Our Advices & queries are offered ‘… for the comfort and discomfort of Friends…’ and so was this year’s Border Meeting. This annual event brings Quakers and friends of Friends together for a weekend of learning, fellowship and fun, and in this part of Europe is hosted in turn by Belgian, Luxembourg, German, Dutch and sometimes French Friends. This year it was the Belgians’ turn, and some fifty of us from half a dozen countries met in an old abbey set in splendidly wooded grounds on the outskirts of Brussels to consider ‘A Quaker approach to interfaith understanding’.

So why the discomfort? Talk of spiritual healing and its successes and failures took some people out of their comfort zone

The subject was introduced – nay covered – by Jim Pym, now of Edinburgh Meeting, who described himself as a Pure Land Buddhist with dual membership. In a nutshell, he advocated Rachel Pinney’s creative listening coupled with mutual irradiation and a striving to hear where the words come from rather than what they may (or may not) be saying to us. We should beware of confusing matters of faith with cultural attitudes, especially in regard to Islam, and remember that the Qu’ran no less than the Bible has been, and often still is, mistranslated.

The programme was crowded, the headings detailed, and Jim covered the many topics listed with fluency and without notes, at one point diverting to an extended consideration of prayer and healing, which wasn’t on the original programme but in which a number of participants had expressed interest. So why the discomfort? Two possible reasons: firstly, talk of spiritual healing and its successes and failures took some people out of their comfort zone, and secondly, we’re not used to hearing Friends articulate their Truth as firmly as did our speaker. In a Society where there is a good deal of doubt, questioning and seeking, it is refreshing to find someone who is not afraid to say what he has found and what he values (as in Advice 5) – but it can also be challenging.

Those who rose early to walk, worship or combine the two avoided the daytime temperatures, which touched 30˚C, another challenge, and a reason to be grateful for the cool and restful premises, especially the chapel that the singers amongst us turned into a music room. Another bonus: Sunday had been declared ‘car free’ in towns and cities, and we were delighted to find that many buses were free, and train fares a fraction of the normal price.

What did I bring home from the weekend? Some quotable quotes (for example: ‘When people are really listened to, they may hear themselves for the first time’; ‘prayer is an exercise of the spirit as thought is of the mind’; ‘true silence is the absence of self, not of sound’; and a good one for London buses: ‘I would rather believe in a God who doesn’t exist than ignore one who does’, some photos to remind me of the venue, and a warm feeling of old friendships renewed and new ones made.

There are also Border meetings for French, German and Swiss Friends, and maybe Nordic and other ones too. See www.fwccemes.org for more information about European Quaker Meetings.