A L O H A !
"Right is right, even if
everyone is against it, and
wrong is wrong, even
if everyone is for it."
William Penn
“I shall pass through
this world but once.
Any good therefore that
I can do or any kindness
that I can show to
any human being,
let me do it now.
Let me not defer
or neglect it,
for I shall not pass
this way again.”
Stephen Grellet
"O Lord, help me not to
despise or oppose what I
do not understand."
William Penn
💚
When I was a child
I lived in the Quaker City
of Philadelphia. The ethos
of the Society of Friends, and
the Pennsylvania Commonwealth's
founder William Penn, was one of
doing right to all in good faith,
all with deep simplicity
and humility. This helped to
shape my concepts or Right & Wrong,
preparing me for the revelation of,
and my lifetime devotion to, the
important values of ALOHA.
Quaker Stephen Grellet
and his friends,
were granted audience with several
European rulers: Kings,
Queens, the Czar.
The Friends shared their ideas about
abolishing war, and lifting up the
peasants and common folk. Reportedly,
several rulers were receptive and
appreciative of the spirit the Friends
shared. But sadly they explained, that
their "absolute" power was contingent
on maintaining the system in place.
Should they make the heavenly
changes advocated by their Quaker
visitors. . . . well, they would no longer
be ruler! As a child this impressed me
very much. While we often make enemies
of persons, persons who say, or do, or
advocate that which we find wrong,
we are all part of a giant human dance
through time. A dance in which we
all participate, though some sit and
watch. Though responsible for our
own steps, though, each of us
exerts a genuine influence on the
dancers around us, and on the
dance itself, none of us is
responsible for guiding the dance.
We play but a roll. Even Kings,
Queens, and Presidents.
So dance kindly, Dance towards
the Light. Change your partners,
swing around, reach out to be
steadied. Get giddy sometimes.
But Dance!
Your Friend, cloudia
Society of Friends = "Quakers"
"Justice Bennet of Derby, was the first that called us Quakers, because I bid them tremble at the word of the Lord. This was in the year 1650." George Fox
"Stephen Grellet (2 November 1773 – 16 November 1855) was a prominent French-born American Quaker missionary.
He was born Étienne de Grellet du Mabillier in Limoges, the son of a counsellor of King Louis XVI. Raised as a Roman Catholic, he was educated at the Military College of Lyons, now the Institut d'études politiques de Lyon, and at the age of 17 he entered the personal guard of the king. During the French Revolution he was sentenced to be executed, but escaped and eventually fled Europe to the United States in 1795.
Impressed by the writings of William Penn, George Fox, and Quaker beliefs, in 1796 Grellet joined the Society of Friends. He became involved in extensive missionary work across North America and most of the countries of Europe, in prisons and hospitals, and was respectfully granted meetings with many rulers and dignitaries, including Pope Pius VII, Czar Alexander I, and the Kings of Spain and Prussia. He encouraged many reforms in educational policies and in hospital and prison conditions.
It is reputed that Grellet was the last living person who could have identified the "Lost Dauphin", the heir apparent of France.[citation needed]
Grellet died in Burlington on 16 November 1855 and his body was buried there, behind the Quaker Meeting House at 340 High Street."
