Synopsis
This pamphlet grew from the author’s search for ways to interpret and respond to the joyful, but none-the-less life shattering, mystical experiences that have changed her life. It considers how Friends today recognize and respond to the guidance of the Inward Light of Christ and describes varying Quaker views on mysticism and the mystical, touching upon the need to continually test leadings in the silence of Quaker worship and in the arms of Quaker community. In the mid-1990s, the author interviewed Friends in the United States and Britain about many aspects of their faith, including their understanding of mysticism. Her writing draws on her own experience and the experience of those whom she interviewed.
About the Author(s)
Margery Post Abbot is a member of Multnomah Monthly Meeting, an unprogrammed Friends meeting in Portland, Oregon. She has been “released” by her meeting to follow a calling of teaching and writing about her faith. Her publications include the anthologies A Walk Worthy of Your Calling: Quakers and the Traveling Ministry (co-edited with Peggy Senger Parsons) and A Certain Kind of Perfection: An Anthology of Evangelical and Liberal Quaker Writers, as well as writings about Quakerism and mysticism among Friends. Her book On Being Broken and Tender: Theological Reflections of a Liberal Friend was published by Quaker Press in 2009.
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #375
