First Day and religion

In the past (and some continue the practice today) Quakers referred to the days of the week by number, with Sunday being First Day, Monday Second Day, etc. This was because they objected to naming the days after Roman gods. This is a First Day morning.

The following is from the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change (25th Anniversary Edition) by Stephen R. Covey, which we are reading for this month’s community discussion at KI (Kheprw Institute): “The principles I am referring to are not esoteric, mysterious, or “religious” ideas. There is not one principle taught in this book that is unique to any specific faith or religion, including my own. These principles are a part of most every major enduring religion, as well as enduring social philosophies and ethical systems. They are self-evident and can easily be validated by any individual. It’s almost as if these principles or natural laws are part of the human condition, part of the human consciousness, part of the human conscience. They seem to exist in all human beings, regardless of social conditioning and loyalty to them, even though they might be submerged or numbed by such conditions or disloyalty.”

He goes on to identify some of these principles as fairness, integrity, honesty, growth, potential, human dignity, excellence, service, nurturance, encouragement and patience.

This expresses what I have observed for a long time. That there are many people and groups that live principled, moral, ethical lives that don’t included organized religion. From my first encounters with the KI (Kheprw Institute) community I have been aware of the moral strength of the community, and yet I don’t sense that organized religion plays much of a role there. I think this has helped the relationship between KI and Quakers, since in many ways Quakerism continues to be basically anti-organized religion.

The following quote about Josh Fox’s new film expresses similar ideas:

“The film is about organizing principles that are also permanent virtues and values,” says Fox. “Community, democracy, civil disobedience, creativity, human rights, innovation, courage, love, resilience, generosity. We need these values if we’re going to win any of these climate battles. But we’re going to need them even more if we lose them.”