Ive never felt connected to any type of religion in a meaningful way, and all the churches Ive been to have been quick to turn me off.
I never really knew what Quakerism was until I started researching my family history. I found out that one of my ancestors was a man named John Bowne, a Quaker who immigrated to what was then the New Netherlands in search of religious freedom. He found none there, and was arrested, jailed, and banished from the colony for holding secret Quaker meetings in his kitchen! He then went all the way to Holland to take up his case with the Dutch East India Company… and won!
So I began to read about Quakerism, and I have yet to find a single facet of that religion that disagrees with my beliefs! When I go back to school, I am going to attend a meeting… I live in a small town and there are no Quakers in it. 3 years ago
Since I’ve drifted away from the Catholic church, I’ve been looking into other directions…and I really like the Quakers.
So I’ll see what happens when I attend a meeting. Don’t know how my parents will react. 3 years ago
have been attending Quaker Meeting religiously (pun intended) since July 2007 and have applied for membership in my local meeting. 3 years ago
I believe I have attended enough Meetings of Liberal Quakers at this point to partially conclude my investigation. My partial conclusion is that worshipping with Quakers, and helping them to undertake work in the community at large, is a viable option for me. I am comfortable with thinking of the Spirit of God as the Inner Light, and I enjoy spending time trying to communicate with the Inner Light while I am with a group of individuals trying to achieve the same goal.
Now I must undertake a second portion of my investigation: finding out exactly what is entailed in becoming a member of the Meeting I attend; what would be required of me, and what, if anything, I would be prohibited from doing. 4 years ago
In correspondence with my Quaker friend regarding my cousin’s funeral, I learned that Quakers do not perform sacraments, because they hold the view that all life is a sacrament.
This makes me wonder what they do for marriage ceremonies.
I’ll report back the results of future correspondence. 4 years ago
Tonight the friend who came to support me at my cousin’s wake took me out to a bookstore. She found something on Lucrezia Borgia, and I bought Holy Silence, a book about Quaker spirituality. I’m looking forward to reading it, but I have to get my homework done first! 4 years ago
I’m very new to this whole thing, and I may be off base, but it’s my understanding from the research that I’ve done and the couple of times that I’ve gone to meeting that Quakerism is, at its heart, a mystical religion. “Mystical” in the sense that it focuses on the possibility of an intimate union with the divine. When one goes to meeting, the silence is not the same as meditation – it is a waiting for the Holy Spirit to speak.
I don’t know if I can do this without believing in an interventionist God.
And once I open myself to the idea of an interventionist God, all sorts of philosophical problems crop up for me that otherwise would not be there.
Not sure what to do or where to go from here. 5 years ago
Went to my second Quaker meeting this past weekend.
Some Conservative Quakers were there.
It confirmed to me that, if I do identify as a Quaker eventually, I will identify as a Liberal Quaker. 5 years ago
Well, I went to my first Quaker meeting today.
I had a good time.
I want to find out more.
I don’t really know what else to say.
I guess if anyone asks questions, I’ll do my best to answer ‘em. 5 years ago
They seem to be up to some good things, but I really have no idea what it’s like to be a Quaker. Part of my very tentative and hesitant reapproachment with Christianity… 6 years ago
