Discernment...A Quaker Gift for the World

Modern Quakers tend to see clearness committees as for membership and for marriage.  And I have heard some Quakers complain that convinced Friends may see this as more of a rubber stamp function because “of course we want this person to join our Meeting or to get married.”  In a life time of Quakerism I’ve only twice known a clearness committee for marriage to find a couple “not clear” to be married.  In both cases the couple did wind up breaking up, so presumably the clearness committee discerned correctly that the proposed marriage was not rightly ordered.  Done right the clearness committee can ask questions that prompt a deep and meaningful self-reflection.

I would like to argue here that the tool of discernment is one of the greatest gifts Quakerism has to offer the world and should be applied more widely.  So for example here are some of the other uses of a clearness committee I have known people to use a clearness committee for: whether to take a job (especially one that involves moving away or maybe is ethically challenging.), whether to enter a certain profession or change professions, whether one is called to commit holy obedience, or whether one has a leading to work for a social justice cause.  One may also discern whether to leave a marriage, whether to sue someone, whether to “come out”, whether to have a baby and even whether it is time to die!  As you can see the sky is the limit, and think how rich it is to have others to help discern God’s will about such serious and life changing decisions.

Early Friends had Committees of Elders to support members who had been found to be carrying an ongoing ministry.  Their purpose was to make sure they stayed faithful and grounded in their ministry – did not go up in their ego and “outrun their leading.”    Now a days we call these anchor committees.  Some people call them support committees but I’m afraid that secularizes the process and sees it as just “emotional support” – and overlooks the primarily spiritual task of anchoring the person in spirit.

Rightly ordered a clearness committee is not a body to “just listen” or to give advice.  It is to listen in a worshipful way – for each member to try to notice if the person is rightly ordered, to ask questions to try to help clarify, and to reflect what each member understands in the spirit.  Quite profound.

I have an anchor committee now for over 6 months which is helping me discern the right steps for my ministry regarding climate change.   Recently I was at FGC leading a workshop on Quaker practice – I was having to talk about and explain Quaker practice.  Somehow something came together in my head and I realized that many of the non-Quaker activists I knew (some spiritual, some not) were struggling to discern correct steps and some were struggling because they have not discerned and are in the chaos of being pulled hither and yon and everywhere with their concerns for our troubled world.  They do not have Thomas Kelly’s wise words: 

"I dare note urge you to your Cross.  But God, more powerfully, speaks within you and me, to our truest selves, in our truest moments, and disquiets us with the world's needs.  By inner persuasions God draws us to a few very definite tasks,our tasks, God's burdened heart particularizes His burdens in us....
     In my deepest heart I know that some of us have to face our comfortable, self-oriented lives all over again.  The times are too tragic, God's sorrow is too great, man's night is too dark, the Cross is too glorious for us to live as we have lived, in anything short of holy obedience.  It maybe or it may not mean change in geography, in profession, in wealth, in earthly security."   (Amazingly he was writing this during WWII because it is a timely now as it was then.)   He goes on to say:
     " Little groups of such utterly dedicated souls, knowing one another in Divine Fellowship, must take an irrevocable vow to live in this world yet not of this world, kindle again the embers of faith in the midst of a secular world.  Our churches were meant to be such groups, but now too many of them are dulled and cooled and flooded by the secular.".

So I started explaining just a bit to my activist friends and asking them if they would appreciate some help with discernment.  They were quite interested in the idea and I started having one on one meetings with people and simply asking the question “what are you most passionate about in the work against climate change?”  I listened and asked more questions to help them explore.  What emerged was a wonderful flurry of creative and spirit led activism.  My next move would be to teach a clearness committee structure so they don’t have to be dependent upon me for this.   I thus highly recommend that Quakers start learning how to take the discernment process out into the world.