Taking Care of Business

I'm not sure when it happened, but I realized today that I have come to enjoy business meeting. Maybe I am just some special kind of masochist, but I don't think so. I used to dread or avoid business meetings. They seemed to take forever and all I could think about was what I needed to do after the meeting was over. Now I really appreciate Quaker process, though I do sometimes wish the meetings were a little shorter!

For my non-Quaker friends, a little background. Quaker meetings hold meetings for worship for business once a month. Anyone who wants to attend may participate. The business of the meeting is conducted in a spirit of worship. The clerk guides the meeting and calls on individuals who wish to address a particular issue. The goal is corporate discernment and unity. This does not necessarily mean consensus, but a clear sense of what the meeting is led to do.

This morning, I was looking forward to business meeting, and not just because I needed to get some knitting done on a baby hat. University Friends Meeting has a new clerk and this was the first time I was going to see her in action (she did a great job). I had also made a raspberry buckle with some of the berries I picked yesterday and I was looking forward to seeing how it turned out (a little dry, but not too bad for a first attempt).

One of the first items on the agenda was a report from the treasurer and I am thrilled to say that University Friends Meeting exceeded its contribution goal for the year. I think the letter the Finance Committee sent out really reminded members that the meeting needs their help.

We also had a deep discussion about the wording of a declaration against torture. Although everyone was clear that Quakers oppose all torture, the meeting initially was not in unity about the wording of a Declaration of Principles for an Executive Order on Torture. It was lovely to see Friends speak from their convictions, listen to each other, pray together, and find unity.

I felt led to join an ad hoc committee to welcome Junior Friends. My friend Asia was wagging her finger at me when she saw me raise my hand, saying that I am already doing too much. I keep saying that I am not going to take on any more, but then I do anyway. I think this is important, though, and I really felt like the committee needed someone who is closer in age to the Junior Friends.

I also volunteered to read and review God's Troublemakers: How Women of Faith Are Changing the World, by Katharine Rhodes Henderson. That project seems more like fun than work, though. I read the first chapter out in the sun this afternoon and I am looking forward to learning all the women's stories. Hopefully saying yes to these two things will help renew my commitment to saying no!

During the final worship in business meeting, I felt led to speak. All through the opening worship, the lines from a song I sang as a child were going through my head. By the end of the meeting, those lines had become a prayer for the meeting and for all of us: may we have peace like a river, joy like a fountain, and love like an ocean.