Moving Forward?

The phrase "moving forward" has come up in two different circumstances.

The first was in talking with a representative from Ministry and Worship at Twin Cities Friends Meeting who had volunteered to talk with Judy and myself after our names came up in two committee meetings late last fall regarding the possibility that the Meeting might "lose" us. After several informal meetings with this representative, he asked us how did we see ourselves "moving forward." We then talked about some of the "obstacles." It is evident that several individuals in the Meeting have individual agendas that are fairly specific and they are "always bringing them up at the "expense" of other people's and the "Meeting's" agenda. I indicated that I understood this and that in several previous experiences, the Meeting would recognize the individual, but then proceed to deal with other agenda that was important to the Meeting. However, I also mentioned that the approach at TCFM and some other meetings I am now aware of that the response is that "We can't be perceived as upsetting any individual and therefore we can not move on anything that might upset anybody." The friend indicated that he had experienced the same thing with the last two meetings of his committee were taken up with "discerning" the specifics regarding a letter to an outside group regarding a concern that the Clerk of the committee had with a statement made by that group which had no real bearing on TCFM as a Meeting. I indicated that I felt with my fiscal, physical, and emotional limitations at this point I did not see a "way forward" within that "community" when there seemed no way to avoid confrontation with individuals who by default prevented the community from moving forward.

The second instance was yesterday in talking with my neurologist about my physical condition. He believes that I have "inflamed nerve roots near my spinal cord" which causes the numbness and lack of positional feedback from my hands and feet. This has been determined by elimination of "all" other causes for my condition. He asked me what I felt about "moving forward" in terms of how I experience my life (in physical terms). His question was with regard to possible treatments that posed some risks with only some possibility of any improvement and a significant possibility of no improvement. One treatment is VERY expensive (Tens of thousands of dollars over several months) and probably would mainly be covered by Medicare, but he was not sure since the diagnosis/treatment is rare. The second treatment is with steroids that might provide some improvement but at some "cardio-" risk with my history. I am consulting my cardiologist in a few weeks after a "Stress Test" and will decide at that time whether to proceed with the steroids or not.

I regret the very personal nature of this post, but when I ask myself the 3 BIG questions that were asked of Adam and Eve, Cain, and Elijah, I "have" to respond.

"Where are YOU?" Struggling very much with a "way forward."
"Where is YOUR brother?" Struggling with how to relate to others in the community.
"What are YOU doing HERE?" I. like Elijah, pull back into my "cave," but unlike Elijah, am not sure where God is sending me even though I do hear the "still small voice."

Paradoxical Queries

I have decided, at least for now, to try to post more frequently with a much more "reactive" approach. Rather than a contemplative approach in which I waited for some leading, I expect to go ahead and write what I am thinking in response to what I read, etc.. Thus, for me the paradox of wanting to be thoughtful and contemplative while being responsive and "flow of consciousness" will be tested. The Query format of Friends is reflexive and open-ended. My style has always been one of asking questions which might assist others to find their own answers. However, for various reasons, a few of which I will give now, has led me to think about giving my own reflections and responses and letting the "chips fall where they may."
My physical limitations include some macular degeneration which makes it difficult to concentrate on reading closely for very long, neuropathy in my hands which makes my typing rely on a visual guidance of my fingers to the keys and some "missed" keys which require corrections or typos.
My mental/emotional limitations include a real frustration with the political "insanity" of the US selfishness, xenophobia, materialism and militarism at the expense of the poor, hungry, oppressed, etc. As a Friend, I am also frustrated by the "I am right and you are wrong" status of much of the "exchanges" that I see. I do not agree with the "anything goes" among Friends, but I absolutely disagree with those who follow a much more "Old Testament" faith, a literalist/fundamentalist view of the Bible, and seem to go against the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 25, and the Gospel story.

Quaker Communion

I read an article entitled “Quaker Communion” (in the Feb. 2012 Friends Journal) in which the author speaks about Quakers missing out on something and having “thrown the baby out with the bath water” by not participating in the sharing of the bread and the cup as communion.  In my opinion what Friends did was to take the baby out of the bath water and celebrate its growth and participation in all of life. They saw keeping the “baby” in the bath water separates it from full presence in each of life’s activities not just in the sharing of the bread and the cup.

