I’ve been tired today and decided to slow down a bit. I stayed in my room this morning working on a report and draft minutes for the Friends Historical Society meeting I’m clerking on Thursday evening – something I would have done before I came if I hadn’t been ill. I also put my feet up and read a book so that in the end it was a relaxing time.

After lunch it was off to the not-quite-a-YM-session on Committed Relationships. We heard four accounts of different relationships and different Quaker  lives which gave me a lot to ponder. Accounts of faithful lives are always inspiring and the caring of Friends’ meetings even when they were not sure how to act  ’officially’ was very evident. I heard an echo of this careful attitude when the clerk sent us off to our response groups while apologising that he could not adjourn the session as it had not been officially opened.

The response group I had a ticket for was an intense and sometimes difficult one. It was described as allowing for the expression of doubts and misgivings and I went to it wanting to listen rather than speak.  I found  talk of a Quaker Life conspiracy and assumptions that ‘we’ all agreed with one another rather difficult to take, but when we switched to worship sharing mode there were some valuable and moving contributions from a variety of positions and I came away glad to have been there and grateful to the facilitator for her honesty.

I am grateful that tomorrow we shall be able to take a break, although I am sure that I shall still be thinking about many of the great variety of things I have heard today.

Posted on July 28th, 2009 by Gil Skidmore
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