Quaker Friends Meeting

 

July 16, 2023 

So it’s true:  Quakers gather and simply wait quietly. Whereas free earplugs are a helpful bonus during worship at my church, this service was silent—no music, no teaching, no scripture reading, only listening for the voice of God. 

Grounds of the Urbana Quaker Meetinghouse are lovely, with flowers blooming, most strikingly a pink hibiscus at the entrance. After being welcomed, I tip-toed to a seat in the quiet of a big circle in the meeting room. There, nearly twenty of us sat on upright chairs for about an hour. Plenty of big windows make it easy to gaze out at nature. A familiar verse from Micah 6 came to mind:  With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Sacrifices? Gifts of oil? My firstborn? No. What is required is acting in justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God. What do these things look like in my life?

When the hour was nearly up, a woman broke the silence and told her thoughts as she passed the county jail coming to the meeting. A gentleman then spoke for about ten minutes, pouring out his pain from a previous interaction. Everyone listened respectfully as he shared with both laughter and tears. Another short period of quiet followed and then the person appointed to lead today asked that each of us tell our name, any announcements for the group, and whatever else we might feel led to say. One woman asked that we “hold in the light” a member who is dying. I said I was visiting as an exploration project and that I’d enjoyed the quiet in comparison with the usual Sunday morning. That got a few laughs. When we’d been around the circle, all were invited to stay for the eats and monthly business meeting to follow.

A friendly man with a long grey ponytail was interested to hear what other kinds of churches I’d visited, and he welcomed me back anytime. Going to the car past the hibiscus I felt at peace.