When the season of the outward ministration of others is passed and fulfilled in the everliving presence of Christ.

In an article published in The Friends Journal entitled "A Parallel Universe" the author writes:

The Spirit works on us to enable us to give something of what we have received to others, to act as a mirror. So it& is that God works not only directly but through human beings, each upon another.

Source: https://www.friendsjournal.org/a-parallel-universe/

Through the power of the spirit of Christ continuously present in my conscience, I am drawn out of the process of being guided and informed through the outward or mirrored agency of others. The operation of the spirit of Christ is sole and sufficient guide itself in itself in matters of human relationships and interactions. The time or season of the spirit mediated or mirrored through the ministration or persuasion of others is passed away in the fullness and light of the everliving presence and habitation of Christ in my conscience and consciousness.

Draw out of reflective thought

People's relationships and interactions are generally mediated through the interplay between feelings, will, perceptions, sensations, and thoughts (the functions of the body). The appearance of the immanent and everliving presence of the spirit of Christ in the conscience sometimes draws people out of the process of being or life that is mediated through the reflective function of the body in matters relating to human interaction; they are come into relationships and interactions being guided and informed or mediated by direct awareness of the stirring of Christ's presence in a given interaction. This intuitive stirring or impulse is experienced as an incremental rising, lessening, or stagnation of direct awareness of the immanent presence of the self-sustaining spirit of Christ in the conscience and consciousness. The fluid and multi-directional awareness of Christ's presence in a given interaction or circumstance is literally what guides relationships. The experience of an upsurge in Christ's presence indicates behavior toward another is in align with the government as of Christ. An experience of a lessening of awareness of Christ's Presence indicates a check in behavior that is out of the government and life of Christ's immanent presence. It is this dynamic and living awareness of the stirrings of Christ in the conscience that is the language and communication of the spirit itself in itself. This is living in the face of God.

End of Works and Books

Pr. He calls it a ſubtile deluſion that owns not the Law without in Tables and Books to try the ſpirits within, &c. See page 8.

Anſ. And the ſpirit of Chriſt within is the end of the Tables, Law, and Works, and Books: There fore in this is diſcovered his own White Devill, and correćted by the ſpirit as he speaks of; and the Law is now in the heart, the new Covenant is witneſſed and the Phariſees had the Law in Tables, as thou haſt Scriptures, and stood agqinſt the life, and in the ſubtile deluſion as thou doth, who brings the external to try the eternal, whhich it is the eternal that tryeth the external, as Chriſt did the Phariſees, who told them when they wronged it; And so are you the wrongers of it, who hath not the eternal that led forth the Saints to ſpeak forth Scripture, and with that they are tryed and ſeen who wrongs them, and wrest them to their own delusion; and Peter was one of thoſe tryers who was in the Spirit of God, and could not read letters; and the Phariſees they had the letter without the life, and could not try.
Source: George Fox, The Great Mystery of the Great Whore, (1656) pg. 34.

Reflective Thought and the Gospel

Charles Leslie on page 196 of his 1697 edition of The Snake in the Grass highlights one of George Fox's responses to one of William Thomas' reflections on Quakers. Fox's response can be read in context on page 237 of the 1596 edition of The Great Mystery of the Great Whore which reads in part:

The work of the Miniſters of the Goſpel was not to reflect upon perſons, or strike at creatures ...; but they struck at the power which captivated the creature, to the intent that the creature might come into the liberty of the ſons of God: And ſo thou that art reflecting upon perſons, doſt ſhew a marke of thy ſelfe to be a falſe Prophet; in ſtead of ſpeaking of the power, thou art reflecting upon perſons; and this reflecting upon perſons was never the way to beget to God; but that which ſtrikes at the power which captivates creatures, reacheth to the witneſſe in priſon, and brings people into unity with God and one another in the ſpirit, which is the bond of peace.
Source: The Great Mystery of the Great Whore, 1659, pg. 237 (x-reference with Charles Leslie's The Snake in the Grass. Second Edition. 1697. pg. 196). Original topography retained.

