,,, in a Quaker time of silence?
It is sort of a strange question, but the church is marked by doing things that we need to have explained to us. We stand to sing (because you can sing better standing); you sit, kneel or stand to pray, because of all sorts of different reasonings; You sit and listen to sermons, maybe you take notes, maybe you occasionally shout "Hallelulia".
And even in silence, there is - in most traditional churches - some direction. Two minutes silence "to remember those who have died". Silent retreats, where there is usually some input to consider on and work ones brain around.
In most churches where there is an expectation of new people, it is common to give some direction as to what book to look in, or that everything in projected - with directions.
But when you go to a quaker meeting, I was given a leaflet to explain a little bit of what would happen. But there is no real direction as to how you spend the time of silence. And - actually - that is quite good in many ways. Not least, because it takes some time to understand the nature and the meaning of a meeting.
So what should you do in a quaker silence. The answer is - as always - whatever you want, but this is some insight into what I feel is a way of using it. There are a number of stages that I find I go through.
Firstly, there is a time when you need to settle into the meeting, the silence. Some people will turn up to church early to quieten down before the service starts, and this is what the first part of a meeting is about. Settling down, maybe dealing with the issues you bring to the meeting or the distractions that have given you an issue, and let them disappear. That can mean giving them over to the divine for a period, before trying to deal with them later.
I find that next, something from the week tends to remain, and that seems to be my focus for the meeting. Not always, but often that is at least a starting point. Sometimes I stay there, and that is quite enough.
Of course, sometimes, someone will minister. Ministry is usually at least a chance to reflect on what I was thinking, and give a different direction to it. And sometimes, of course, it is unconnected to what I was thinking, is no help to me at all! Which is the way of meeting sometimes.
The time after is then, often, very productive, because I am wrestling to thoughts together. Sometimes there is some other "distraction" - something that occurs around the meeting house (or home) that gives me this other direction.
What I find is that, sometime around 45 minutes, there is a point of completion (for me). I find resolutions to the thought I have had come, but also, there can be other ministries - or maybe I have worked through to something to minister myself. What I find most intriguing is that the best ministry often comes 40-50 minutes into meeting.And the timing of meeting them becomes really important.
Anyhow - that is the anatomy of silence for me. There is more to it, but I find it interesting to consider the flow and progress.
