Fellowship With Friends

Saturday evening:  Tomorrow, unless God intervenes, I will attend a Quaker meeting here in Durango.

            Sunday, Apr 13, 2014 – I did attend the Quaker “Friends” worship service this morning.  I parked about a ½ mile away and sat there for ten minutes as I did not want to arrive too early.  It’s one thing to attend a church which is similar, even if only remotely, to what one regularly attends.  It can be challenging as we don’t know anyone, but we can have a reasonable sense of what to expect.  Attending a service at which one is totally unfamiliar with the method of worship, the beliefs, etc. is quite another experience.  It is unnerving.

            I had prepared last night as well as possible by reading about Quakers and the ways in which they worship.

Quaker Fellowship Building

            At 9:35, I pulled into the parking lot and walked to the front door, kind of expecting to be met by someone, but there was no one in the foyer.  The church is very, very small and there was a double door standing open to the sanctuary or worship room on the right.  I peeked in and saw a handful of folks (seven I believe) sitting in various locations in two rows of chairs organized around the outside of the room.  One man was talking and the others seemed to be giving some deference to him as the “teacher” for the morning.  I was to learn later that this is their “Sunday School” and I found it not greatly dissimilar to our Connections’ Class.  They invited me in and I crossed the room and sat down.

            The dialogue continued on the subject of how the early church was hijacked (my word not the speaker’s) by the “control freaks” (his words, not mine) of the early church and for many years that was what the church was.  I think they went on to say that the church today is becoming one of finding answers and truth in one’s own.

            The session concluded at 1000 and we all went into the foyer.  I met Robert and Suzanne (her mother was born in Columbus GA and she loves GA). Robert explained to me a little about the worship service that was to begin forthrightly.  It was an unprogrammed service and a silent service at that.

            Unprogrammed means no one leads it as contrasted to a programmed service in which a minister leads.  One may find either kind or worship service format at Quaker Fellowships in different areas. 

            With that, all of nine of us headed into the worship room.  It’s a rectangular shaped room about 20’ by 30’.  No adornments whatsoever save for seven or eight large windows through which one can see the pine trees surrounding the church or the mountains.  No one said a word, but each person entered into quiet contemplation and meditation awaiting or seeking the Lord’s insight or revelation.  After an undetermined time of introspection, anyone can speak, but the thoughts are supposed to be personal insights or revelations from God.

            I closed my eyes and prayed to myself.  Guidance I had read said an individual should leave the cares of daily schedules and such outside and seek to focus on hearing from God.  I considered sharing my own experiences about God calling me up to mountains so that we can be closer to Him, but I chose to keep these thoughts to myself.

            Further private thoughts on this went back to the year Muggy was so sick.  As we struggled through that time, God opened our eyes to understand adversity (of whatever kind) to be mountaintop experiences, not valleys.  It was during that time that Muggy’s room faced northwest from Emory and we had a wonderful view of Kennesaw Mountain. 

            I’ve since written about that a few times, but this morning I was delving deeper into it.  Here I am in Colorado and just two days ago God led me to Park Point Fire Lookout Tower at 8572 feet above sea level. 

God and me, 8572 feet above sea level

It was only God and me up there that day and the sanctity of the moment was not lost on me.  He had again, led me to the mountaintop to draw closer to Him.

            From thence my thoughts went to the contour lines on the trail maps I have studied since arriving here; the closer the contour lines, the steeper the grade.  Then, I was reverse thinking about valleys as mountaintops (the change in perspective I strive for during adversity) which led me to think of contour lines going down into a valley.  Last week, John told me many times it’s more difficult going down a mountain than up for fear of tripping and/or falling. 
            Now my thoughts went to the difficulties and travails that we encounter when adversity strikes us or those in our lives and we can stumble or fall during our descent into the valley.  And this is precisely why we must look at these times as mountaintops not valleys, so that we will keep our eyes focused on God and draw closer to Him.

            As I said, I did not share (probably should have) but instead, I asked God to show me what He had for me this morning.  Then, the gentleman across the room stood and shared about a newspaper article he had read that week about the 8-year old girl attending a Christian School.  Because she was such a tomboy, wore her hair short and liked to do “boy” things (shoot bb guns, etc), the school was not comfortable with her behaviors and asked her to leave the school (according to the article there were some other behaviors such as wanting to use the boys’ restrooms and others unmentioned).  The man shared that his take-away from this was to look on the heart not the outward appearance.

            And it struck me!  My gosh, this is the fourth time in three weeks that God has shown that lesson to me. First, at the Episcopal service when the reverend said God looks at the heart, not the outward appearance.  Then, at the meditation session on Thursday and the last word that morning was “let” (as in let it be, let them be…).  Then, last Sunday I while attending the Vallecito Lake Church of the Outdoors with John and Patricia I again was reminded to look at the heart, the inside of people, not the outward appearance.

            In Patricia’s own words, John’s friends call him the curmudgeon of the dam.  If you met John on the street you might wonder.  He’s gruff in manner and appearance.  He has a beard he has been growing for over 40 years and he is not shy about sharing his opinions about life, things or you if it strikes his fancy.  Patricia looks every bit the gentle hippie, but as a previous writing (blogged) shared, we all struck a special friendship that day in the woods.

            Then, here I am, in a Quaker worship service hearing the same message again.  And I had just been thinking about the phrase again of “Let go, let God”.  There’s the “let” word again and the only difference between those two sets of two words is the “d” in God.  To me that “d” means discipline and I now apply that thought of discipline to what God was saying this morning about look on the inward, the heart of people and do not be caught up in judgment or making assessments of people based upon negative aspects and/or observations. 

            For some reason, God is emphasizing this lesson to me; as simple as it may seem, it is profound.  And now I’m taken to part of the reason, part of what I’m pursuing out here.  I’m beginning to understand….I think!

            So now, a few words on connecting dots again.  Prior to my arrival here in Durango, Chris asked if I wanted him to stop the newspaper delivery while I was here.  I said, “No, I think I’d enjoy reading it.”  This, I believe, was God directing my paths and appointments so that I would read the same article and have the same foundation as the speaker this morning while I was here!!

            I spoke with this man after the service.  I had shared to the group that I was visiting and that I was on a spiritual journey.  He commented to me that he envied what I was doing.  I said to him, “It is a gift that I have been given by God” as I pointed toward heaven.