A Meeting of Friends

I've just finished remodeling my blog, hopefully it will be easier to read now. This new design is per recommendation of the Rick, the blogger who inspired me. He is an accomplished writer, community member, global humanitarian, father, husband, and just human being in general. His latest post is an elaboration of his thought which he shared out loud today during our Quaker meeting.

So yes... I went to my first Quaker meeting! And what a meeting it was. It exceeded my expectations, and evaporated the presumptions I was realizing I had. No Quaker Oats man greeted us at the door, no hard wooden benches that make your bottom go numb, no Salem Witch Trials happening in the next field over, (yes, I know that the trials were an issue of the Puritans, not sure how this happened in my head...) and no black top hats and shoes with buckles on them! Quite the contrary, actually, a nice old, very normally dressed woman greeted us at the door, and lead us into a very cozy, living room style circle of chairs and couches (yes couches- part of the reason why I began nodding off- keep reading), where other very normal and actually quite lovely people greeted us and made small talk, and after a moment, the room was in silence- staying that way for one hour. All eyes closed, all spirits and hearts open and communicating.

After doing some reading last night, and talking to Sarah and Rick, this is what I have come to know and admire about Quakerism. Every person at the meeting has his or her own agenda and own relationship with the "God" or "Divine Spirit" (I don't quite know who mine is yet- of course for most quakers this is "God") they are worshipping. In such a meeting, God is revealed inwardly and channeled through what the person may be asking for/praying about/thinking about at that time, relying on this spirit for guidance and power based on where they are in their life at that time. There is no preaching, reading, singing, standing or kneeling, only meditating and communicating inwardly. Then, if someone is feeling passionately, and like they have come up with something insightful to share, (as Rick did), they might say it out loud, but expect no response from the rest of the Friends, as they do with the thought what they may, and either use it to guide their thoughts or decide it isn't worth pondering. Rick's insight about the weather raised many different questions about society and re-triggored all of the many things that I have been thinking about lately in terms of what we really need to live a quality life and make us happy. I highly recommend that you read his post.

The Quakers are a Religious Society of Friends. They live simply, but not under law, do not discriminate, believe in non-violence, are open minded to new values, beliefs and opinions, and value truth as it exists in terms of personal morals. The Quakers strive to find the good in everyone, and wholeheartedly believe that it is there.

This is the sect of religion that feels the best to me thus far, it feels the most forgiving, but has the guidance which I already use for myself. When I want a mold to curl up into, or a chameleon skin to put on, it seems like a good candidate, so I had high expectations for the meeting. I thought I would use the time to mull everything over that had been cooking in my head, and follow a suggested agenda in one of the pamphlets I had read the night before: thank God, enjoy his presence, hold up other people or situations for God to ponder, and then listen: but it proved to be harder than I thought.

Like I said before, I was sitting on a cushy, cushy couch. That was mistake number one. Everyone's eyes began to close at the start of the meeting: 10:31. I started out with lots of things to think about... I was being thankful, I was looking to the past, the future... and the coolest thing was probably that I could feel a strong spiritual presence not only with the people around me but with the spirit or God that had entered the room, I knew someone was listening. I did a good share of talking, letting my stream of consciousness guide me. Then, I tried to listen. After a few moments I couldn't hear anything, so I peeked through the teeniest hole possible in my eyelids, at my watch: 10:52. Immediately I scolded myself and decided I wouldn't do it again for the rest of the meeting, but slumped my shoulders at the thought of 40 more minutes of listening. Eventually I began doing that thing you see old women do where I was starting to doze in an upright position, and my head would fall back until I snapped it back up. I tried to stay awake, but my eyes were closed... I felt a bit option-less. Finally I gave into resting my head on the back of the couch, and I was gone- a little morning doze. I awoke to Rick's insightful comment, and resented the fact that I had not thought about such intellectual ponderings and had wasted 40 valuable minutes. Ah well, goal for the next meeting: be a better listener!

We finished the day berry picking... those delightful things hat I told you about before, thimbleberries, have now made their way into 3 jars of tastebud-melting jam. Tell me you're not jealous. If I could bring one thing to a dessert island with me it would be thimbleberries. The jam is multifaceted... I couldn't stop licking our cooking equipment, and Sarah suggested that I replace my pint of Ben and Jerry's with it on lonely nights. hey, if you need your fruit serving... I totally would.

Better than butter!

Good Night Moon... please grow me some thimbleberries in New Jersey?

xoxox