Before exploring what I’ve learned at Quaker 101 with you, I want to express my gratitude to the Montreal Monthly Meeting for being this thing that I want to learn about and be part of, and for funding my participation in Quaker 101.
In terms of actual course content, a few things stood out to me. I enjoyed learning about the rebellious and sometimes dramatic tendencies of early Friends, such as when purple laces were hidden under dresses and a bladder was used to spray red juice on Friends to demonstrate their bloodied hands. Early Friends also lived by the idea that one could have a direct connection with God, not needing authority to interpret God’s word for them. This rejection of authority and new belief system would sometimes land them in prisons, and it still does.
Something else I learned was the importance of business meeting as a form of worship. Business meeting is the practice of decision-making as a community, which unites and bonds us in trust and process. In business meeting, everyone’s voice has equal value. “What canst thou say?” is a popular Quaker phrase that reminds us that what I have to say is just as important as what you have to say, and we should seek within ourselves the wisdom that we hold. Business meeting is an opportunity to connect with the community in a way that allows us to use spirit and communication to discern as an entity on matters that will ultimately nourish our meeting. Since learning more about business meeting, I find myself much more fond of and committed to taking part in it.
My experience of this course was one of connection and exploration. I thoroughly enjoyed going through the course with other new members and attendees who were often just as confused as I was about what exactly is at the heart of Quakerism, especially in regard to its jargon. If I had to roughly define what Quakerism means to me, I would say it is very experiential, a way of being in the world, and a bit hard to describe. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to describe how I experience Quakerism except that it is for me a lot to do with experiencing it in action. What I mean is, I can’t understand what the value of practicing is just by being told this is the thing to do for spiritual nourishment/learning/growth etc. When Jackie was listing things that we could do to explore and connect with Quakerism, one of the things she mentioned was that we should try to visit Camp NeeKauNis. If I were to just hear these words, I would think “well yes, spending time in nature with others whose values are similar sounds alright,” and probably I would experience some sort of restoration or enlightening conversation. But the reality is that Camp NeeKauNis was something I felt deeply when I went there. I felt a deep sense of love and support from my long-deceased ancestors whom I’d been missing. It was like I was walking the same paths as they did and all was as it should be. I knew that I was in this place that they and many other Friends gave life to so that it would exist as nourishment for people who would be there long after they were gone, people they would never meet and yet, these Friends created and maintained this sanctuary as an act of love towards anyone who might visit. There is no concise way to explain what this means or feels like, but to me, this connection is the Quaker experience. It means moving as a collective to commit acts of love that will be felt across time. So in telling you this, I am trying to tell you that the advice given to read the pamphlets and sit in silence and visit these Quaker places… are all tremendous sources of nourishment.
I did learn some things that surprised me. I was aware that there are some cultural aspects to socializing as a Quaker, for example not interrupting when someone is speaking, or taking a moment of silence before eating a meal. There is jargon, there are procedures… it seems that there are a lot of social norms for Quakers that I kind of wish there were a handbook for, since I’ve never been good at picking these up myself. I did hear of a Quaker behaviour that I found quite surprising (and morbidly attractive). It is that if, for example, there is a group of Friends and one Friend is saying something awful or offensive and just won’t stop the behaviour despite Friends’ attempts to discourage them, apparently the group will collectively (and literally) turn their backs on that person as a display of shunning/disapproval. I heard this and knew that you’d probably have to do something pretty bad to receive this.
I would recommend that anyone seeking some clarity and guidance take this course, whether you are new or in need of a refresher. My sense is that what I’ve learned from Quaker 101 is something I’m not fully aware of yet, and so I hesitate to say for whom and why this is a good course to take. An example of why I say this is that a lot of the little bits of insight I have gained from this course are making themselves known after the fact. One instance is where it was suggested that we engage in reading or listening to Quaker works, like with pamphlets and podcasts. I find that as I read and listen, this suggestion begins to bloom like a flower, leaving me with the comforting sense that I agree with what I’m hearing and it makes sense to me, and it’s quite delightful to remember that suggestion. So I’ll end with this, Quaker 101 is a great course for you if you want to keep exploring and aren’t sure where to start.