The Quaker Way by Rex Ambler

Author:Rex Ambler [Ambler, Rex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-78099-658-5
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Published: 2013-04-26T00:00:00+00:00

What makes all this possible?

We can see that this is as much a spiritual exercise as our Meeting for Worship. Although we do not come together specifically to ‘worship’ on this occasion – we come to do business – we do come in the same attitude of openness and receptivity, and we expect in the same way to be guided by the Spirit. (That shows we can be as spiritual in deciding an action as we are in contemplation. In fact it is part of our Quaker way to carry the insights we gain in worship into the life of action, into the everyday.) But for all this we have to take some responsibility to see that this happens. We have to put ourselves in a position where we can be open and receptive, both to the issues themselves and to the Spirit working quietly within us. So over the years Friends have developed a certain pattern of behaviour which can facilitate the process. You will see much of this recorded in Quaker Faith and Practice (chapter 3 mostly, as in Appendix 2 here, but it pervades the whole book). It will help, though, if I pull it together so that we can see it as a whole. What makes the Quaker way of deciding an issue practicable, then, is that:

We pause between contributions,

not jumping in as soon as we get a chance, and not interrupting.

We speak to the meeting as a whole,

not to an individual in particular, especially not to the Friend who has just spoken.

We defer to the clerk.

Like the players in an orchestra, we wait till we have a cue from the ‘conductor’ that we are free to speak. In a large meeting this normally involves standing up or raising a hand and waiting to be called. In a small meeting a look or a nod may be enough.

These three could be summed up by the advice of George Fox, ‘Be still and cool in thy own mind and spirit from thy own thoughts’.76

We listen attentively to everyone,

even the least articulate or knowledgeable.

We speak briefly and to the point,

avoiding the desire to make a speech.

We avoid rhetoric and manipulation,

which may persuade people temporarily, but not convince them deeply.

We may prepare our minds beforehand, but not our opinions!

The clerk has to bear that in mind too, since anxiety about an item on the agenda may persuade her to settle her own mind about it first.

These four can be summed up by Fox’s words again: ‘Let truth be the head, and practise it’.77

We keep silent while the clerk writes a Minute.

The temptation is to chatter while the clerk scribbles quietly at the table, but she is trying to get ‘the sense of the meeting’,

so she needs our quiet support.

We unite on a Minute, not on a vote.

We’re looking to agree, not on the proposal that carries the day, but the form of words which expresses the sense of the whole meeting.

We delay till another meeting if unity is not achievable.

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