A man stood with his back to the camera, silhouetted by a light shining from above. Photo: By Mads Schmidt Rasmussen on Unsplash.
Wait, and see: Matt Rosen on Quaker Spring
‘I find myself helped to surrender my expectations’
For a few years, I’ve been attending gatherings of Quaker Spring, a community of Friends from many countries and Quaker traditions who come together to listen to the inward Christ. Quaker Spring grew out of a concern of North American young adult Friends to know the depth of Christ’s presence and power. They had experienced the busyness of Yearly Meetings and conferences – the packed agendas, and intense responsibilities of role-holders – and they yearned for time left open to the Spirit’s movement. They hoped to be refreshed and renewed, and then led into a world in need of the healing power they had encountered.
At Quaker Spring gatherings, we seek to stay open to the Holy Spirit’s daily guidance. Each day, we ask how God wants to shape our time together, and we leave space to listen. That takes patience and discipline, and some planning must be done to enable it. Yet even logistics can be managed in the matrix of prayer, with trust that Christ will be present to show us the way, and with willingness to change plans. At Quaker Spring, as in a Meeting for Worship, I find myself helped to surrender my expectations, let Jesus work in me, and celebrate how he is softening hearts and joining us together.
I’ve seen this same power working at Britain Yearly Meeting. This past summer, I experienced many fruits of the Spirit’s presence there: tendered hearts and changed minds, great gentleness and care, and an abiding concern for the order that comes from listening to God. I saw Friends handling challenges with love and not just tolerance, ‘making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’ (Ephesians 4:3). Times of worship brought palpable refreshment.
But I also saw Friends overwhelmed, burdened by responsibilities, weighed down by controversies, and acting out of exhaustion. I felt the temptation to push worship to the periphery, and to move at a speed other than that of prayer. Had I attended all I wanted to attend, I would have needed weeks to recover! I wondered if there was enough space to allow us to hear that still, small voice.
Earlier generations of Friends were so refreshed by their Yearly Meetings that they didn’t want to leave. When the work of the Meeting had been done, they felt ready to share their message of God’s presence. They often devoted as much time to waiting worship as to business, and they didn’t let a timetable distract them. They experienced the truth of Jesus’s promise of rest and renewal. They trusted the Spirit to shape their time together.
Quaker Spring has helped me to see that, amid our hectic lives and commitments, we can still make room for God to gather and guide us. We can yield our expectations and trust the Spirit to be present. We can wait for the sweet openness that comes from this presence. My prayer is that we might listen a little more and plan a little less. Then we too might find ourselves united, refreshed, and equipped to carry a message of light into the world.
