This is an Open Thread / Coffee Hour and all topics of conversation are welcome. And as a suggested topic, today lets celebrate Holy Experiment Day with a nod to William Penn Jr and Edward Hicks.
Holy Experiment Day as, I found on the internet, is a call to action to try something religious.
The suggestions on how to observe this day are numerous. Say a prayer to a different deity. Visit the church that you left years ago. Drop in on a random church service.
What holy experiment would you like to do in observance of this day?
How are you doing today? What is for dinner? What is on your mind? If you are new to Street Prophets please introduce yourself in the comments below.
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I’m charmed by the optimism of the Edward Hicks painting expressing the values of diversity and cooperation espoused by William Penn and his struggle. So much so I’m posting another of his photos below.
Holy Experiment Day is an annual holiday celebrated on March 4 to encourage general tolerance toward religious practices different from ours. The importance of the story the holiday commemorates is also the precedence for the core beliefs the establishment of Pennsylvania, and ultimately, the United States was based on: religious tolerance, diversity, and representative government. William Penn Jr, son of English Admiral Sir William Penn, played an important role in the creation of the colony. He envisioned a colony full of people who embraced faith and were tolerant to the religion of others, influenced by his early experience in England where members of the Quakers sect were chastised for their beliefs.
National Today: Holy Experiment Day
To honor this day I’m going to perform a holy experiment and try and start to create a religion from scratch. My hope is to create a “grounded” religion. More about this in future Monday Street Prophets coffee hours.
On Edward Hicks’ paintings
Although it is not considered a religious image, Hicks' Peaceable Kingdom exemplifies Quaker ideals. Hicks painted 62 versions of this composition. The animals and children are taken from Isaiah 11:6–8 (also echoed in Isaiah 65:25), including the lion eating straw with the ox. Hicks used his paintings as a way to define his central interest, which was the quest for a redeemed soul. This theme was also from one of his theological beliefs.
Hicks' work was influenced by a specific Quaker belief referred to as the 'Inner Light'. George Fox and other founding Quakers had established and preached the Inner Light doctrine. Fox explained that along with scriptural knowledge, many individuals achieve salvation by yielding one's self-will to the divine power of Christ and the "Christ within". This "Christ in You" concept was derived from the Bible's Colossians 1:27. Hicks depicted humans and animals to represent the Inner Light's idea of breaking physical barriers (of difference between two individuals) to working and living together in peace. Many of his paintings further exemplify this concept with depictions of Native Americans meeting the settlers of Pennsylvania, with William Penn prominent among them.
Wikipedia: Edward Hicks