Kathz at the newish blog Quak­er Lev­eller points out a telling omis­sion in our books of Faith and Prac­tice:

Bellers’ state­ment about the poor stands out because there is so lit­tle in Quak­er Faith and Prac­tice about the expe­ri­ence of being employed. By com­par­i­son, a great deal is includ­ed about Quak­er busi­ness­es and busi­ness ethics — from the point of view of those who own, run and invest in them. But many peo­ple and many Quak­ers today engage and strug­gle with the world of work as employ­ees. Even more live valu­able lives out­side paid employ­ment — and if we real­ly believe in “that of God” in every­one, this might also help us to see the val­ue in the work peo­ple do, whether it is paid or not. 

Kathz found lit­tle prac­ti­cal advice for wage work­ers. I’m remind­ed of the year I worked the night shift in the local super­mar­ket after get­ting the boot from a Quak­er out­reach posi­tion. What did any of our Quak­er dis­cus­sions have to say to my fel­low work­ers here at a throw­away job with crap­py boss­es and mis­er­able pay?