Thought for the Week: Sunday morning
Alex Thomson reflects on why the world needs Quakers
In Meeting for Worship this morning a question occurred to me: when there are so many other religious and spiritual groups, why does the world need Quakers? I came up with four reasons.
First, Quakers see that of God in everyone.
Second, there is no leader, no one to follow, no one to say if you break that rule, or you cannot accept this, you are no longer one of us. It’s down to you to have that direct experience of God, or that which is, whatever you want to call it. It’s you who has to do the work, to determine what is God’s will, and what is not, and to know that God is all accepting, forgiving and loving.
Third, coming to Meeting for Worship, sitting in silence, becoming still, waiting upon God, is a group ‘activity’, not an individual one. There’s no seeking individual enlightenment; we do it as a group. Within a gathered Meeting a ‘presence’ can be felt, and when moved we stand and speak a truth that has been revealed to us and we share it.
Fourth, from that deep-felt realisation comes action. We live our realisation. Then, holding the question still in the Light, the following arose, and an answer: in each of us there is the seed of ‘that of God’. It is in the depths of who we are. I don’t know why it is so deep; maybe so that it cannot be blown away, but it’s there. Not so far beneath the surface of who we are there are other seeds: seeds planted by the ego, seeds of selfishness, of greed, of hurt, of suffering, of craving – all sorts of unwholesome seeds. We have been given a tool to help us reach that seed of ‘that of God’. It is the tool of awareness and with this tool we ask ourselves: what is the source of what I am thinking, saying, and doing? With this tool we can unearth the weeds of those unwholesome seeds, creating a space where the nourishment of life can reach that Good Seed so that it may grow to the surface and bloom in the Light of our True Self.
This seed of ‘that of God’ is not the same in each of us. We are all unique; we have our own qualities and talents to offer. It’s up to us to water that seed not only in ourselves, but also in everyone. This is our group ‘activity’: to take our awakening to the outside world and water the seed of ‘that of God’ in everyone; to hold the world in the Light; and to nourish the Good Seed so that across the surface of who we are that Inner Seed manifests in the outward world and pollinates the world, creating the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
Who knows how long each of us has to live? With the remaining life I have all I want to do is water that seed of ‘that of God’ within all of us. That’s why the world needs Quakers. It’s up to us to look after the world, just as a gardener would look after a garden in order to make it beautiful.
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