I guess I'm considered an unofficial Quaker, as I am unable to attend meetings at the moment. But I do believe that god lives inside of me, and I try to connect with Him in my own ways. And lately, I've been feeling kind of disconnected.

But I was knitting today and felt something so connected to God. I just felt that I was creating something, and that felt like Godliness. I feel Him, and my faith feels renewed.

I brought my favorite devotional with me to MfW today. This reading, from the section "Practicing Peace in the Face of Fear" spoke to my condition.

I've only just started attending my local Quaker meeting this year. I don't know if I'd consider myself a Quaker. At this point, I'm still just trying it out. I'm reading a ton of books and pamphlets from my local meeting's library, and one about mental illness really shocked me. I just want to see if what the pamphlet says is how a lot of Quakers believe, and my meeting is so small, I just thought I could ask all of y'all.

Pendle hill Pamphlet 394 - God's Healing Grace. I've only read the first five or so pages. In it, the author says that she has a history of psychosis, but believes that she can control the voices, that they are (literal) demons, that she does faith healings, that she tried her hardest to get off of psych meds, and that just re-focusing her mind on positive things helped her get over her psychosis.

I have severe OCD, and bipolar 2 as well. Honestly, this pamphlet made me kind of sick and disgusted. If this is a normal thing for Quakers to believe, I really want to know, because I feel like I could no longer attend a church that is ok with these feelings. I know that everyone can think their own way, and there is no set creed. But the fact that Pendle Hill published this makes me second guess a lot. There also isn't a lot of info online about Quakerism and mental health, but what there is seems to focus on spiritual illness, reflection, simplicity etc. I don't want to go to a church that thinks people can overcome demons and faith heal - or even that psych meds and therapy aren't needed when you can just take some time to rest and reflect.

I don't know if any of y'all will have any info. Please, if anyone can, are there any places to learn more? Do many Quakers believe you can sort of will yourself out of mental illness? Just at a loss here. Thanks for your help.

So. On a lighter subject, the holidays are coming up. I like to set up a Christmas tree, and every year I try to add a couple ornaments thatre relevant to my life that year. I really have embraced the Quaker name and ideals this year and want to commemorate that in one of the ornaments. I either buy or sometimes make them.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what that could look like? It can range from silly to serious. I could always fall back to a simple cross maybe, but I’d like to hear some ideas

I'm interested in comparing notes with folks elsewhere: if your local Meeting runs or participates in a mutual aid program, how has your experience been with that? Does it overlap significantly with the work of other religious congregations or charity organizations in your area? How much focus goes towards assisting folks in the community versus assisting Friends in need? Does your Meeting have a dedicated committee for mutual aid or is the work done by a committee with broader concerns? What portion of attendees or members participates? Do you find the work fulfilling and effective? What aspects of mutual aid do you find challenging? Thanks all!

Hi everyone, I am curious as to what are the core beliefs of the Quaker faith? Is it a denomination of Christianity or its own religion entirely? Is it a religion with guidelines, rules, traditions, norms... or more a belief system? I do not want to offend anyone, I am genuinely curious as to what Quakerism is.

How do Quakers view God and humans personal connection to Him?

I am looking to learn about the Quaker faith out of my own personal curiosity.

Thank you so much and God bless you all

Edit: I have decided to stay in the states to provide support for my fellow Americans. I will build others up and maybe even protest and bring food and water to those protesting to help fuel them so they don't grow tired. I will do what I can to create change in America. Wish me luck!

I'm a friend from America. I'm very scared of what's to happen next in my country. I'm scared of a civil war. I want to leave before January 20th which is when Trump is sworn into office. I'm sure many friends here feel the same. Abortion isn't legal in my state already and I'm lucky that I have an IUD. But I'm afraid that birth control in general will be taken away. I'm also nonbinary and a lesbian and don't feel safe as a queer person. It's bad enough I get hate already from random people. And catcalled by men. I've been raped and used plan b for that. Now plan b might be taken away. It's already expensive to begin with. My state also doesn't have LGBT protections and it's only gonna get worse.

What I'm asking friends from around the world; will you help people in america? Please I urge you all to speak with that at your next meeting for business. It's bad enough it's a normal thing to see people carry guns with them walking down the street. My generation has to practice school shooter drills and now he might undo the gun control we currently have.

So please help Americans who want to leave. Please provide sanctuary for us.

Thank you,

A friend from the states

I’ve felt so unprotected since my mom and gran died last year. I’ve been struggling to recover financially, remain alive, and emotionally cope despite this being hardest I’ve ever tried at anything in my life. I’m also American and these election results have hurt me so bad. So many people will be harmed

What should I be asking god for? I’ve prayed for healing health wise. Nothin. I’ve prayed for prosperity in my community and country. Nothin. I’m tired.

What am I or we doing wrong? I’m afraid of suffering for the rest of my life and I’m only 26. I graduated high school in 2016 , then college in 2020 and now ive been an adult through maybe the worst time in american history that any of us have ever been alive for. i really dont think i believe in god anymore. just a common good and that is constantly under threat.

do you believe god blesses you? im starting to think some are just lucky and others have the power to rig life in their favor.

