Living In The Divine Flow – Resistance and Obedience to God

We seek to help Friends delve deeply into understanding the flow of Divine Presence in our daily lives, including looking at our prayer lives (“Hello, hello? Is anybody there?”), perceiving guidance (“Am I making this up?”), self-worth (“Who, me?”), mystical experiences, and our fears about opening ourselves to the Divine (“Who, me??!!”). Our hope is…

Workshop Description

We seek to help Friends delve deeply into understanding the flow of Divine Presence in our daily lives, including looking at our prayer lives (“Hello, hello? Is anybody there?”), perceiving guidance (“Am I making this up?”), self-worth (“Who, me?”), mystical experiences, and our fears about opening ourselves to the Divine (“Who, me??!!”). Our hope is that Friends will come to understand, at a fundamental level, how they might be opening or closing the windows of their souls to the movement of the Spirit, and how they might open or close the doors of their lives, letting in or preventing the flow of Love.

We offer a deep exploration into how we experience God and divine guidance. Discussion, worship-sharing, and queries based on Resistance and Obedience to God—Memoirs of David Ferris (1707-1779) are the foundation for a rich examination and sharing of how God reaches us and how we respond, deny, resist, struggle with, change, accept, follow, and live in the divine flow.

We will see how the experience of Friends in the past may help us today to trust God to be present with us as with earlier Friends, to trust that we receive guidance today, and to know that we are worthy of, and able to follow, guidance from Spirit.

Workshop Objectives

1) Help Friends perceive the flow of the Divine in their daily lives and trust that it can always be there for them;
2) See how the experience of Friends in the past can connect to and inform our own spiritual experience;
3) Help enable Friends to let go of their fears about receiving guidance and obeying God in all aspects of our daily lives;
4) Sustain the effort and stay on track over time.

Course participants are expected to have a copy of the book and to read the main portion of the text (58 pages) before the workshop.
The book is available through:
FGC Quaker Books – FGC Quaker Books – Resistance & Obedience to God, Memoirs of David Ferris
Pendle Hill – Pendle Hill – Resistance & Obedience to God, Memoirs of David Ferris

David Ferris was a Christian, as were all early Quakers. Course leaders will make sure that those from non-Christian backgrounds (as is course co-leader Shulamith) will find the material accessible and relevant.

Workshop Format

Sessions will include:

• Worship (15%)
• Large-group presentation (15%)
• Group discussion (40%)
• Exercises and small-group work (30%)

Small group work will be for deep sharing of personal experiences, for spacious exploration of queries, and so every participant has ample time to speak and to be listened to.

There will be handouts with supporting materials from many faiths and from secular sources, including music and humor.

Leader Experience

Shulamith Clearbridge is a member of Swarthmore Monthly Meeting. She has taught workshops and classes privately and for organizations, institutions, and continuing education programs. She has led workshops and retreats, Quaker Meetings for Healing, and adult religious education programs for monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings around the country. Shulamith has taught previously for Friends General Conference, and for Quaker retreat and conference centers, including several workshop series for Pendle Hill. In addition, she has led programs on spirituality and Quakerism for church and interfaith groups. Besides teaching, Shulamith is a writer and an interfaith spiritual director.

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Joel Cook is a member of Palm Beach Monthly Meeting.  He has led retreats and workshops for Monthly, Regional, and Yearly Meetings. He presented the Bible Half-Hour and a workshop at past FGC Gatherings, and gave the 2024 Michener Lecture at Southeastern Yearly Meeting.