"Pray the Eternal to keep your weather-vane in good trim so
that it readily responds to the true winds of the spirit and doesn’t get jammed
by the rust of tradition in a position unrelated to the truth or to the true
currents of the spirit."
Pierre Ceresole (much less often in the catalogues, Cérésole), For peace and truth: from the note-books of Pierre Ceresole, ed. and trans. John W. Harvey
and Christina Yates (London: Bannisdale Press, 1954), 84 (in the section dated 1920-1933; "In 1936 Ceresole formally joined the Society of Friends" (100), though his "pacifist position differed . . . from that of perhaps most members of the Society of Friends in Great Britain" (102)). Friends journal 2, no. 11 (March 17, 1956): cover (161):
Pray the Eternal to keep your weathervane in good trim so that it readily responds to the true winds of the spirit, and does not get jammed by the rust of tradition in a position unrelated to the truth or to the true currents of the spirit.
I was introduced to these words by my colleague Carrie Fry. The original French runs as follows:
"Priez l’Eternel de graisser votre girouette afin qu’elle s’oriente bien au vrai vent de l’Esprit, et ne reste pas calée par la rouille des traditions dans une position sans rapport aucun avec la vérité, ou avec un courant spiritual reel."
"Priez l’Eternel de graisser votre girouette afin qu’elle s’oriente bien au vrai vent de l’Esprit, et ne reste pas calée par la rouille des traditions dans une position sans rapport aucun avec la vérité, ou avec un courant spiritual reel."
Pierre Ceresole (much less often, though not in this book, Cérésole), Vivre sa vérité: carnets de route, Deuxième edition corrigée et augmentée (Neuchatel: Editions de la Baconnière, 1950), 146-147 (in the section dated 1919-1926).
