If we are to take heart in the face of all the crying needs and find some rest for our souls, we must each, first of all, seek leadings as to very concrete, specific ways to respond to these needs that are in tune with our gifts and strengths. We must put our beliefs into action.

It is hard to have faith that some small effort we make will do any good. Yet I have had role models who have fueled my fire to try to make a difference. They not only pitched in, but gave me the sense that they needed my help too. Many were Quakers….

These are people who trust that their leadings are worthwhile, however small, because they seem to be “going with the grain” of the universe, as my father used to say, like a plane smoothing wood along its growth fibers, not trying to buck against them. Their attention to inner guidance keeps them with this grain. I learned from my Quaker parents and from my Quaker role models that, once I get a clear leading, I can count on forces beyond my own, moving in that same growth pattern. In time some other people’s sense of truth will converge with mine, other energies will be available to count on. This is the “Lord God” Fox wrote of, the Holy Spirit, at work in the thick night. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by problems and guilt, many of us have been encouraged by other role models and by our Inner Light to give help. Channeling our concern into concrete action, feeling the Spirit with us in the struggle, and feeling others’ efforts converging with ours are ways our yokes are made lighter.

–Helen Steere Horn in “Seeking Leadings: A Small Effort Shaped to Us” from Pendle Hill Pamphlet 456: On the Spirituality of Lightheartedness