Jesus, Jefferson, and the Tasks of Friends

My topic is the work of Friends in the world. My theme is that this work must be in the world but not of the world. Let me elaborate a bit. Friends are concerned to realize the kingdom of heaven of which Jesus spoke. We hold that that kingdom is in the world — maybe not entirely within this world, but assuredly there are and can be bits of it in the world, and it is those bits we mean to make manifest through our work. The kingdom is a special sort of community of souls. It differs from a worldly community in that within it there are no conflicting interests at all. That is why I am inclined to speak of souls rather than persons: as persons we all carry a great baggage of material interests that must be left at the door when we enter the kingdom.