... About Quakerly Confusion

O Great Mystery, Let Us Be Your Hands and Your Voice

If you've heard me talk about Quakers, chances are good you've heard me talk about Quaker inaction. Occasionally we Quakers get caught up in procedure, nitpicking, and perfectionism; sometimes these things get in the way of moving ahead with really good work. With all of the wonderful ideas we're interested in, it can be hard to keep focused. I can just imagine Quakers standing in the way of work on age-diversity in our Quaker communities on account of the fact that the folks working on age diversity are not working on racial diversity at the same time. (The average age of members in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is a little too close for comfort to the average life expectancy worldwide. On the other hand, the proportion of white people in meetings around here is fairly close to the proportion in 1600s England, when Quakerism began.)

I think it's important to realize that our ideas need not be astounding and awesome for us to try them out; we don't need to plan for every contingency before giving things a go.

Or, to paraphrase one Friend's joking comment on the state of Quakerism : we aren't sure if we can bring Palestinians and Israelis together to talk about peace unless the parties first agree to be environmentally friendly and welcoming to gays.