I apologize if this is a stupid question, but I tried searching for the answer first and got conflicting responses.

I am a practicing Catholic and am engaged to be married in the Catholic Church. I find a lot of comfort in the religious practices I was raised with, but I also fundamentally disagree with many aspects of Catholic doctrine.

Fortunately, I have found a specific Catholic parish near me that aligns pretty well with my personal beliefs. If it weren't for this specific parish and their involvement with causes that are important to me, I would probably not be Catholic anymore.

I have had a vague interest in Quakerism for about five years now. Everything I have learned so far about Quaker belief systems aligns really well with what I believe. However, I have never actually tried attending my local meetinghouse. Even though I don't really believe in all of Catholic theology, I do like my current parish and want to continue attending Mass there. My local meetinghouse does not meet at the same time as Mass, so I could theoretically do both, and I'd like to try attending a meeting at some point.

Can I become a Quaker while still being a member of the Catholic Church?

I attend a very small silent meeting in a mostly conservative area. For a while I was concerned it would be shut down or consolidated because of the low number of attendees. Recently (the last year or so) weekly attendance has shot up enormously. We have multiple children attending regularly now and half of the seats or more are full most weekends. Is what I’m seeing in my meeting an outlier or are others experiencing something similar? My theory is of course that these trying times are pushing folks to seek comfort in community, god, by find likeminded individuals, etc. This could be “copium” as the kids say but maybe this is a silver lining many of us are looking for? I do not want to trivialize what many folk are up against in the world today by painting a rosier picture than our current reality reflects but in my little world this does offer a much needed bit of hope.

Apologies for being a bit lazy, but I know I've seen people mention an online Meeting in a few threads for new Friends. Currently Quaker curious and not ready for an in person Meeting. Would someone be kind enough to mention the online Meeting that is open?

I'm curious how to create space in meeting for worship for the kids that attend our meeting to talk. Many of them (but not all) have attended or currently attend a Quaker school and I think have some comfort level sharing in meeting (at least in a school/ peers setting). How can we create that same ease for them in MFW? At the moment they spend one Sunday a month with us for the entirety of meeting, and the other Sundays they spend 15 minutes, then go to First Day School. Looking for any ideas from educators or folks that have kids participating in meeting. Thanks!

I'm a relatively new Quaker, so I only have a general feeling that this kind of question might be....unseemly? Or not? It seems like everyone at my rather large Meeting is married, or even older than me. I'm 63. There are about 3 single men who attend regularly and none of them are right for me. I'm going to try to get to other Meetings, but it's hard because I'm very attached to my Meeting, plus, I often have a role or just need to connect with Friends about Meeting business. But I will try, in part because I really do like experiencing other Meetings here in the safely blue northeast. But it seems pretty inefficient. I promised my self this morning to try a christian singles site, but now I just can't bring myself to do it. I can't imagine finding anyone there, even a Unitarian, who shares my far left politics (not a problem at my home Meeting--birthplace of "woke".) Sorry to ramble, feeling a bit stuck.

Basically what the title says. I've been attending an unprogrammed meeting for a couple of months now but I don't really know what to look for when I'm thinking and listening. I usually use the time to hash out what I perceive to be truths about God and the world, but I don't really know how to listen for the Light or whether the point is the contemplation in itself. What do you guys think about? Do you have prepared questions or a chosen topic for that day or do you just let your mind wander?

Hello,

I will be attending a Quaker meeting for the first time in a very long time, and I had never gone regularly. This meeting group is new to me; it's unprogrammed, and in parentheses listed as "silent."

I'm very open to a silent meeting as a spiritual setting. So, my question isn't really spiritual, moreso just personal and social.

I'd really like to get to know people, and even make friends with some Friends! How do people do this usually? Is there a time before / after where people are still hanging out, but it's ok to talk now? Or, maybe you can exchange numbers with people silently on slips of paper?

I don't want to be rude or disrespectful at all! I just want to be part of a community.

My son's kindergarten teacher has asked if I would share about Quakerism for the class. We're in South Carolina so Friends are pretty exotic. Other than a mini-meeting, does anyone have any ideas about how to briefly present Quakerism to a bunch of 4-5 yos?

adding: I think I was unclear at first, but I am Quaker. I grew up in Philadelphia and have attended Quaker meetings for most of my life, though I sort of fell off after moving to the South, attending meeting sporadically but never really found one that felt like "home." I am not, however, a children's instructor, so tips for that part are what I'm looking for.

Thank you!

Hello r/Quakers ,

After I pray to God, while I feel good, I begin to suffer from guilt and shame, likely stemming from my conservative habits/perceptions from my past being reactivated by prayer.

I know it's the prayer to God as when I pray to myself, focusing more on just being an atheist/agnostic, this tends to not happen.

Given I would prefer to pray to God directly, even if I see him largely as a phantom (albeit, a powerful and holy ghost) of my mind, here is one way I've been trying to address it:

I've been cultivating my own visualization practice that I call "Black Water", which involves allowing the black waters of the guilt and shame from an action of mine to pour over me until I'm completely submerged, and its feel, lukewarm - like acclimating to a pool. The point is to walk from guilt and shame feeling calmed from dark emotions and grounded in the reality of our inner darkness vs. hurt by them.

