Worship Sharing Posts

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Worship Sharing July 26, 2024

Background
There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once.  On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs.  But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings….Between the two levels is fruitful interplay, but ever the accent must be upon the deeper level, where the soul ever dwells in the presence of the Holy One.”

    Thomas Kelly, A Testament of Devotion, 1941, pp. 9-10

“Simplicity, also called simple living, has long been a testimony of Friends.  A life of simplicity is one that is centered in God and focused on core values and faith.  It need not be cloistered and may even be a busy life….Simplicity is based in the right ordering of one’s priorities in placing God at the center of life.”

      SEYM, Faith and Practice, 2013, p. 58

Query:

Difficulties, fears, pressures, and tensions challenge me every day and require my attention.  Joys and positive experiences use my energy also.  Can embracing Quakerism enable me to be in the world but not of it?  Or, is embracing Quakerism my key to being be both in the world and of it?

June 28, 2024, 10:00 Christian Meditation Center

Query:
What is the role of Quaker silence in my life, during meeting for worship and at other moments and times?

Background:

“When you come to your meetings…Do you gather together bodily only…Or, rather do you sit down in the True Silence, resting from your own Will and Workings, and waiting upon the Lord…until the Lord breathes life into you, refresheth you, and prepares you….?”
 William Penn, 1678, SEYM, Faith and Practice, 2013, p. 13

“I have never lost the enjoyment of sitting in silence at the beginning of meeting, knowing that everything can happen….The Light can come from all sides.  The joy of experiencing the Light in a completely different way than one has thought it would come is one of the greatest gifts that Friends’ meeting for worship has brought me.

Ursula  Franklin, 1979, SEYM, Faith and Practice, 2013, p. 15

Silence…
“leaves a space for the Other to come in….”
“is not a void, it is full of expectation.”
“is the quieting of the daily mind.”
“is a tool.”

Various voices, on silence, QuakerSpeak, 2014

May 24

Query:
How does God call me to be a steward of our shared resources?  How can I walk gently on the earth? 

Background:
“Friends are indeed called to walk gently on the earth. Wasteful and extravagant consumption is a major cause of destruction of the environment….Friends are called to become models and patterns of simple living and concern for the earth. Some may find it difficult to change their accustomed lifestyle; others recognize the need and have begun to adopt ways of life which put the least strain on the world’s resources of energy, clean air, water, and soil.”
                                                           — SEYM Faith and Practice, 2013, p. 62
“All that we have, in our selves and our possessions, are gifts from God….”
                                                           — SEYM Faith and Practice, 2013, p. 65