Martha (Marty) Paxson Grundy, editor of FGC's new publication, Resistance and Obedience to God: Memoirs of David Ferris (1707-1779)

or a long time I have been telling folks new to Friends, or those who want to learn more about how to be a member of our Religious Society, that since we have no creed or liturgy, what they need to do is find a genuine Friend, follow him or her around, and learn. Then I've had to point out that a good many of our best Friendly examples are dead. The good news is that all is not lost, because a number of them left journals or memoirs. The bad news is that most of these journals are out of print.

Therefore when I suggested to FGC's Religious Education Committee that it might be good to reprint one or more old journal, the committee was enthusiastic. At first I thought Edward Hicks would be my man, except that his journal was 365 pages long. So I turned to David Ferris, whose memoir was somewhat less lengthy. I wrote a proposal that was accepted and a small project committee was appointed to work with me.

Thus fortified, I set to work. Early tasks were getting copies of the four pages missing in my book from Haverford's Quaker Collection,* making arrangements with our nearby university to scan the text, and then proof reading and correcting the scanner's often garbled attempts to read the old typeface. By the time this process was finished I had probably read the entire text five times.

Now came the fun part. During one meal at the annual meeting of the FGC Central Committee our little group all met together face-to-face (for the first and only time) to discuss what else might be added to the book so as to make it more accessible to Friends, and more useful as a tool for adult religious education. We also talked of how to make it appeal to both an academic/historian audience, and to Friends. I wrote a number of drafts of a new introduction, but none of them pleased all of us. I drafted study notes which I inflicted on a willing group of Friends in my meeting, but the committee had reservations about them, too. Finally the clerk of our little committee released me by encouraging me to write what was in my heart. After many more iterations (unanimity was not our strength, but then, we are all Friends), it developed that the introduction should address the non-Quaker, academic audience, and the study notes should be written for Friends.

Concurrently, I worked on footnotes to identify some of the many Bible passages that pepper Ferris's writing, and as many of the people he mentioned that I could. During my visits to the Quaker Collection and the Friends Historical Library* to check biographical information, I discovered two additional Ferris letters to add to the book. By this time I was beginning to feel a certain intimacy with David. We'd been spending a lot of time together in the presence of the Really Important Things in life.

What is it like to live with a dead Quaker? It has been quite wonderful getting to know David Ferris. He is not a cardboard saint. He had fears and pride, he resisted God's clear call, and eventually he submitted. His struggles informed my own. He has been a good companion, a very human mentor for how to identify my own resistances, and how to give in, obediently.

Related Links:
The Quaker Collection at Haverford College and the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College are excellent research resources.