‘Words are awkward enough. They are like pre-used bricks with bits of mortar still stuck on them.’

For a Society that gathers in silence, we can be very preoccupied with words. Lucy Parker talks language

‘Trying to ensure everyone is comfortable may be restricting all our chances to grow.’ | Photo: Jason Leung / Unsplash.

A number of Friends are uncomfortable with the use of so-called God language. It may not have been ever thus, but it certainly has been so for quite a long time. I remember some years ago a Friend standing up in Meeting, which had been silent up to that point, and suddenly announcing that if anyone said ‘God is love’ he would walk out. I was never quite sure whether his problem was with God or with love.

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