Daily online Meeting for Worship
Each morning from 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time, Quaker Center hosts a silent, online half-hour online Meeting for Worship in the manner of Friends. The Meeting uses a website called Chatzy that provides a text-only format – no audio or video. You can join the Meeting and read more about it by following the link below. All are welcome.
Quaker Center online meeting for worship.
Wednesday Online Worship Sharing
Each Wednesday from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time, Quaker Center hosts an online Worship Sharing group. Newcomers are welcome. Click the Zoom link below to join the group.
What is Worship Sharing? During Worship Sharing, friends gather in a worshipful attitude to reflect together on a short text or quote, and some related queries (open ended questions). This activity is similar to a Quaker Meeting for Worship in that, after an initial period of silence, those present speak from their own experience and allow for silence between contributions. Participants usually speak only once, allowing some silence between each sharing, until everyone who wishes to has had a chance to share. Worship Sharing is appreciated by Quakers as a way to explore ideas together, learn and listen deeply, and to get to know one another in a meaningful way.
Zoom link for Quaker Center Wednesday online Worship Sharing
If you’re new to Worship Sharing, you may wish to take a look at these suggested guidelines.
This week’s quotes:
The allegory of the painting "The Vinegar Tasters" We see three men standing around a vat of vinegar. Each has dipped his finger into the vinegar and has tasted it. The expression on each man's face shows his individual reaction. The three men are Gong Fu Zi (Confuscius), Buddha, and Lao Zi, author of the oldest book of Taoism. The first has a sour look, the second wears a bitter expression, but the third man is smiling.
To Confuscius, life seemed rather sour. He believed the present was out of step with the past, and that the government of man was out of harmony with the Way of Heaven, the government of the universe. Therefore, he emphasized reverence for ancient rituals...use of precisely measured court music, prescribed steps, actions, phases, adding up to an extremely complex system...
To Buddha, life on earth was bitter, filled with attachments and desires that led to suffering. The world was seen as a setter of traps, a generator of illusions, a revolving wheel of pain for all creatures. In order to find peace, it is necessary to transcend "the world of dust" and reach Nirvana, a state of "no wind."
To Lao Zi, The harmony that naturally existed between heaven and earth from the very beginning could be found by anyone at any time. Earth is a reflection of heaven, run by the same laws, but Not by the laws of men. These laws affected not only the spinning of distant planets, but the activities of the birds in the forest and the fish in the sea. The more man interfered with the natural balance produced and governed by natural laws, the further away the harmony retreated into the distance. Everything had its own nature within it, which could not be violated without causing difficulties. The world is not a setter of traps, but a teacher of valuable lessons. When it's laws are followed, and lessons learned, all will be well. What is operating behind everything, is The Dao, or The Way. The natural result of this harmonious way of living, is happiness, a happy serenity.
--loose distillation of the first chapter of The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff
This week’s queries:
- What does the phrase “What is operating behind everything is The Dao” have in common with “That of God within” or “The Light?” What are both Daoism and Quakerism saying about how to live?
- Is there anything in this that is useful in everyday living?
- If life is sour or bitter, what then?
- How would life be in a world where everyone strived to respect the nature of everything in existence, including our own nature, live in harmony, and respect the inherent laws of nature instead of exerting control and domination?
First Wednesday evenings:
in-person Meeting for Worship
Each month on the first Wednesday, we’ll have an evening Meeting for Worship here at Quaker Center from 7:15 to 8:00 p.m. We’ll gather for an informal potluck before hand at about six. All are welcome. Call (831) 336-8333 with any questions, no need to RSVP. We usually meet in the Orchard Lodge, but look for the sign when you drive up – it will tell you where the Meeting for Worship will be held.
