The Quaker life
Although the Quaker community shares dogma and beliefs, they are defined by their questioning, mystic attitude and their focus on living in a deeply communal way. Compared to the Puritans, they look almost like a cult, because they are so focused on life itself. Puritans are offered in the journal for contrast. The Puritans have lengthy dogmatic treatises, whereas the Quaker life is primarily depicted as agrarian and literal. They don't resort to philosophical convictions as the Puritans do.
Slavery
Slavery is depicted in a curious way. At first, it is just assumed that slavery exists as an institution, and Woolman doesn't think much about it at all. Then, he is asked to draw up a bill of sale for a friend who isn't very good at reading and writing, and as he participates in the legal writing, he starts to see slavery for its literal components. It is literally the ownership of a human being as if they are nothing but animal property. That is so shocking to him that he tells his friend not to buy a slave at all, and he spends his life urging people to think more deeply about slavery as a vice, and as a kind of hatred.
Christianity and mysticism
The most poetic, poignant imagery in this journal is the slow growth and change that happens as Woolman goes through his life with a humble attitude about religion. Instead of finding answers and then priding himself in them, he chooses to stay curious, so that his experience of Christianity becomes shaped by mysticism. His experience of mystic reality is rooted in life itself, so that the imagery of his religion is literally his daily life in community and in nature.
The American Dream
Without even trying to do it, Woolman defines the American Dream. He slowly realizes that he is trapped in a nightmarish relationship to money. He doesn't want to waste his time on earth, but he trades huge swathes of time for nothing but money, and for what? He doesn't exactly need more money. He sees that it is for material wealth, possessions, and comforts that he works so hard. One day, he quits and finds a better life by sharing his point of view with those who enjoy hearing him.
Religion and life
To Woolman, religion is not a list of beliefs and rules to adhere to. It is an attitude one carries through life. He writes about this in his journal, and his experience of time clearly reflects it. Instead of feeling that tradition and scripture are sacred, he feels that the whole of life is sacred—including scripture and tradition, but in a different way than the Puritans for instance. His opinion is that God spoke through the scriptures, sure, but also God speaks to anyone who is humble enough to live their life in a curious, open-minded way.