Leslie uses the occasion of these words to question and demonstrate his contention that Fox is here being hypocritical. Leslie then proceeds laying down examples of Fox and other Quaker leaders (of the time) participating in the very process of reflecting upon people.
My concern here is not that of Leslies'. My interest is in bearing down on Fox's words themselves and to use them to share my witness of the inshining immanent Presence in the consciousness and conscious.
Since I began reading Quaker texts many years ago, it has been ever with me there was and is an experience hidden between the lines in some early Quaker testimonies to a particular experience. And, in fact, this experience is hidden because of the way some early Quakers testified to their witness. The quotation of Fox's words above is an example of a testimony to a witness that gets buried under the words Fox uses.
These words of Fox come close to expressing the core of the motion and experience of immanent Presence itself in upon my consciousness and conscience.
When Fox writes, The work of the Miniſters of the Goſpel was not to reflect upon perſons... he bears down on the a fundamental experience discovered to me through the inshining motion of immanent Being in my consciousness and conscience; that of, being drawn out of the process of reflective thought to guide and inform my relationships and interactions with people. Over my life, it is being discovered to me, experientially, a way of relating to people that is bound to and informed by the direct experience and movement of the inshining Presence of the Spirit of Christ itself in itself. The degree through which I am in relation to people through reflections about them is ever diminished as am I come into and embrace the Life itself in itself.
Fox writes further: ... they struck at the power which captivated the creature... Here Fox is stating there is something that has captivated or enchanted the person and that something is his concern that the ...creature might come into the liberty of the ſons of God. It is not so much the person himself but the power that has charmed or which is conjured in the person and which blocks or hinders the direct experience of immanent Being within his consciousness and conscience.
But what is that power cutting off direct and sustained awareness of immanent Being? He tells the reader that ...reflecting upon perſons, doſt ſhew a marke of thy ſelfe to be a falſe Prophet. The power that diminishes the experience of the motion and movement of the inshining Spirit in a person is when he engages in the process of reflecting upon others. He extrapolates even further by suggesting the very act of participation in the process of reflecting upon others is a marke of a false Prophet. But wait, Leslie uses the occasion of Fox's calling those who reflect on others as false Prophets as prima facie evident that Fox is, in the very act of calling those who reflect on others false prophet, participating in the process of reflective thought and thereby being a false Prophet himself. And this gets right at my concern over the testimony to the witness of the power of God being hidden behind outward ideological reflections like false Prophet.
I doubt that Fox would concur with Leslies' criticism of his calling others false Prophets. I suspect Fox would argue he his only exposing, by calling others false Prophets, the power of God is lacking in them to extent they engage in the process of reflective thought to relate to other people. It must be considered, What is a false Prophet but nothing other than one who falsely professes the gift of prophecy or divine inspiration? So, in essence, when Fox states those who participate in the process of reflect thought to relate and interact with people are out of the power of God and not under the motion of immanent Presence, he is in essence being repetitive ... saying, those who engage in reflective thought are engaged in reflective thought.
There is a sense here in Fox's words, and in those of other Early Quakers, that the very process of relating to other people through reflective thought is, in itself, the problem and resting in the direct experience of the inshining Light itself discovers to us the way out of or resolution to (even though not always sustained) the problem of reflective thought in matters human relationships and interactions.
When I read Fox's reflection on those who reflect upon others as false Prophets, it strikes me the very act of calling others false prophets undermined his witness to the bond of Peace by deflecting away from the Power itself in people and engaging in a form of conjuration with the reflective construct ---- false Prophet; making false prophets the issue and not reflective thought. But that is the nature of reflective thought; to captivate others in the reflection rather then the thing itself in itself.
When the Minister of the Gospel testifies to and sustains the witness of the Power of the inshining Light in their consciousness and conscience and being drawn out of the process of reflective thought to guide and inform relationships, they get at the core of spiritual consciousness. This simple testimony to immanent Being itself in itself in the conscience of men and women is the bond of Peace experienced and liberty from the prison of human being, relationships, and interactions guided and informed by the power reflective thought.

Those who would suffer the Lamb to rise.

I am in the midst of effort to keyboard The Mystery of the Great Whore by George Fox (1659), The Snake in the Grass by Charles Leslie (1697 Second Edition), and A Charge of Error ... by Henry Pickworth (1716). These texts will be integrated and cross-referenced with the texts currently published in the Christonomy Project. In Pickworth's A Charge of Error, I recently keyboarded a chunk of text which is significant to me as further documentation of the ongoing (1660-1700) concern many early quakers had over George Foxes, and those who followed him, move to Institutionalize the Quaker gathering around outward formal prescriptions, rules, creeds, etc. mediated through teachers, leaders, elders, in the gathering. The Vision Pickworth published and his comments (in footnotes) are examples of people in the Quaker gathering who were drawn out of the process (relatively speaking) of being guided and informed by formal mediations through their direct experience of the immanent presence of the Spirit of Christ enthroned in their conscience and consciousness as sufficient in itself to rule their relationships and interactions with others without reference to or respect for outward formal structures and human mediators.

