‘My collection contains passages that might seem contradictory.’ Photo: by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Calm and collected: G Gordon Steel’s composite faith
‘I have been led to the startling realisation that all that we say and write about religion is human.’
We have all heard people who say that in times of serious illness or trouble ‘It was my faith that kept me going’. I would not use those words myself – they seem to refer to a compact and well-defined faith that I do not have – but over the years I have amassed a collection of writings (and music) that give me a strong sense of rightness and comfort. They have been chosen at various times when I have felt them valuable. I refer to them often.
These insights cover a wide range. They include the well-known Christian texts and hymns that have been part of my religious upbringing. I would also include much of what I find in the last two editions of Quaker faith & practice. Some of the writings are poetic, and lead me to insights that go beyond the actual words.
Over the years my feelings about faith have evolved. In my teens I began to tire of the repetition of assurances in services of the Methodist Church. And it was with joy that I found a Quaker Meeting. The whole package of Quakerism appeals very strongly to me: quiet reflection; freedom from dogma; doing business together; caring for one another; and concern for suffering humanity (and the bleeding world).
Quakerism has allowed me to accept ways of thinking that many Christians would not wish to hear. Don Cupitt led me to the startling realisation that all that we say and write about religion is human: it cannot be otherwise, for the words that we use are human and meaning is inextricably bound up with words. The doctrines of the church are words put together by clerics. The church has consistently preached that the world is in the hands of a benevolent Being and it comes with a sense of relief to realise that this faith is now optional.
My collection contains many passages that might seem contradictory. There are words of Jesus, assurances that God is everywhere, insights from other faiths, insights from atheists, even jokes about God. The common factor is that they all speak of human inspiration and the human spirit – deep wisdom, blinding realisation, wonderful poetry. Deborah Padfield (editor of the Friend 1993-97) wrote: ‘Part of the joy of writing, painting, music-making, is the joy of holding, for a moment, in cupped hands, an image which is real, which works for us as humans. No final resting place; no total view; but a glimpse of something through the swirling mists which makes me know the journey’s valid: that there is some meaning in the quest to understand and act’. I hope other Friends find their own collections.
