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

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Mission with Prophetic Power: The Journal of John Woolman

Society of Friends. Yet as Woolman and others made their visits, the fruit of these interactions also shaped the development of the Quaker treatment of slavery. The mission to families and individuals in the midst of sharp conflicts required sensitive interpersonal communication, which encouraged the maturing of those doing the visits. Woolman both suffered much and learned much in his visits. He found the need for sympathy, tenderness of heart and resignation. At times he experienced much discouragement, and yet he also noticed that whereas earlier he had been nearly the only supporter of the cause, a broader unity of vision was increasing. Furthermore, Woolman was making these visits in the midst of a smallpox epidemic, which stimulated further reflections on God’s work and his own motives. Near the beginning of the year 1758, I went one evening, in company with a Friend, to visit a sick person; and before our return we were told of a woman living near, who had for several days been disconsolate, occasioned by a dream, wherein death, and the judgments of the Almighty after death, were represented to her mind in a moving manner. Her sadness on that account being worn off, the Friend with whom I was in company went to see her, and had some religious conversation with her and her husband. With this visit they were somewhat affected, and the man, with many tears, expressed his satisfaction. In a short time after, the poor man, being on the river in a storm of wind, was with one more drowned. T he T ext Visiting Slave Owners (1758–1759)