January 28 – Equality
Stan Thornburg
Read: Colossians
3:11
“Do not think you have made any (spiritual) progress, unless you esteem
yourself less than all.”
—Thomas á Kempis
The practice
of seeing all people as equals is a difficult discipline, but one that brings
great joy and delight to those who are willing to submit to Christ to be thus
formed. This practice, though, is at the heart of the Quaker testimony of
equality of persons. Quakers historically lived out this testimony by living
and working as equals with people such as prisoners, the mentally ill, the
poor, Native Americans, and virtually every class of people including royalty,
Cavaliers and other socially successful classes of people. Quaker women moved
easily into leadership and were trusted as faithful prophets.
Some friends
make the mistake of believing equality simply means a “level playing field.”
Men, women and acceptable minorities supposedly have equal access to all the
“goodies” of our society. Nothing could be further from the truth. The
testimony of equality calls us to honor every person and value his or her
unique characteristics, treating others’ uniqueness as precious gifts from
which to learn. On a broader scope, the testimony of equality of persons means
valuing different cultures in much the same way. We NEED women in leadership,
for example, because we want to learn from their experience and benefit from
the direction and style their leadership provides. The same could be said for
every minority in our diverse culture—even the minorities whose behavior and/or
beliefs we find questionable.
There is
“that of God in every person,” so when we honor all others we honor God and
God’s purposes for humanity.
Query:
Do I and/or my
meeting seek the transforming power of God’s Spirit
so that we are able
to fully love and honor all others equally?
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