Thought for the Week: Why I became a Quaker
Giampiero Zucchelli reflects on why he became a Quaker
When in Italy I have a problem explaining what Quakers are and what they believe. For that matter, I even find it difficult to translate the name ‘Quakers’, as very few people in Italy have heard of this strange name: Quaccheri.
I certainly knew nothing of them before arriving in Britain more than fifty years ago. The fact is that even here, the birthplace of the Religious Society of Friends, Quakers are still a bit of mystery for most people. The word ‘Quaker’ is generally associated with porridge, plain dress code and old-fashioned values!
Throughout my youth I had felt a vacuum as far as my spiritual needs were concerned. It was a vacuum that I filled with music and literature, but also, I confess, with a degree of womanizing. Though I was not fully aware of it at the time, I was becoming unlikable to others, but mostly to myself. I tried different ways to feed my spiritual hunger, with only little success.
Finally, as I was turning sixty, I found myself in much need of a spiritual address. I had never been a practicing Catholic – nearly everyone in Italy was a Catholic when I grew up. I could not identify with the observance of strict dogmas that one is required to embrace, such as the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary, the Resurrection, Jesus’ divinity and so on. Nor could I come to terms with the Old Testament, with all its contradictions and an often cruel and jealous God.
I could, however, feel that the life of Jesus spoke to me with its clear and unambiguous message of love, forgiveness, tolerance and empathy. To me, he has been an inspiration in trying to become a better person, one worthy of the description ‘human being’.
One Sunday morning I happened to walk by the Friends Meeting House in Bath and remembered that a friend had mentioned the Quakers and had commented that ‘you can always trust a Quaker’, and that their practice was simple and uncluttered by the need for leadership. I decided, on an impulse, to go in and found myself captivated by the lack of rituals, the absence of symbols and the total commitment to ‘democratic’ decision-making. I felt it was refreshing not to be surrounded by expensive ornaments and icons, only to focus on simple and quiet worship, as Friends faced each other in a circle, joining in a spiritual quest.
I knew I had found my spiritual home. I have been a Quaker now for fourteen years.
I want to point out that Quakers don’t have all the answers, nor do they have a ‘patent’ on truth. But perhaps that is what appeals. It takes honesty to admit to a degree of uncertainty in the search for our spiritual side as we strive to find our true nature, the God within.
