Member-only story
I can no longer say I have never been to a Quaker meeting
43 minutes of silence then … “Let us try what Love will do.”
Forty-three minutes of silence.
Yes, that’s right. The group of us, eight of us altogether, sat in a circle in folding chairs in a lower room at the Unitarian Universalist Church for what we were told would be 45 minutes of silence as this local group of the Society of Friends gathered for worship.
From what I had read, a Quaker or Society of Friends “unprogrammed” meeting was typically a few minutes of quiet gathering and greeting, then at the appointed time, everyone takes their seats and worship begins.
There are no hymns sung or music played; nothing is read to give a focus to the time of silence; we simply sat and waited … and waited … and waited …, with an openness to “the Light”, which is the way that many Quakers speak of God.
If someone feels that they have something to say, then they are encouraged to do so. If there is no word for the group that emerges, then there is silence … 45 minutes of silence … until the service is finished.
Now I have had a good bit of experience with sitting in silence. Twice a year I teach classes in mindfulness. I have even had the good fortune to spend a day at a large gathering at…
