Posts tagged with “testimony”
Step Zero
Hello, my name is Paul And my father is an alcoholic (hit the wall) I dream of my father's death and it is still his problem (take a breath) Hello my name is Paul And my mother is dead (hit the nail on the head) Goodbye Dionysian wines of sun, Hedonistic Epicurean good clean fun (have a whine) Goodbye my name was Paul I never had a problem with alcohol at all (hit the wall) There may or may not be scope for a poem in there - too autobiographic for me. AA meetings - not a bundle of fun. Seems they are a way of life for many. Now then, where's my next one? Ha ha Ha. 03:30 AM | 0 Comments | Tags: AA, father, drinking, poem, testimony, motherA Quaker on the run?....
For a couple of weeks I have not felt ready to engage with the other Friends at my local meeting, which is definitely challenging, but not necesssarily a bad thing or something to be ashamed of. It is almost a commonplace thing for Quakers to complain of the company they seem bound to keep, at least amongst those Friends whom I tend to respect and socialise with. So attending a couple of Meetings outside my local area has, perhaps, been good for me spiritually.
I was led this evening to check the accessibility of a couple of testimonies from Quaker Faith and Practice and was pleased to find they were indeed available, and furthermore that [[Quaker Faith and Practice]] is readily available and indexed online. The first passage concerned the idea that the person you f8ind the hardest to get along with is the very one you are likely to be confronted with at Meeting, perhaps. I think it is the one referenced here. Secondly I was concerned abotu conflict in a wider sense in my life and after spending the majority of my time in Meeting today eventually found this reference, which lists the three key skills as "naming", "listening" and "letting go". I am awfully ashamed to notice that these are my greatest weaknesses and areas in which I am so unskilled they are virtual anathema to me. The last feels simply like "dying" as far as I can relate to it... which is pretty dire!
At least I am, perhaps, attemtping the "naming" of my own internal struggle? For what it is worth perhaps this could represent a first step?
On a tangent, but relevant in terms of my curiosity and exploration, I am trying to discover next how these "testimonies" (I think that is the correct term) come to be placed into QFP... I believe one possible route is as testimony after a member has died. I am almost certain Yearly Meeting is involved. But beyond that the matter remains opaque to me - one thing is for sure in being a Quaker, it is all out there but you need an enquiring mind!
11:42 PM | 0 Comments | Tags: Quaker, Faith and Practice, accessibility, testimony