Mission with Prophetic Power: The Journal of John Woolman (SRSC 12)

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Mission with Prophetic Power: The Journal of John Woolman

strength was given fully to clear myself of a burden which for some days had been increasing upon me. Through the humbling dispensations of divine Providence, men are sometimes fitted for His service. The messages of the prophet Jeremiah were so disagreeable to the people and so adverse to the spirit they lived in that he became the object of their reproach, and in the weakness of nature he thought of desisting from his prophetic office; but he says, “His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay” (Jer 20:9, KJV). I saw at this time that, if I was honest in declaring that which truth* opened* in me, I could not please all men; and I labored to be content in the way of my duty, however disagreeable to my own inclination. Reflections on Employment and on Liquor (1756) Until this year, 1756, I continued to retail goods, besides following my trade as a tailor; about which time I grew uneasy on account of my business growing too cumbersome. I had begun with selling trimmings for garments, and from there proceeded to sell cloths and linens; and at length, having got a considerable shop of goods, my trade increased every year, and the way to large business appeared open, but I felt a stop in my mind. Through the mercies of the Almighty, I had, in a good degree, learned to be content with a plain way of living. I had but a small family and, on serious consideration, believed truth* did not require me to engage much in exchange that weighed on my spirit. It had been my general practice to buy and sell things really useful. Things that served chiefly to please the vain mind in people,