Epistle from Quaker Women's Theology Conference

republication of a comment left on on a blogpost that published the epistle.

Reading the epistle from this year’s Quaker Women’s Theology Conference I shared the sadness expressed at the lack of support for women’s ministries in the Society and at the continuing sexism that divides us.

It may well turn out, when we reach a situation in which it is possible to have some hindsight on this struggle, that overcoming the self-comforting illusions to which we cling about ourselves will turn out to have been as important to success as the Other overcoming the illusions they use to limit and control us.

I know of no Quaker who does not share the unity that our Society must work through the issues of sexism and come free of them.  It is not, however, the devil that is in the details of getting that done.  It is, rather, walking in God’s ways that will lead us to this as to all other iterations of salvation.   This transformation will be a fruit of the Spirit, not a fruit of the flesh.

When that happens we (or perhaps our grandchildren) all will have been transformed into different people than we are now, having laid down, among other things, the stereotypes we held that limited the Other.  We will also have laid down those stereotypes with which, although we cherished them, we came to see that we were limiting ourselves.