Snow covered path with pines. Photo: Photo: Val Corbett.
Letting go of letting go
John Anderson reflects on 'Letting go of letting go'
The image I have is of a child with both feet in a bucket striving to lift itself – while a parent smilingly watches and waits for the futility of the effort to become apparent. After many years of religiously attending Meeting for Worship and sitting still, and mostly silent, for hour after hour (and desperately trying to be holy), I still find my mind occupied by random thoughts, feelings and awareness. And, perhaps, I am not alone in this.
Well, Friends, I have now given up the struggle. It seems to me that some people have, or have learnt, the knack of emptying the mind; but to assume that this is the only way of being spiritual is like thinking that those who ‘meditate on the breath’ have a unique access to oxygen.
Just as a parent may be more than content to be in the room with a child quietly occupying itself, rather than pestering for attention, so the spirit may not only sanction but perhaps welcome a bit of a break. In any case, it is out in the hurly-burly of everyday life that we absolutely need to listen out for the still small voice – during Meeting for Worship the opportunities for doing harm to our fellow citizens being strictly limited!
I have prayer myself, and for others, similarly placed: ‘God be in my random thoughts and give them substance and direction.’
There is no one way of being a Quaker. We all get by as best we can.
There is no one way through the wood. The way through the wood is by not following the wrong path.
And yes, it’s okay to drowse; provided you don’t snore you will disturb no one; and it will not bother God a bit.
