For a while now, I’ve been thinking about going back to God. However, having spent two decades in a flux – Am I still Christian? Do I still believe? - I am at a loss at where to start. Do I explore other faiths? Do I hang on to Christ? Do I start all over again?
I say a prayer every night with my kids to God and Christ. So it must be that I still do believe. And yet, I find myself wondering if I am ready to commit wholely to a faith that is governed by rules and regiments, many of which I don’t fully agree with. Truthfully? No.
Today, while watching Mrs Brown (a terrific movie, by the way), I Googled Dame Judi Dench and discovered that she was a Quaker, and how that had shaped her as a young lady. Before this, I’d thought the Quakers were like the Amish, as in men in large buckled hats rolling oats. And so, I Googled Quakers and ended up stopping the movie and reading everything about the Religious Society of Friends movement.
I started reading this article named Silent Worship and Quaker Values, and slowly felt myself warming up to the faith’s ideals of creedlessness and stillness, that anyone can experience God directly and that “Quakerism is just one way to know God, and authentic expressions of God’s leadings are also found in other religions.”
I bet some of you did not know that there are Christians out there who believe this. I surely did not. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. This was how I’d believed in God and Christ even as I’d read the bible so many years ago. This was how I’d envisioned a loving, changing God to be. All the while, one question kept slapping me up on my forehead: Why have I not known of Quakerism all my life (except for the oats in my Milo that I used to hate)?
And so, my dear readers, I am going to my first Quaker meeting, the Sunday after this. I won’t be bringing the girls ‘coz it’s just going to be a kind of reconnaissance, you know, to check it out, see if it’s not some kind of crazy cult thing, which I don’t think it’ll be but one can never be too sure these days. Lokes, if you’re reading this, not to worry. As distasteful as the saying is to me now, I won’t drink the Kool-Aid.
Anyone reading me here is a Quaker? Or have any experience with Quakers/gone for any of their meetings? Please, share.
Can I please come with you? Would that be ok?
Jenn, I’m very excited for you. I’m not a Christian but I’m very much leaning towards it. Call me crazy, but I would even like to be Amish
And now I hear abt you going to a Quaker meeting and for some unknown reason, I feel so excited for you! I want to know more too. And if I could, I would like to go with you. So pls update us….
There is a great website http://www.beliefnet.com where you can read about so many religions and get a handle on their dogma and practices. It’s a great place to go when you have questions.
Until you take yourself off of the throne of your heart and put Jesus Christ there you can quake and shake all you want and it won’t mean a thing. It is about a relationship with God, not a religion. The only “rules and regulations” God has for you are there to protect and keep you like the rules a good parent has for their much loved children.
Instead of finding a “religion” that seems appealing to you, I would recommend you become a rebel. Rebel against Satan’s plans for your life and accept God’s plan to give your life purpose and hope.
JJ, I’ve heard your kind of rhetoric spewed in so many ways, so many times I can’t even count. This is the kind of judgmental, self-righteous posturing that puts me off. All I know is that something that’s divine can’t feel so wrong, for so long.
I guess god does have a plan for everyone.
“For God so love the world that He gave us His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
Salvation is eternal, and nothing can keep us from the love of God. May God bless you and your family.