Waiting

I used to think that following Jesus was like being a guided missile: I needed to act; to do something; to get moving, and eventually the guidance system would kick in. As a result of this approach, I spent years going in circles and also caused a fair bit of destruction (as missiles tend to do).

Later I learned to be still; to wait; to listen for God and then to simply be obediant and faithful to whatever God put in front of me. I began to notice an interesting paradox: The more I turned inward and waited on God, the more outwardly aware I became.

I think it is this same paradoxical principle that accounts for the fact that the Quakers--the quiet, contemplative Quakers--were so often at the forefront of social actions for the benefit of mankind.