September 26

“We should ask ourselves, [Henri Nouwen] suggests, ‘whether our lavish ways of sharing are not more compulsive than virtuous; that instead of creating community they tend to flatten out our life together.  Often we come home from a sharing session with a feeling that something precious has been taken away from us...or holy ground...trodden upon.’  Perhaps we need to learn when to be reticent, when to keep silent and to tend the fire silently, and then there may be a word to share.”  Christopher Holdsworth, 1985, Daily Readings From Quaker Writings, 9/16

I know this feeling for I’ve often shared too much in groups.  It is compulsive--driven by some need to express myself. After one of these “sharing marathons” I’d feel as though I’d left a piece of myself there.  It would take awhile for me to feel whole again. Since I’ve started writing this devotional and because I don’t have a group in which to share I’m discovering what Holdsworth suggests; that is, to tend the fire silently.   It’s as though I’m being built up with God’s truth into a complete dwelling for God’s Spirit.  Once completed I can open my home to others.  It can be a place for hungry and thirsty travelers to stop and receive refreshment.  I can feed and clothe them, then send them on their way, never running out of provisions.  I’ll have more than enough to care for myself and anyone who should grace my doorstep. 

“Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’”  Matthew 25:34-36