Friday, May 24, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
report from lubbock, may 2013
my heart has been stirred up by a series of interesting events. upon moving to lubbock, i found the quakers, who met at 2 on sundays in a presbyterian church on the west side. they had nothing for kids, and 2 was a lousy time for us. another presbyterian church had some quakers attending it, met in the morning, and had extensive programming for kids, so i wen there.
so i found that the actual services stirred me in a lot of ways, but not towards becoming presbyterian. my mom was presbyterian, and at the age of thirteen or so, when i was religiously curious, they sent me down to the local presbyterian church, only a couple of blocks away, and i went there several times, on my own, to experience it. now, i find the songs familiar, the lord's prayer, the familiarity of routine and the gratifying in-tune sounds of entire chorus, plus organ, belting out the hymns. i would gladly trade it all for one quaker sing, where a rustic fiddle is accompanied by voices of friends i've known for years. the sermons teach me a little of scriptural history, i was always weak in that regard, and the book club leads us through a book about the malaise of modern christianity, which, duh, i was well aware of, but which is interesting anyway. my son is overjoyed with a crowd of friends that accepts him and includes him in their activities. this friday, for example, they're having a purple party. now that sounds cool. my quaker leanings, however, are left stranded. i come home and read quakerly things. i consider beginning to write quakerly things. i don't quite know what to do with my quaker practice.
online, on facebook,there are two groups. one is called the association of bad friends; it's decidedly not serious. the other is quakers with attitude. It's a little more serious, and together they give me a connection to international quakers that along with staying in touch with my old meeting, has made me feel connected at least. it actually wouldn't hurt me to keep writing my quaker plays, or work on the local situation so that there were more quaker activities, etc. don't know what i'll do. i may use this space to reflect on it, let it season, so to speak. change can be good, if i lead it that way.
so i found that the actual services stirred me in a lot of ways, but not towards becoming presbyterian. my mom was presbyterian, and at the age of thirteen or so, when i was religiously curious, they sent me down to the local presbyterian church, only a couple of blocks away, and i went there several times, on my own, to experience it. now, i find the songs familiar, the lord's prayer, the familiarity of routine and the gratifying in-tune sounds of entire chorus, plus organ, belting out the hymns. i would gladly trade it all for one quaker sing, where a rustic fiddle is accompanied by voices of friends i've known for years. the sermons teach me a little of scriptural history, i was always weak in that regard, and the book club leads us through a book about the malaise of modern christianity, which, duh, i was well aware of, but which is interesting anyway. my son is overjoyed with a crowd of friends that accepts him and includes him in their activities. this friday, for example, they're having a purple party. now that sounds cool. my quaker leanings, however, are left stranded. i come home and read quakerly things. i consider beginning to write quakerly things. i don't quite know what to do with my quaker practice.
online, on facebook,there are two groups. one is called the association of bad friends; it's decidedly not serious. the other is quakers with attitude. It's a little more serious, and together they give me a connection to international quakers that along with staying in touch with my old meeting, has made me feel connected at least. it actually wouldn't hurt me to keep writing my quaker plays, or work on the local situation so that there were more quaker activities, etc. don't know what i'll do. i may use this space to reflect on it, let it season, so to speak. change can be good, if i lead it that way.
