“When you dwell in thought on important or profound matters, dwell also in the Spirit. Reason and Light combined give the truest fount of insight.”

–Aphorism 2

This is very simple advice, easy to understand in a literal sense, and making very little use of symbolism of imagery. Technically, ‘Light’ is imagery, but it is such standard imagery for Quakers that it barely counts; it is one of the terms we use, largely regardless of specific theological views, for the Divine, or an aspect of the Divine, or a way of looking at the Divine. Early Friends spoke of the “Light of Christ”, seeing it as an expression of the work of the Holy Spirit upon those who are open to it. Indeed, it is a clear reflection of the Pentecostal essence of the Quaker way, however different we might be now from those churches referred to as ‘Pentecostal’ today.

The idea of Pentecostal Christianity is a focus on the Holy Spirit’s work among Christians today, in reference to the events commemorated by the festival of Pentecost – the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles (and other followers of Jesus). This happened during the Jewish Feast of Weeks, Shavuot , commemorating Moses’ receipt of the law – the Torah – on Mount Sinai, as well as marking the wheat harvest in Israel. Shavuot occurs on the 50 th day after Passover (according to some traditions), and was thus also known in the language of the New Testament, Koine Greek (including by some Hellenistic Jews of the first century CE), as Pentēkostē , or ‘fiftieth’. That word is also used in the Septuagint, the key Koine translation of the Hebrew scriptures, to refer to the “year of Jubilee” that occurred every fifty years, but its use to refer to Shavuot is key to its importance as a term in Christianity. It was adopted to commemorate the events of Shavuot so long ago – counting the 50 days from Easter, which marks events that occurred at Passover, though Easter and Passover now no longer necessarily coincide.

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus’ followers and they “began to speak in other tongues [languages] as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:4, New International Version). This is seen as the fulfilment in (two of) the Gospels that Jesus would baptise with the Holy Spirit, and it enabled the apostles and other followers to know what it was they should be doing, and to speak to those that they needed to despite not having known their language. What became known as the Pentecostal movement, or Pentecostalism, emerged from Christian revival movements around the turn of the 20 th century with a strong influence from the holiness movement. The name reflects their focus on the baptism of fire, of the Holy Spirit, though what some then take from it (their idea of how the Spirit inspires ‘speaking in tongues’ today being a reasonably well-known example) may be considered somewhat idiosyncratic. The important point to my reflection here is that they believe strongly that the Holy Spirit is alive in people today, at least in true believers, and can inspire and guide them. They believe in prophetic utterances, much like Quaker spoken ministry, though the degree of continuing revelation involved is relatively limited given their belief in sola scriptura , that the Bible is fixed and finished, complete and sufficient. The Holy Spirit can also inspire one to speak in tongues, seemingly meaningless utterances that another person will be similarly inspired to interpret. The Spirit can also, they believe, grant gifts of healing and of miracles, and of unshakable faith – and there are Quakers, even among the liberal branches of the Religious Society of Friends, who would share such beliefs.

The Pentecostal movement was the ‘first wave’ of what is now generally recognised as Charismatic Christianity , the name of which is something a source of linguistic confusion – made worse by the fact that the misunderstanding of the term is still somewhat applicable in some charismatic churches. I rather get the impression that most people, hearing about Charismatic Christianity and seeing some footage of the preaching in their megachurches, tend to assume that the term refers to the supposed charisma of their preachers, pastors, and leaders. Nice, simple, everyday English word, and some of these people are actually pretty darn charismatic, a factor that is very helpful in their fundraising drives (themselves popular fodder for satire). However, the term actually refers to the Koine Greek charismata , the plural of charism . This word refers to spiritual gifts, gifts of grace given by the Holy Spirit to enable things to be done. In different interpretations, they might only be those that are obviously miraculous, or they might be more everyday, but among Charismatic Christians inspired preaching is one of the most major forms of charism.

And what is our spoken ministry if it isn’t inspired preaching, even if we don’t like to use the term ‘preaching’? Who among us hasn’t heard people speak of spiritual gifts (often in the context of nominations), and indeed heard of Friends finding in themselves the ability to do something they had no reason to think they could do – once it was asked of them in service of their Meeting? Even though liberal Friends are a long, long way from sola Scriptura , and are not in all cases Christian, we are Pentecostal and we are Charismatic, in the proper sense of charismata, rather than charisma.

So, let us get back to the aphorism that this is all in reflection upon, and put Pentecostalism to one side for the moment. Essentially, I read it as advice not to rely on our reason in any matter that is difficult or important. The Divine within us is always available, and it might not guide us in every matter, but it could guide us in any particular matter. So if you’re trying to decide what car or dishwasher or computer to buy, this isn’t something that many people would suggest you sit in silence about and wait for the Light to tell you what you should be doing. These are, to a large extent, rational decisions. That doesn’t mean that our spiritual experience has no part to play, however. The wisdom that we get from the Spirit is not limited to clearly spiritual matters, even if we shouldn’t expect it to give us all the answers. It can help us to see which of two seemingly equal (but different) options is ‘right’, even without understanding why it is so. It can help us to see additional factors that we might want to consider, like the ethical standards of a company, to which we can then apply reason. Maybe you think of it as intuition instead, but my experience leads me to think that some of what we call intuition is the promptings of the Divine; some is our subconscious processing things in ways we can’t, integrating things we don’t consciously remember – though who’s to say that isn’t also an aspect of the Divine?

The advice of this aphorism is balanced, however. It emphasises the need to involve the guidance of the Spirit, which is an important emphasis for many of us, but it also covers the need to involve our reasoning faculty. We ask too much of the Spirit if we ask it to make all our decisions without our own thought, and we will usually be disappointed when we do so. To make proper use of all that is given to us, we have to use our own resources, including the resources of the mind. We have the ability to consider different factors, to weigh them up, to apply entirely human insight to a problem, to see ways through it. To think of problems and opportunities, and assess how different options will mitigate or exacerbate the problems, or make best use of the opportunities. The Spirit is a powerful source of guidance, but so is our own mind.

How does this relate to Pentecost? I think some of you will already have seen it, but I will explain as best I can. I am a non-theist, and I do not view the Bible with any authority. I don’t think the Spirit descended on select people at a specific time; it has always been with us. For whatever historical accuracy there may or may not be in the story of Pentecost, I would interpret it as them becoming aware of it. The gifts of the Spirit, the charismata, can be big and amazing – maybe they can include sudden ability to speak a language, but they certainly include the inspiration to speak powerfully, and to discern spiritual decisions. They can also be small and everyday, the little nudge to make the right decision or the small inspiration that lets us do our jobs better. It is by bringing our whole lives under the guidance of the Spirit, without abdicating the use of our reason, that we most embody the charismata that we are offered, and that we live out the idea of Pentecost.