What is Quakerism and what is its mission today? Personal Response

Unprogrammed Quakerism is a tradition that grew from the work of George Fox, James Naylor, Margaret Fell, and others (the Valiant Sixty) during 17^th Century England.  This work described a worship process, and a way of life, that removes barriers between individuals and God, and that emphasizes one’s personal responsibility in creating a life free from conflict of interest, though it is not generally stated in these words.

My personal relationship to unprogrammed Meetings is longstanding and deep.  As a Young Friend, I framed my identity around Quakers, even as I knew that I could not live up to their ideals.  They offered me refuge, sanity, and recognition as a child of God equal to them, which changed my life.  This Meeting was deeply spiritual and reflective, Christocentric but allowing of skepticism.  To me, it is the best example of Quakerism, and I have struggled to find another like it.  

As I traveled through schools, jobs, and life, I found that there is a large range in unprogrammed Meetings.  That is, each Meeting has its own ethic and sense of mission.  All of them that I have experienced are socially progressive, open and affirming to alternative lifestyles, interested in environmental work, committed to witness for peace, and self-questioning.  The ways that they express these are eccentric to each Meeting - some are very active in their communities, some are more internally focused.  All of them are attractive to me personally, in their desire to be inclusive and to celebrate diversity.  They also drive me bonkers.

What I have missed is a sense of a spiritual path, a method or a teaching that binds the testimonies together and makes them into compelling personal challenges.  Witness is very often outward directed, without the inward development that would ground their work in personal experience - the excruciating personal experience of transformation...that which they are often asking others to do.  Yes, everyone follows things like the Peace Testimony to the limits of their consciences.  But not everyone looks at how they fail to give up petty angers or at how they each can transform their personal use of power to create greater peace among themselves.  I find little “tenderness” within present day Meetings.

For some time, I did not attend Meeting, going instead on Hindu retreats and practicing Vipassana meditation.  Meetings felt too “social” or too chatty.  I did not appreciate most of the vocal ministry, feeling it more to be folksy stories than compelling spirituality.  I wanted insight.  I wanted to feel the Spirit directly, and did not find this in Meeting.  Thus, it became clear that my belief is that part of unprogrammed Quakerism’s mission is to encourage personal transformation, in order to ground social witness on secure spiritual values.  To me, for example, it makes no sense to “march for peace,”  if militancy itself is the problem.

One of the strengths of unprogrammed Quakerism is that neither I nor anyone else can define what its purpose is, beyond the central Quaker tenents.  We must struggle with each other to find it.  My opinions add to the mix.  We are all trying to come to terms with our common human inability, so far, to help God create heaven on earth - though we keep trying.