Hold Them In The Light

 At this week's Cloud Quakers worship session, the expression "hold them in the light" was uttered on a few occasions. This struck me as a uniquely Quaker phrasing. I gathered that this term meant to pray for someone, but I did a little googling to confirm my assumptions.

I found several sites that did indeed indicate it was a way to articulate you are praying for someone. It references light over darkness, that the light reflects God, or the spirit. One site mentioned an anecdote about prisoners of war literally lifting each other up to the tiny window that allowed light to come in. This poignant write up by one author distinguished holding someone in the light, versus holding someone to the light. Holding someone or oneself to the light is less of an ask for God to help someone who is struggling to heal; but rather, for the individual or oneself to stay on the side of the good/of God - that the spirit would wash over the person so the they would choose the God way. Maybe some would say it's an unnecessary distinction, but it resonated with me. He closed his write up with:

We live in the light.

We live and hold others in the light.

We. hold ourselves and others to the light.

I am in the midst of an organizing effort in my community which led me to not only offer up holding me and the other organizers in the light, but holding potentially corrupt village officials and a sleazy, bullying developer to the light. I am sure we all have many we hold in the light, but probably we all can think of several others - including ourselves - that we need to hold to the light.

On the topic of actions and organizing, one thing I love about the Quakers is that they feel compelled to take actions when they see injustice or oppression - moreso than most other Christian religions (I admit ignorance to non-Christian religions, but for Judaism). Quakers don't seem too content to just sit and pray, solely. Is that why they are called Quakers, because they quake with a sense of urgency and action? Growing up Catholic, my mother was very involved with the social justice niche of Catholicism, though it seems that type of Catholic is the exception these days (however, the current Pope sure seems to reflect a social justice action approach). My father was Methodist, and had a very social justice-minded upbringing, as well. But modern Christianity seems to suggest Christians are living a good life, so long as they take actions to oppose abortion, homosexuality, secularism, etc. In fact, many of todays Christians are far right on the political spectrum, opposing social programs that aid the poor. My mother, being very pro-life in addition to social justice-minded, tends to think modern day Christians are right leaning politically because liberals refusal to consider abortion as an immoral act. My mother's strong convictions put me in conflict with pretty much every progressive activist I know, so I tend to ignore the abortion debate, for peace of mind. Interestingly, I do not hear Quakers mention it much, which has been helpful for my being able to experience God through Quaker kinship and worship. I have perceived that Quakers seem to revere life, and appear positive and hopeful towards their fellow humans, and maybe all life forms. We seek to "hold them in the light." But, Quakers also seem not to judge, which I think is an aspect of the abortion divide that usually puts someone on the pro-choice side. Ah, it's certainly a tricky topic! I have pondered often if I revere life. Humanity these days has gotten me down. Some days I think I revere only non-human life. This has become a trying subject for me, but I am finding Quaker worship to help me view humanity positively. Or maybe, just to have hope in general.

Until next time, I look forward to your comments, and please feel free to email me at reschafer@gmail.com if you would like to contribute something to the blog.