Comments on: Why I’m A Quaker

By: Tarald Stein

Tarald Stein — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 16:25:15 +0000

I’m new to quaker spirituality. Today we ended a weekend of enlightenment led by Marit K (who I think might be your mother?) here in Tromsø, Norway. It was like pulling aside the curtains to discover that there’s a window and not a wall behind them. It felt kind of like coming home, although some of it felt strange and will need some time to find it’s place within me. I’ve written some on my blogs (one norwegian and one in english) that I hope you may get the time to read and maybe comment.
I usually think better when I’m writing or speaking than just thinking. Your blog has given me the inspiration to create my own blog of faith and a model of how it can be done. Thank you!

Tarald

By: Omar P.

Omar P. — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:49:14 +0000

Thanks for this post Susanne -

After a truly trying time this week spent in attempting to come to grips with significant (and unexpected) differences of opinion (theology) between myself and a well-meaning Christian colleague, this entry served as a reminder of why I am a Quaker. It was like sweet balm to my soul.

Blessings,

Omar

By: Susanne Kromberg

Susanne Kromberg — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:57:08 +0000

Paul,
I love your comments on the communal nature of silence. The depth of connection as we sit together in worship never ceases to amaze me – that is what I understand true spiritual Communion to be.

By: Paul R

Paul R — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 02:04:52 +0000

Thank you Susanne…

I just read a post on the blog Embracing Complexity
http://contemplative-scholar.blogspot.com/2008/02/programming-my-unprogrammed-worship.html
Programming My Unprogrammed Worship.

I would like to share my response.
The Quaker Meeting I attend is also unprogrammed, a
nd like you I greatly value unprogrammed worship.
Spiritual dryness and spiritual frozenness?
I am finding for me its not so much about spiritual dryness or
spiritual frozenness but coming to terms with my understanding
of the Holy and worship.

There is a big part of me that has always want a esoteric
and mysticalQuaker experience in worship.
For a long time I thought it was spiritual dryness or
spiritual frozenness.

But over time, I come to understand the Holy in new and different ways.
A good Friend shared these words with me,”Whether one understands this as divine love, fellowship, affection, or the Spirit of Christ, it is still love.”

I shared these words on another blog,
However encounter it, we aspire to live in ways that help
grow compassion and love.

I fall short of these aspirations each day.

When I go to Meeting it is in the spirit of these words of the
late A. Powell Davies when he said,
“I go to church … because I fall below my own standards and need
to be constantly brought back to them … I must have my conscience sharpened–sharpened until it goads me to the most thorough and responsible thinking and action of which I am capable.”

The mystical part of Quaker Worship for me,
is not what I do or not dobut the work of the
Spirit in the silence.

The Holy uses the holy silence to sharpened are conscience
over and over so we can live in ways that helps us to grow
in compassion and love.

My view of Quaker worship is more rooted in a sacramental approach
in which the communal silence not the individual is the center.

Paul R

Silence gives us a new outlook on everything. We need silence to be able to touch souls. The essential thing is not what we say but what God says to us and through us.
Jesus is always waiting for us in silence. In that silence, He will listen to us; there He will speak to our soul, and there we will hear His voice.
Mother Teresa

By: Susanne Kromberg

Susanne Kromberg — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:03:58 +0000

Paul,
Beautifully and poetically stated.
I look forward to reading Vanessa Julye’s book – it sounds like it may bring a welcome dose of reality to some of the myths about Quaker diversity. Seeing ourselves truthfully is the first step to making the changes that justice requires.

By: Paul Ricketts

Paul Ricketts — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:42:38 +0000

Great Blog Susanne,

What draws me to liberal Quakerism?

I shared with with you couple months ago what attracts me to
Quakerism is it has always been a religion of Jesus, not about Jesus.

A religion rooted in a direct experience of God, Divine Love,Spirit of Christ.

A good Friend shared these words with me,
”Whether one understands this as divine love, fellowship, affection, or the
Spirit of Christ, it is still love. ”

However we encounter it, we aspire to live in ways that help grow compassion and love.

Tradition is another great gift the Spirit has given us….
The Greek word for tradition (paradosis) “means a transmission from one party to another, an exchange of some sort,implying living subjects.”

The living subjects for us Quakers, are the stories of are
foremothers and fathers.

My friend Vanessa Julye is co-authoring a book with Donna McDaniel,
“Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship.” It will focus on the relationship of Quakers of European descent and African Americans in North America.

My prayer is unprogrammed Friends will continue to find ways to wrestle with theses stories and other stories from our tradition and how these stories shape our faith today.

With a larger goal to help us find new and create ways to re-connected not only with the work of the Holy Spirit but also with our living tradition.

Paul

By: Susanne Kromberg

Susanne Kromberg — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 19:10:47 +0000

Cath,
I agree completely, and I don’t think we can or should make assumptions about worship style and how that does or doesn’t relate to theological or spiritual style. In my experience, what feels right to an individual as far as worship style goes is more a matter of temperament than theology.

By: cath

cath — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:49:05 +0000

Interestingly, I am of the unprogrammed tradition, but circumstances led me to a pastoral Meeting (where they are called “messages” not “sermons,” as in “the pastor brings a message” with the emphasis on the pastor being led by the Spirit) and where I’d say a good 85% of the members and attenders are of a liberal spirituality.

So I don’t think we can easily equate worship style with theological or spiritual style.
cath

By: Susanne Kromberg

Susanne Kromberg — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:06:53 +0000

No worries, Cath.
I am VERY pleased that it seems my theology statement could have put me in any of the branches of Quakerism! I have felt at home in liberal, evangelical, orthodox, and evangelical Quaker groups. And yet we have to belong somewhere, not everywhere, and for me sermons get in the way of the worship I seek at my home base. Especially if they are good sermons and I get caught up in them and don’t have the opportunity to listen to God’s message to me personally on the key points of the message. So when I claim liberal Quakerism as my place, I claim it because that’s what is important to me about where I am, not in the sense of “these are the things that set us apart from everyone else and nobody else has these things”.

I once heard Tom Hamm say that he thinks by splitting, each of the different branches of Quakerism was able to preserve a vital aspect of the Truth that would otherwise have been lost. That rings true to me. And so I think it is good for Friends from different branches to think of other groups as holding a core insight that we ourselves are lacking. For myself, I seek out opportunities to worship and do Bible study etc with evangelical Friends, and we are fortunate in the Pacific Northwest to have lots of opportunities to be together across these divides.

In my own life as a chaplain and spiritual director I work for a non-profit, Good News Associates, where most of the other Associates are evangelical Quakers. It is an amazingly rich cooperation.

By: cath

cath — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:29:03 +0000

p.s. My comment was not intended to point a finger at your discernment about your own spirituality. I hope I made that clear when I defined the “we” I was using, but in case it felt like a criticism of your own path, I apologize.

cath