Letting the Light shine through
This is Yellow! Look mummy - it's Yellow! Bright Sunshiny Yellow! This is Black! This is Pink!
Unlike a Yearly Meeting, there was no childcare offered or provided. While some people did volunteer to take turns to be with the small Friend elsewhere, that wasn’t felt to be as safe as being with mummy in the main room. I’m sure being on your own with a single adult isn’t good from the safeguarding point, either!
All of this led to conversations and comments – positive and negative – about the small Friend attending with their parent (when there wasn’t childcare provided).
This sparked ministry about why childcare wasn’t something that was provided regularly. Not only for such events but also for the Sunday afternoon discussion or Meetings for Learning. The many sessions that help us learn and connect with the things that are eternal.
Rejoice in the presence of children and young people in your meeting and recognise the gifts they bring. Remember that the meeting as a whole shares a responsibility for every child in its care. Seek for them as for yourself a full development of God’s gifts and the abundant life Jesus tells us can be ours. How do you share your deepest beliefs with them, while leaving them free to develop as the spirit of God may lead them? Do you invite them to share their insights with you? Are you ready both to learn from them and to accept your responsibilities towards them?
Blocking the Light
Sending Blessings
A hope that we can the seed of love. A hope that we can become unafraid to explain ourselves. A hope we can nurture doubt when it is right - including our current way of doing things.
Showing our Colours
Rhiannon mentioned a question I’ve heard before – but it’s always good to be reminded.
What evidence is there that I am a Q?How can we build ourselves up so we can witness to our experience, giving evidence about our Q life?How does someone find out about MfW?
We need to think of practical ways to ensure that our communities and structures reflect our testimonies and values. The pandemic showed how quickly change can happen. Within a few months, 3/4 of meeting houses had some form of online presence within the meeting house. Communities had said that they could see no need to Wifi in the building! Now most have fast broadband and pro-level Zoom accounts.
Perhaps we need to think of other places where people have asked for change and come up with solutions. Preferably without the need for another global pandemic.
Moving the Prism
During the train journey home from Stoke-on-Trent I was reviewing my pages of notes and the idea of colours and rainbows reminded me of a box of prisms we had when the kids were young. We hung them up and often they’d be held and moved by hand to send rainbows across spaces.
We talked about how prisms treat light the opposite of a magnifying glass (another favourite from that science box).
A prism scatters light in specific areas of the spectrum – and you can then look at each colour in turn. A magnifying glass focuses in on a tight point.
Several times during the weekend ministry reminded me that we shouldn’t get too focused on a specific ‘thing’. If we see a problem, keep the light flowing through our structures.
Whatever we are doing, as we explore and examine our community and structures, we need to keep in mind what changes can be made.
As Ecclesiastes 3:3 says there is ‘A time to tear down and a time to build up.’ We just need to have faith that we will be shown!
Wendrie Heywood
MBS Founder