The one “communion” that I have participated in was with a small group of people at a regular meeting of an early morning prayer group. Most of the individuals were from the Mennonite church that my family and I were attending during my time in graduate school. We often shared donuts and brought our own coffee, but one morning Jeptha brought some sweet bread and some juice. He asked that we share in communion with one another as we drank the juice and ate the bread. After we had talked a little about the remembrance of Christ I mentioned that I was thankful that it was orange juice and not grape juice since I would have had some difficulty with the symbolism. Jeptha remarked that he actually had intended to bring grape juice but, when he thought of my beliefs regarding communion, he had brought the orange juice. That provoked a very good discussion on the use of symbols and the true meaning of communion with one another and Christ.

My father remarked at one point that we “paused” at the beginning of every meal, before we would partake in food and drink, not “in remembrance of” a past event nor to ask for the presence of Christ, but to remind ourselves that Christ IS present with us. Quaker Communion was not and should not be a physical representation of a virtual or conceptual reality but rather a reality known “experimentally” through the all day, every day experiences we share with one another and Christ. I believe that it was this form of communion that gave the early Friends much of their energy and excitement that brought such a rapid growth and commitment among those who partook of the reality of the “life blood” and body of believers.

In my opinion this makes Friends a very “difficult” or “peculiar” Religious Society to belong to. It seems easier to compartmentalize and delegate some of the responsibility and authority for our “spiritual lives” to other people or actions. However, we are called to make every thought, word, and deed of our lives not as “if” we were in the presence of God but because the presence of Love, Light, or Christ is with us always and becomes our prime motivation. 

QFF Meeting organization

I have accepted the position of Clerk, at least pro tem, of the “Quarterly Meeting” of Quaker Faith and Fellowship, referred to as QFF. The current proposal is that we will have a Meeting for Business, also known as Meeting for Worship for Attention to Business, on Dec. 11.

It has come to me that maybe we need to ask some questions, some of which were addressed in the agenda to the first Meeting on 29th of 9th month, 2011, regarding our undertaking. We spent essentially all of our first meeting looking at the first question: Who should be considered members of the Meeting? There seemed to be no “sense of the Meeting” reached. (There also is a good deal of material in the past postings of QFF. These are extensive and instructive.)
Among the questions to be asked are: Who? When? Where? What? Why? How?

The following quotes from the QFF site spell out some of the intentions of the founders of this site with regard to some of these.

"Vision and mission require committed members. We call everyone 'member' who registers as user of this website."

"We don't require commitment in any particular form, but we do welcome members taking responsibility. And telling us which responsibility they take and how they think it
contributes to our vision and mission. So we can support each other in bearing the responsibilities chosen voluntarily."

Over the last 3 years there has been much discussion regarding QFF organization and "Future." I trust my additions might be helpful.

The earliest Friends apparently did not have an intention of forming a new sect and there were no requirements for being a “Publisher of Truth” as early Friends were called. Their intention was to form a community based on the experiences of a number of leaders who felt that everyone in the group could be a leader.
It is my sense that in many ways our intentions here are somewhat similar in that we are trying to establish an e-community with “open” membership based on the experience of the “Religious Society of Friends.” Thus the terms used are those from this experience. However, the means of communication, speed of “travel,” and commonality of location are “light speed” separated from the 17th and 18th century.
In my understanding, which certainly is not that extensive and is open to correction, early Friends met once or twice a week at a local “site,” often in the beginning a house, for Meeting for Worship. Then over the years, especially as the local groups grew in size, there began to be a need for a Meeting house which raised several business type questions. It was decided fairly early on that there needed to be Meetings for Business. These were to meet once a month, thus Monthly Meetings, and would consist of those Friends in a local area who could spend a day traveling to and from a location while devoting an extensive time in decision making on matters of business.
In addition, to keep “good Gospel order,” the Monthly Meetings in a given area would send representatives to Quarterly Meetings. These individuals were those who were “released” to be able to travel to a location and spend usually 7th and 1st days sharing Worship and Business. This was before 5 day work weeks. It required overnight arrangements, as well as release from home, farm, and work duties, etc. Then once a year, thus Yearly Meetings, representatives would travel to a central location, e.g. London, for generally a week of Meetings for Worship and keeping “good order” among Friends.

Some in QFF are proposing that we establish a Meeting that might serve a new and somewhat different function, although maintaining some of the older functions as well, among an e-community of Friends. I have some proposals of varying ideas as to how this might work and will share those in future posts. I will also suggest ways in which we can ask the Who, What, etc. questions, the most important one might be Why.