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July 22, 2002 ~ A Meeting, A Focusing
A large, plain white room in a house. Wooden floors. Sunlight pouring in the many windows. The only decorations are a few vases of wildflowers and a fern. The room is filled with padded folding chairs, all facing the center. Birdsong coming through the open windows. A child is sitting on the porch swing outside, humming and reading a book.
Some people start to sing as others silently wander in and take a seat. At ten, the singing stops, and we all settle into silence. Almost every seat is full. I close my eyes and relax, falling into inner space. After a short time, someone near the center of the room stands and says a few words. He sits. The silence falls about us again. Later, a woman stands, shares a few words, sits. Silence. And on for an hour.
Most of the insights and messages yesterday centered around tolerance, compassion, and how to translate those qualities into positive, useful action. At the end of the hour, everyone shifted in their seats, greeted their neighbors, then a man (the meeting clerk, I presume) stood and welcomed everyone to the Asheville Friends Meeting. (Liberal Quakers).
Next were announcements. These went on for forty-five minutes, but they were well worth the time. The Asheville meeting is participating in the building of a Habitat for Humanity house, and they called for volunteers. Some people were needed for homeless outreach. A silent peace march. A religious tolerance program. A protest at the Oakridge Nuclear Arms facility. Environmental action. Childcare. A local politician would be speaking. The list of service work, political action, and community outreach that this meeting is involved in went on and on and on. There was something for everyone to help with.
So yes, I finally made it to the Liberal Quaker meeting that I decided to start attending a while back (do see that entry for some good background, if you're new to me), though finals, graduation, job searching, and the residency got in the way until now. And after just one meeting, I'm hooked; I was reminded of everything that drew me to Quakerism in the first place. The non-hierarchical structure. The belief that everyone has spiritual wisdom. The way that Quakers, more than any other faith group that I've come into contact with, tend to be extremely committed to translating their beliefs into positive action (as became quickly evident in all of the community outreach and political action that this group has). How tolerant and loving they are. How open and honest. How, for the first time in years, I felt unconditionally accepted as a part of a faith community.
Listening to those people, it felt like I had found an organization perfectly tailored to fit my needs and interests. Compassion. Positive action. Environmentalism. Gay rights. Homeless outreach. Religious tolerance. Political Awareness. Pacifism.
Recently, I feel as if my life has been focusing, has become more actively fulfilling. I have a job that I love, where I am working with people who I care about and trust. I am repairing old connections that fell into disrepair while I was too busy in college. I am resolving several issues within and about myself and gearing for change. I am socially and politically active and aware. And now I have a faith community that challenges and inspires me, which I can call home. The image through the glass is sharper, more vivid.
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