tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571146151683416940.post7632294967038168501..comments2024-03-16T10:05:23.129-07:00Comments on LA Quaker: Do Quakers hide behind a wall of silence?LA Quakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11084465501021443492noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571146151683416940.post-30092885276287966842016-05-03T11:09:27.667-07:002016-05-03T11:09:27.667-07:00I would really like to meet quakers who want to mo...I would really like to meet quakers who want to move in silence, to use movement as an act of devotion. For me it is the most natural and the deepest form of prayer. <br />Once a year I do a 6 hour "act of devotion" 22nd May, number 9 coming up soon.When during the first one I sat down and moved, I realised how much I waned to move in MfW. I can sometimes move my hands and feel in my body during MfW. I work with others once a month with a form called Authentic Movement, which is used as therapy, for creativity and for contemplation. It is about listening and not thinking/visualising the movement first. <br />I have not found it easy to speak in my Meeting and during a year of deep bereavement there wasn't much support, but I don't know what I would have wanted.<br /><br />I have only ever ministered once in 10 years - on easter sunday this year after a friend who had been a Friend for awhile had died. Silence is my ministry I think, but I hope it is not a wall.<br /><br />Recently I used a Meeting for Clearness to help refind my spiritual path - a lot more words from me than usual and of course questions for the people I asked to join me.<br /><br />Yes: may there be windows - or even doors that gently open.maura hazeldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11190853689714901053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571146151683416940.post-69357772681884628592016-05-01T18:58:24.380-07:002016-05-01T18:58:24.380-07:00Dear Ruth, I am glad my blog touched you and gave ...Dear Ruth, I am glad my blog touched you and gave you encouragement. I believe that Spirit is truly at work, helping us to connect with each other and our Creator/Sustainer through our emotions. I have had conversations with Friends in my Meeting who also feel emotionally disconnected and I think we may be on the verge of finding ways to deepen our friendships as well as relationship with the Divine. As Fox used to say, the Light that reveals our pain and shortcomings is also the one that heals us. Please hold us in your prayers and I am sending loving thoughts your way, trusting that "all things work together for good for those who love the Truth and are led according to God's purpose."LA Quakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11084465501021443492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571146151683416940.post-26647754175533099452016-05-01T12:27:17.863-07:002016-05-01T12:27:17.863-07:00Thank you LA Quaker, a friend posted your blog on ...Thank you LA Quaker, a friend posted your blog on Quaker Renewal UK facebook group. It has encouraged me hugely....it brought tears to my eyes. I give you a warm hug from across the Atlantic pond, a friend from Warwick meeting, England, Ruth GastonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571146151683416940.post-19545425819525491692016-04-28T08:20:30.247-07:002016-04-28T08:20:30.247-07:00You wrote, "Holding back is part of our Meeti...You wrote, "Holding back is part of our Meeting's culture."<br /><br />In my experience, I think that the form of silence has become too controlling in some Friends meeting.<br /><br />For instance, when my wife and I were members of California Yearly Meeting (FUM), the Ministry and Council limited unprogrammed worship to 15 minutes because they feared that members might say something "pentecostal"! Rather ironic, given George Fox's and other early Friends' enthusiasm.<br /><br />Later when I was a member of Pacific Yearly Meeting, and my family was going through tragic heartbreak, and I shared, so deeply in need of support and empathy, no one responded to my brief sharing:-( I was devastated.<br /><br />Then, once, when I responded to another person's deep sharing, I was censured as being out of "order."<br /><br />Many years ago, what attracted me Friends unprogrammed worship was that the form seemed to open up the possibility of real spontaneity and deep sharing, instead of formal ritual.<br /><br />On the other hand, I have a wonderful moment to share. When times were tough, and I shared, very briefly, our struggles, one member in worship began to sing spontaneously in the stillness, spiritual words of deep comfort and joy:-)<br /><br />Hope you receive more deep sharing in this time of remembered grief.<br /><br /> Daniel Wilcoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05178375087492786696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571146151683416940.post-37212041370411975532016-04-27T21:32:55.670-07:002016-04-27T21:32:55.670-07:00"Perhaps the problem isn't with Quakerism..."Perhaps the problem isn't with Quakerism, but with our insistence on using "Quaker dialogue" for every kind of encounter. "<br /><br />So let's invent some new forms of small group conversation and see what happens.<br /><br />There is in any group one person who is most able to express deep feelings, and in your Meeting you are it.Eric Sabelmannoreply@blogger.com