‘Let us use the language of the twenty-first rather than the seventeenth century.’ Photo: Jason Leung / Unsplash.
‘Other practices, while not being quite so anachronistic, might well deserve reviewing.’
Lost for words: Peter Jarman thinks the Society needs an update
We Friends appear to cherish anachronisms like ‘Meeting for Worship’, ‘elders’ and ‘overseers’, and ‘Meeting for Sufferings’. This does not do our public image much good. I suggest some revisions.
A gathering is a corporate act in which Friends grow together in a deepening exercise of silence, stillness and awareness of what may be called the presence in the midst of the divine, or even the power of goodness. This practice is quite different to a Christian service of worship with its liturgy, eucharist and adoration of Jesus Christ. Worshipping in religious practice is to show profound religious devotion and respect, adore or venerate (God or any person or thing considered divine). Is this really what Friends do?
Gathering is a centripetal activity in which we are drawn towards the bedrock of our faith and hope. When gathered, with hearts and minds prepared, it is a singularly enriching experience. This is more than an ordinary meeting. A Quaker Meeting for Worship is a gathering for enlightenment and awareness, from which collective promptings arise, akin to well-trodden Buddhist practices. It seems that nothing or nobody is being worshipped.
When I was in Australia, Friends felt that ‘elders’ and ‘overseers’ belonged to a colonial past. There was a nurturing and a pastoral group. The former was open to all Friends who sought to nurture and uphold their faith and practice. The latter, with concerns for confidentiality, was more selective. It was composed of pastors rather than overseers.
Other practices, while not being quite so anachronistic, might well deserve reviewing – like that of placing a Bible on the Meeting’s table. Often it gathers the dust nowadays as Friends are either not familiar with it or are reluctant to refer to it. Some verses in it are enlightening and of distinct value, pearls in an obscure ocean of mumbo jumbo, and others are myth that can be mistaken for reality. Parts of the Old Testament can appear racist, as God appears to be solely on the side of the Jews, and, it could be argued, other races were ethnically cleansed. A way out of this dilemma is to use the Revised New Jerusalem Bible. This Catholic translation has the merit of using inclusive language, less male gendering, and of using italics in the gospels for quotations from the prophets that clarify the Christmas and Easter myths.
As for Meeting for Sufferings, let us use the language of the twenty-first rather than the seventeenth century: it is the Business Meeting of Britain Yearly Meeting.
In the end, though, it is not so much the words that we cherish but the Spirit from which they come. John Woolman heard that from the native American chief Papunahung; we would do well to hear it now.
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