Here I Am, Lord

I am fresh from the annual gathering of Southeastern Yearly Meeting, held in Leesburg, Florida. My heart is full, my spirit is open, and my head is full of ideas and reactions to the five days I spent there. A good time, I think, to start a Quaker blog.

I frequently hold back from writing in any public way about my experience as a Friend. God's language, so often, is best spoken in silence. I worry that my words will dilute rather than lift up. I worry that I will not be faithful to God's vision.

But I cannot be passively faithful. God's work almost always requires action, large or small, and often that action is hard for us. Speaking God's truth requires putting aside my own, listening faithfully, and carrying out God's will in the spirit of humility that allows us to transcend our selves.

Here I am, Lord, ready to speak what I am given.

Here I am, Lord, creating one more discipline with which to hold you in my heart.

Here I am, Lord, joining my voice in this new dimension of the Quaker conversation.