I've also been speaking with Buddhists on meditation practices & traditions I could follow.

Among their recommendations, I believe I'll be exploring loving-kindness meditation, and the bhakti yoga path: A Seeker’s Guide to Bhakti Yoga

But I'm curious for the opinions of Quakers, as I've always benefit from reading your answers to my past posts, and the posts of others.

How do you quench/calm feelings of guilt and shame? I want a walk where I can learn from them and feel humbled and taught vs. unnecessarily (or unskillfully) guilted or shamed from them.

Hi everyone,

I am an attender of Meeting for nearly a year now, first in person and since my recent move online via Woodbrooke.

Coming from more of a cult-like religious background, I find myself admittedly a bit lonely on this journey, as my wonderful husband follows a different path and my local meeting doesn’t have as many attenders or friends who are near to my age. Though I do immensely value intergenerational (and intercultural) friendships!

Any fellow Quakers want to be slow mail or email penpals? I’ve seen similar posts before, but they’ve since been locked. Strictly platonic, no age or location preferences, but would be lovely to share thoughts on the Society of Friends, advices and queries, daily life, activism, etc. Hoping to keep it offline in order to more wholly embrace simplicity, and also hoping that we can assume the best if other life commitments take precedence for a time and letters are more/less frequent (completely understandable!).

I’m F, in my early 30s, based in Europe.

I apologize in advance for the punchy title, I couldn't think of any other way to title this.

Hello all. Over the last year or so I've been exploring the history of WW1 and encountered the history of Quaker conscientious objectors. I consider myself very anti-war, and consider any human death to be a tragedy that should be avoided. I'm not a theist and I've always been alienated from wider Christian thought, so I was very surprised and impressed to find these Christians who were truly committed to "walking the walk," as it were.

One thing that struck me about Quakerism as I learned more is how similar its tenets are to my own beliefs. In particular, the view of all people having a "light" in them resonates strongly with me. But as a nontheist, I do not label this light as "god," instead this "light" is tied into my perception of our place in the universe writ large.

In my belief system, there is no set purpose for humans in this universe. The universe did not intend for us to be here because it doesn't have the capability to "care" we are here. In my eyes, the universe is not a moral agent, it is a cold machine. The best word I've found to describe our situation is that our existence is "incidental." The universe is neither benevolent nor malevolent. It simply exists and enables our existence.

I think it's fair to call this a dismal belief, but it's a belief I've never been able to stop believing. I suppose this is a "deeply held belief," as other spiritual people call it. And as a spiritual person, I do need to have some kind of hope to sustain and guide me in this life. For me, I find this in the "light" of other people. The universe may be cold and uncaring, but human compassion is not. And together we can invent new things that would otherwise not exist, and shape the universe into patterns that are intentionally caring. This is why I am anti-war, it is a reshaping of the universe into a distinctly uncaring thing. I don't want to infodump too much about my own belief system, so I will leave it here.

My reason for posting all this is I'm curious to hear in what ways all this does or does not resonate with your own beliefs. Do you see the universe as a thing capable of caring? Is it sufficient to see the "light" inside others as compassion and love, or do you feel it needs grounding in something more metaphysical? (I'm actually in the latter camp, here.)

I am aware that Quakerism is extremely diverse, so I understand any responses here won't represent the whole of Quakerism. Mostly interested in starting a dialogue.

EDIT: Thank you for all of your replies. So far, the impression I've gotten is that there really is no Quaker tradition/perspective on daydreaming and contemplation. On top of that, all of the responses I've gotten effectively feel like a reaffirmation that Quakerism is about silent worship/expectant waiting, and in turn, perhaps not for me. Thank you for your honesty. If I end up getting a post that I feel could resolve my question, I'll reply. But in the meantime, thank you for your time.

Hello r/Quakers ,

I've visited a couple of unprogrammed meetings, and have come to accept that I enjoy Quaker literature more than silent worship. I also tried attending a programmed meeting for a couple weeks, and left because it felt too much of a social club than a place of holy reverence.

While I enjoy prayer, I also enjoy daydreaming and contemplation. I often go outside late at night, and focus on listening, breathing, and seeing - in that order, or out of order, but the point is I often relax far more quietly here than in silent worship. And, richer thoughts and realizations come from it than silent worship. Likewise, richer thoughts and realizations even come more often when I'm listening to music than silent worship.

To avoid ranting too much, I don't want to necessarily walk away from Quakerism, and was wondering how a Quaker would approach daydreaming and contemplation to make it reverent and holy?

While I'm aware there is a whole tradition of contemplative prayer and quietism in Catholicism, I'm not comfortable with their doctrines, obsession with the trinity, the Bible being the word of God, etc. I'd rather listen to a Quaker who I often find are more grounded in the facts of reality.

Are there yearly meetings that are still Christ-centered and also primarily unprogrammed? Any monthly/local meetings that are the same, but also have an active online presence? I'm in Indiana, but I'm fine with groups that are able to connect virtually in meaningful ways.