The Golden Thread in My Life: A spiritual journey with Quakers

by Moira Fitt

Towards the end of her book, Moira Fitt asks: ‘Do we open ourselves to the possibility of experiencing a new sense of spiritual reality which will feel appropriate for us?’ This very readable work describes the ways in which Fitt did this, particularly in the second half of her life. Some of these ways came through opportunities she sought, and some were the outcome of invitations from others, to which she responded positively, even if not sure at the time what the outcome would be. She was a Friend for most of her adult life, active locally, nationally and internationally. 

Some of the experiences Fitt describes are very personal. This includes the time she was aware of needing to learn to ‘let go and hand over to God’s infinite power’. She found that unexpected ‘miracles’ began to happen, easing a stressful situation. She quotes from a range of sources; I found these of wide relevance. 

Fitt opens with a chapter on what Meetings for Worship meant to her over the years. But she also writes about the mystical tradition in Christianity and what she drew from it. She felt great affinity with Rufus Jones’s approach of ‘a life-affirming mysticism, with a clear focus on social concern, rather than the discipline of self-denial’. 

‘She does not expect us to be like her.’

She tells us of her local activism in Cornwall, where she and her husband, Tony, made their home. At different stages of her life she initiated play groups, found advice for unemployed tin-miners, and ran courses on finding direction in life for women. She also believed she had been given gifts of healing, and offering these to others became an important part of her life. I was glad that the book includes a short factual biography, particularly valuable to those who did not know Moira personally. 

Fitt acknowledges that she felt a conflict between ‘Moira-the-Organiser and Moira-the-Mystic’, but this eased as she accepted herself as one whole. She does not expect us to be like her, nor ask us to do what she did, but she does want to share her spiritual journey, the ‘Golden Thread’ that she could see as she looked back on her life. 

Sections of the book cover being at Woodbrooke, at Pendle Hill in Philadelphia, and among New Zealand Friends at Wanganui. She picks out key moments and points of learning that came as she immersed herself in the life of these communities. She shares her surprise at finding that making pottery and singing in choirs nourished her spirit in ways that quiet Quaker worship did not, but central to her life was her Local Meeting, Marazion.

Fitt sums up her spiritual journey in the book’s sub-title: ‘Being led to take my body to where my spirit will be nurtured.’ We all have opportunities to do that. As she learnt that cancer would cut short her last years, putting this book together became of much importance to her. After her death two years ago, Tony has brought it into print, to the advantage of all of us.

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