‘I sensed that my explanation was being seen as an attempt to dodge the question.’ Photo: by engin akyurt on Unsplash
Conversation piece: Terry Faull meets a sceptic
‘I tried a bit harder when they asked “Do Quakers believe in God?”.’
It all began with a casual conversation. Most of us have had one of these, often with someone to whom we have just been introduced. But in this one, after the usual exchanges of ‘Where do you live’, and ‘What do you do?’, came: ‘I understand you are a Quaker. So what does that actually mean?’
In 1923, Rufus Jones addressed this question when writing about early Quaker beliefs: ‘There are no essential officials, no ritual, no programme, no outward and visible sacraments, no music, no paraphernalia of any kind. The groups of worshippers met in plain, unadorned buildings or rooms and sat down in silence with complete confidence that the Spirit would be a real presence among them.’
Remembering this, and trying to find a balance between being too intense or too casual, I explained a little about Quakerism and its history. In response came, ‘So, you don’t have priests or ministers; your Meeting houses are not consecrated; you don’t have music, don’t take sacraments, don’t take oaths, and don’t practise infant or adult baptism.’
I tried a bit harder when they asked ‘Do Quakers believe in God, then?’, but my ‘Depends on what you mean by God’ seemed a poor reply. I attempted another more positive approach, and explained that while most Quakers had little sympathy with the vengeful and micro-managing God portrayed in the Old Testament, they did identify with the loving and forgiving God advocated in the teachings ascribed to Jesus of Nazareth in the New Testament.
‘So, Quakers are a branch of Christians who meditate together in silence?’ I sensed that my explanation – that we are rooted in Christianity but that not all Quakers recognised that label – was being seen as an attempt to dodge the question. I perhaps did a bit better when explaining that, while meditation was often a solitary exercise, a Quaker Meeting for Worship was a time of gathered stillness. ‘We try to be open to the divine spirit present in people of all faiths and of none. It’s a time rather like the needle of a compass which always seeks to return to its magnetic source.’
‘So, being a Quaker these days is actually a bit of a selfish exercise, where the already comfortable middle classes concentrate on finding their own personal meaning?’
My description of our Peace Testimony, our work at the United Nations, and with less fortunate peoples across the world, was interrupted when a mutual friend returned to the conversation. We parted to go our different ways.
Perhaps I was not destined to be close friends with my interrogator, but the conversation did make me think. I really must be more prepared for the next time I am asked about being a Quaker.
Comments
Oh, how I empathise with Terry Faull! Perhaps the difference is that I am not only the one trying to answer the questions, but am also the one asking them. Firstly, to ask questions that are difficult to answer because each one of us has, thank goodness, a different viewpoint and secondly, that the language we use can be extremely confusing and seen as ridiculously simplistic or horribly patronising, for example:
The word ‘God’ as in “Do you believe in God?” Not only can the response be “It depends what you mean by God”, but also, “It depends what you mean by believe.” Of course, the word ‘you’ must not be missed: does it mean Quakers as a whole or you, the person who is a Quaker? Would it not be so much more straightforward if the question could be answered with a single, positive or negative? But we know, that is not going to happen in Quaker circles, is it?
I am probably a Quaker because I cannot, not because I can, answer the question, yet I do have interest enough to make me want to look for, seek, more and I know that by listening in the extraordinary periods of silence that can be shared occasionally, I can keep searching, even if I’m not quite sure for what. At the moment I am in no position to profess a strong response to any question concerning ‘inner light’ or ‘spirit’ (and here are two more words I am in no position to attempt to define!) and the older I get the fewer expectations I have, but that is not going to stop me enjoying and welcoming the silence.
One step towards a more clear understanding of Quakerism is to come to a Meeting: taste it for yourself! If the individual is really interested, one Meeting may not be enough.
By Hughp on 4th August 2022 - 16:50
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