Face to faith
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1804786,00.html
Never underestimate the Quaker tradition of silence to help us deal
with the complexities of daily life, writes David Bryant
Saturday June 24, 2006
The Guardian
There are no guttering candles to catch the eye, not so much as a whiff
of fragrant incense. Even the low, anticipatory murmur of a pre-Matins
Anglican congregation is missing. Here I find only wooden benches, a
table bearing a vase of late autumn flowers and pale, blue-grey
18th-century woodwork. I am in a Quaker Meeting House to share an hour
of quiet with a Sunday morning gathering of Friends.
At first silence trickles in uneasily and the body, so indoctrinated
into doing rather than being rebels. There is an urge to fidget. Eyes
wander, ears become acutely aware of disruptive sounds. But soon the
silence steadies, settles and becomes palpable, threaded with strands
of the holy. It engulfs all distraction, subsuming it until even the
gurgle of water in the radiator pipes and the barking of a dog become
an integral part of it.
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