Appendix A: A Spiritual Autobiography

The following is an example of what you might do in writing a spiritual autobiography. Remember: there is no set formula for such a writing.

I was born in 1949 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. My parents were Quakers, and my father was a Quaker pastor. The Newbys, as far as I can research, have been Quakers for as long as there has been a Quaker movement. The only slippage in this tradition was when my great, great, great grandfather was disowned for marrying a Methodist!

I am a Christian and I am a Quaker because I was born a Christian Quaker. And so the first stage of my faith development was tradition centered. It did not take me long to learn how unique this tradition is. Throughout my years of schooling in Minneapolis and Muncie, Indiana, where me moved in 1958, I was the only Quaker in my class.

Some summers ago, while studying at Princeton Theological Seminary, I was perusing some of the latest book releases in the campus bookstore. I saw a biography about James Dean, the film actor. Knowing that he grew up in a Quaker home and Meeting, I quickly opened the book to learn what the author had said about the Quaker influence on Dean. The biographer opened the chapter on the subject with these words: "A Quaker is one who can take the pomp out of any circumstance!" Needless to say, I was hurt and disappointed!

As I reflect on my grade school and high school years, I made every effort to put the pomp back into every circumstance. I was rebellious by nature and enjoyed all the trappings of a popular social life. I was attending parties every Friday and Saturday night, and my 1956 Chevy became, for me, a spiritual icon!

After my 1967 graduation from high school in Muncie, I moved with my family to Wichita, Kansas, where my father became pastor of University Friends Meeting. I became a freshman at Friends University. The fall of 1967 through the spring of 1971 were my college years, and they were confusing. Vietnam, civil rights, campus unrest, social revolution were happening all around me. In this four-year period, I moved from being merely "tradition-centered" in my faith to being "activist-centered." My Christian Quaker faith took on new meaning as I began to understand the radical dimensions of Jesus' teachings. The Quaker concerns for peace, equality, and simplicity provided a springboard for my own social activist concerns. I majored in sociology and prepared to become a social worker in the inner city where I could clean up all of their problems within a few weeks. I couldn't graduate fast enough!

In 1969 I was married, and I began to discover other outlets for my youthful energy. I accepted a position working the 3-11 shift in Respiratory Therapy in a local hospital, and found myself appreciating my father a lot more. I began listening to his sermons more intently and even began considering the possibility of becoming a pastor. Six months prior to graduation, Central City Friends Meeting, Central City, Nebraska, invited me to become their pastor. I accepted. In the fall of that year I learned I was to become a father. I fainted.

Alicia Marie was born in February of 1972, and became the newest member of Central City Meeting. As I continued in my pastoral work, I was feeling rather inadequate. The more I read in the area of Christian Quaker thought, the more I realized the need for some more education.

In 1973 I received a letter from Elton Trueblood encouraging me to attend the Earlham School of Religion (ESR). After securing a pastorate in Ohio, not far from Richmond, I began my studies for the Master of Divinity Degree at ESR. As I had moved in my faith development from tradition center to activist centered, I was now moving from activist centered to intellect centered. I became captivated by the pursuit of knowledge and the development of the intellect. "It is the vocation of Christians in every generation," wrote Elton Trueblood, "to out-think all opposition." I took this challenge seriously, and devoted myself to the search for God through reason. I would go to class at ESR in the mornings, and then in the afternoon I would go over to Elton Trueblood's study, Teague Library, and study with him.

I graduated from ESR in 1977, and moved from pastoral ministry to the Yokefellow Ministry in 1979 (an ecumenical church renewal movement founded by Elton Trueblood). This was followed in 1987 by a position on the faculty of the Earlham School of Religion, where I have been ever since. My father died in 1985, and Elton Trueblood died in 1994. Although I still enjoy the academic pursuits of my life, a new dimension is emerging. This new direction is best expressed in some words from an essay I wrote on Faith and Knowledge:

"In the cosmic theater of life, I have been pondering just how important all of this attention to academic excellence is. It's a question I raise each time I hear of a student suicide or learn about a student selling his or her ethics down the river to secure a good grade. There is a lot of pressure in a good academic institution. The torch of knowledge is the center of worship.

"And yet what is knowledge without the wonder of faith? Learned information is of little use to the world if it is not coupled with the formation of the spirit. A good liberal arts college will try hard to keep spiritual growth and academic success balanced in the lives of its students. But deep down I believe that if push comes to shove, they would sacrifice their concern for spirituality on the altar of academic achievement.

"The idolatry of reason is a big problem at good colleges and is a bigger problem for the professors who live and die in the world of academia. I find that the wonder of faith can temper this academic disease, and I am always impressed by learned persons who not only have a 'clear head of reason' but also have a 'tender heart of faith.' It is a difficult combination to keep in balance, but it is this combination, I believe, that will lead to human wholeness."

My faith journey has taken me through a number of stages, from (1) tradition centered to (2) activist centered, to (3) intellect centered, to (4) heart and experience centered. Regardless of the center, it is important to understand the need for all of these different emphases in the life of faith.

Paul writes about growing up, every way, into Christ, "from whom the whole body, joined and knit together...when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love." (Eph 4: 16 RSV) Although Paul is writing about the various parts of the community, this is also good advice for our personal faith journeys. When we have a healthy understanding of our tradition, when we make that tradition live today by being active in peace and social justice concerns, when we are able to defend our faith intellectually, and when we are sensitive to the concerns of the heart and experience the Living Christ now, we "grow up" into Christ in a wholistic way. This is not to say that my personal faith journey encompasses the whole, but it does seem to me that a wholistic Christian faith will at least hold in tension the elements of tradition, activism, the intellect, and the heart.

Finally, as one moves into a heart-centered faith—open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in even the most minute of circumstances—control, being in control and allowing others to control us, becomes less possible. A heart-centered faith is a faith centered on the Living God, and is captured in these words from Thomas Kelly, which seem an appropriate conclusion:

Life from the Center is a life of unhurried peace and power. It is simple. It is serene. It is amazing. It is triumphant. It is radiant. It takes time, but it occupies all our time. And it makes our life programs new and overcoming. We need not get frantic. God is at the helm. And when our little day is done we lie down quietly in peace, for all is well -- from A Testament of Devotion (124).