The Relative Propriety of the inshining Light in the Consciences of the Early Gathering of Friends

NOTE: Draft Copy - 8-9-19 Copyright: 2019-2023

Preface

From the earliest days of the gathering of Friends, through the appearance of the Spirit of Christ in their conscience and consciousness, a people testified to witnessing the appearance of inherently sustained Life itself in itself within their conscience and consciousness; so that they were drawn out of the process of being guided and informed by the reflected thoughts of other people and institutions. They were come out of the process of reflective thought to organize and administer human relationships and worship. The impulse of the inherently sustained Presence of Christ was completely sufficient in itself to guide their relations with one another.

Out of the Process of Reflective Thought in Relation to Others

There were many people in the earliest days of the Quaker gathering who, through the appearance of the inherent Presence of the spirit of Christ in their consciousness and conscience, were (relatively speaking) drawn out of the process of relating to one another through reflective thought to guide and rule their relationships, interactions, and worship. The nature of this different way of relating to and interacting with other people was such that they were come out of identification with and participation in outward formalities, ceremonies, instrumentalities, and institutions; even those that others in the gathering found helpful and nurturing through the inshining Light itself in their conscience. This being drawn out of the process of reflective thought in relation to other people led them to make no distinction between godly or ungodly forms and instrumentalities. They were draw out of all forms in relation to others people.  It is a blessing and encouraging to share this experience with those who were part of the earliest history of the gathering of Friends and to know this ministration of life, through the appearance of  immanent Presence itself in itself inherently sustained in the conscience and consciousness, is still alive today.

Godly Forms and those out of all Forms.

[Note: This document is the first attempt to show part of the vision behind the Christonomy (www.christonomy.net) network. There are various embedded links in the document directly to the document or cross-reference discussed. This will give the reader the opportunity to interact with and immerse themselves in the Early Quaker source documentation directly and in real time and with ease while reading the content of the article. This is the third year of a ten year project. At this stage in the project there are enough early Quaker source documents keyboarded and published to begin adding content to the blog side of the project.]

In 1666, a document ( [London 1666] View Document ) was published and sent to various Quaker Meeting-houses. The subscribers to the document state they are called to watch over the souls of the gathering and, out of that calling, are concerned with its viability in the face of those in the gathering who speak out against the leaders of the gathering and the establishment of outward formalities and prescriptions to rule and guide the relationships and interactions of the people in the gathering. To preserve the fellowship and the viability of the gathering the subscribers lay down six prescriptions on how people, in the established Meetings, are to relate to and interact with those Quakers who are come out of outward formalities (relatively speaking) and who speak out against the enforcement of outward forms and the leaders who promote adherence to outwardly established forms over against the prerogative of the inshining Light in the conscience.

A testimony on institutionalized Recorded Ministry and institutionalized non-committal to recorded Ministry within Quakerism

A testimony on institutionalized Recorded Ministry and institutionalized non-committal to recorded Ministry within Quakerism from a person who is come out of (and is coming out of) the process of participation in identification with outward or institutionalized formalities such as recorded ministry to guide and inform relationships and interactions with people.

Virtue out of the Shadows

Research Notes.

I am ever thankful for those early Quakers who, through the inshining Spirit, were come out of the process of idenitification with and participation in outward forms to guide and informs their relationships, laid down their testimonies in writing. For by so doing, they make it possible for those of us today who share the same spiritual experience to expose to our contemporaries that the Spirit was ministering in such a way even from the very beginnings of the Quaker gathering.

I am also thankful for those Quakers who, through the inshining Spirit were come out of participation in and identification with outward formalities out of the Life and were led into godly formalities or formalities in the Light and who labored against those in the Quaker gathering were were come out of all formalities and into the substances itself in itself. For those negative reflections not only say things about those who they reflect against but also says important and revealing things about those doing the reflecting.

The Christonomous Experience in Relation to Autonomy and Concorporation.

There are people whose identity, conscience, and consciousness is, generally speaking, guided and informed autonomously. That is, they are self-regulated and individualistic in their interactions and relationships in the sense that they move, act, and relate to others the context of the various outward social, political, and religious ideas, morals, ethics, opinions, values, and institutions. The conscience and consciousness of the autonomous or individualistic person is guided and informed from within the sphere of those outward formalities they decide to follow. Often, they are accused of being selfish or self-centered because, in their interactions with others, they value their own sphere of outward social, political, and religious formalities over others, and often at the expense of others, and groups. The self-regulated conscience values the sense of independency above conformity to the conscience of the group.