness and inquiry in my head, my heart can turn into pure emotion and release uncontrolled passions in the world and create much damage in myself and those around me. A head without a heart can create a Jim Baker and a heart without a head can create a Jim Jones. We need both head and heart working together in order to bring God's Reality to come to pass. Once again to quote Fox, "A day is coming, and has already come, the mighty day of the Lord, where everyone's heart will be disclosed, the secrets of everyone's heart will be revealed by the Light of Jesus- the light which comes from Jesus Christ who enlightens everyone."(3)
We as Friends need to seek ways of working together to bring that day to fruition. Seeking open, honest, loving communication that explores all the aspects of our Quaker heritage found in our different traditions is that not the first step to bringing about the creation of the Peaceable Realm of God?
(1) Doctrinals (Works of George Fox), page 37.
(2) Journal (ed. Nickalls), page 136.
(3) Ibid, page 236.
All passages from Truth of the Heart and Anthology of George Fox by Rex Ambler, London, Quaker Books, 2001.
Tom Fox is currently serving Baltimore Yearly Meeting as Interim Youth Secretary.
Copyright (c) 2004 Friends United Meeting
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