In God's Hands

A few days ago, I was surprised to see a blog entry describing Freedom Friends Church as an example of convergent worship. I was curious to see what other folks at Freedom Friends thought about this, so I posted a question on our forum asking others whether they think we are convergent. Several days went by and I could see that others were looking at my post, but no one responded. I don't think I can consider silence to be a no, but it definitely was not a resounding yes.

I'm not sure what I was expecting. As I wrote in a previous post, I am conflicted about the idea of being considered "convergent" as an individual, but I hadn't given too much thought to whether I was a member of a convergent church.

Yesterday, Alivia wrote a lovely and detailed response to my question. I doubt I can do it justice by summarizing it, but what I took out of it is that it doesn't really matter what labels others give us, the important thing is to do what God is calling us to do and welcome others who are looking for a community like ours.

This idea seems related to the question Martin Kelley posed at the end of his most recent post about convergent Friends:

What are we being called to do to send this work into the world?

I don't know what the Quaker community is being called to do as a whole, but I am trying to work out what it is that I am being called to do. This is an ongoing process; here are some thoughts that I have had so far.

First, I feel that I am being called to create, nurture, and inspire community among friends and Friends.

This is a big and somewhat overwhelming task when I think about it generally, so it is helpful for me to think about smaller, related leadings:

• I feel led to hold the meetings I am a part of, Freedom Friends Church and University Friends Meeting, in the Light and help them grow
  

• I feel led to support these meetings financially and encourage others to do the same

• I feel led to help plan the Quaker Women's Theology Conference in the hope of continuing the good work in building relationships that conference has done over the years

• I feel led to visit other Friends meetings and churches and worship with them
  

• I feel led to volunteer at a local shelter for homeless young adults, to be aware of the need in my community, and to tell others that I am volunteering because I am a Quaker

• I feel led to volunteer to work on the FWCC Annual Meeting, but not take on more than I can

• I feel led to work on saying no, and to limit my involvement so that I will be able to do the things I am doing well

• I feel led to take care of myself and to be aware when I am doing too much

• I feel led to write about my journey, experiences, and reflections in my blog
  

This morning at meeting I was looking at my hands and noticing how small they are. I feel like the things I can do are so small. But I know that God's hands are large, and if I am in God's hands, maybe what I do is enough.