‘I remain of the view that Quakers are at their most eloquent when they are silent.’

Closed book: Novelist Mike Brooks on Quaker faith & practice

I’ve been a faithful attender for twelve years but I’ve yet to read Quaker faith & practice. I bought a copy of our famous red book a long time ago, but I can’t remember dipping into it. Despite this I don’t feel ignorant about Quakerism, it’s just that whatever I’ve learned has been absorbed only through the practice and presence of Quaker worship and community.

I think I know why I don’t study the Quaker book. In my late teens and twenties I got horribly caught up in different types of Christianity – particularly evangelicalism and Calvinism – one after the other. Basically, I think I was brainwashed twice. The experience of trying to live in accord with the unhelpful, unwise and aggressive teachings of these Christian sects was so painful that, when I finally escaped their clutches, I ran a million miles from anything resembling theology.

To my great surprise, that changed recently when I encountered the writings of Richard Rohr. Sweet salvation!

It would have saved me many years of pain if the gospel I first heard preached had been Rohr’s Franciscan interpretation rather than the soul-destroying Reformed doctrine.

Rohr dismisses original sin and the idea that Jesus had to pay a price to save us (a part of me shudders as I dare to write this: a remnant of the fear I felt around questioning evangelical doctrines all those years ago). Instead, Rohr presents a version of Christianity that is in tune with the mystical teachings of many cultures and religions – what is sometimes called the perennial philosophy. As I understand it, the gospel Rohr preaches is nothing about doctrine or belief, but simply an invitation to be honest and vulnerable and enjoy the acceptance of God that is already there for you.

But despite my enthusiasm for Rohr I don’t want to go back to Christianity. I’ve read too much now about other religions, philosophies and ideas, and I’ve discovered I can find light everywhere. And one of the ideas I find most helpful is that truth – and God, whatever that means – is not found in theories, theologies or words. Rather, it is found in what we could call experience or relationship or embodied feelings or vulnerability, or just life!

I’m still not planning to read the red book, even though I understand it is quite good. Instead, I remain of the view that Quakers are at their most eloquent when they are silent. Words mostly get in the way. So why am I a novelist? Well, I think the beauty of fiction – unlike philosophy, theology or political ideology – is that it is not trying to be ‘right’ or pin things down. It plays with the fact that life is messy, contradictory and confusing. Fiction doesn’t need answers, only questions. My characters represent different points of view, different aspects of my own psyche, debating life, not needing answers but exploration. It’s fine to use words, but let’s never imagine we’ve got it right.

Mike is the author of The Machine Society.

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Comments

The “Red Book” that I grew up with was three books. After the war is merged int two books then the present one red book. But the divisions are still there: The lives and experiences of previous Friends can still help anyone. The “right ordering” is just an archaic way of describing our admin for the benefit of outsiders who want to see we are not crazy. Perhaps we’ll divide it again this time because society’s laws change so quickly now.

By john0708 on 22nd October 2020 - 10:30

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Thank you for this - definitely ‘speaking to my condition’.  A friend asked me recently if Quakers had anything like a Bible.  I very reluctantly gave her a copy of QF&P, with the advice not to read the bits about running the organisation, and to just consider how the thoughts of others resonated with her, but not to take anything as ‘gospel’. I hope she hasn’t been put off.

By Lee@No18 on 22nd October 2020 - 12:00

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