Kerri and Honey asked me to write something about the way being a Quaker has an impact on my homemaking. I hope you find this useful!
The first thing to say is that these thoughts are only mine. The Quakers are a fairly diverse bunch, varying within countries as well as between them. Quakers have no creeds of doctrinal basis, so there is a wide diversity of opinion, even within Meetings.
Whilst I was thinking about my life as a homemaker and my faith as a Quaker, I did some reading from the Quaker's book of Christian Discipline – Quaker Faith and Practice. This is a wonderful book that combines history, church administration, biography, inspirational writings and aids to personal devotion. If you're curious, the British version is online at http://quakersfp.live.poptech.coop/qfp, other places have their own versions. A good place to start is the section Advices and Queries.
Central to Quaker life is the Testimonies. These principles – Truth, Equality, Simplicity, Peace and, more recently, Earth – are one of the central means by which Quakers try to live a Christian life. These are not just abstract principles – they must be lived every day. Quakerism is a lived faith; it is by your actions, including the mundane, that you proclaim it. Although all the Testimonies touch on the subject of homemaking, for me the key one is Simplicity. It helps me think about the way I do the everyday running of the household. In trying to adhere to it we try to buy locally, in season and directly from the producer; I try to buy raw materials and make my own food products; we don't buy many gadgets or much 'stuff' – getting rid of the television was part of that (along with the fact that there's never ANYTHING good on!). Of course the other Testimonies feature heavily too. Truth and Peace in family relationships; Earth in considering energy use or chemicals in the home; Equality in buying fair trade products. I try to let all of the Testimonies inform the way we run our home.
The second thing Quakerism brings to our family life is the Quaker business method. The aspects of it that we find most useful in our family are spiritual discernment and Gospel ordering. In Quaker business meetings there is no voting. The Clerk of the Meeting attempts to discern the sense of the meeting. Its a difficult thing to explain – but it is hoped that God is given a voice when the sense of the meeting is discerned. If we have a hard decision to make as a family, we won't rush into making one. We will put off taking a decision until we are sure that we find God in our decision. The moment when that happens is usually very clear, even if it emerges over a period of time. Through this we try to put our life in Gospel order – patterns of life embodying our relationship with God and our place in the Quaker community.
The final big influence on my homemaking comes from a famous passage by George Fox, one of the founders of Quakerism. 'Be patterns, be examples in all counties, places, islands, nations, wherever you come, that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one.' (George Fox, 1656) The idea of personal discipline was historically very important in Quakerism, and I try to use that idea, together with Fox's challenge, govern my everyday life.
Here are two passages from Quaker Faith and Practice that help me to think about the way I make our home
Do you try to make your home a place of friendliness, refreshment and peace, where God becomes more real to all who live there and to those who visit it? (Queries, 1964, QFP, 22.20)
Be aware of the spirit of God at work in the ordinary activities and experience of your daily life. Spiritual learning continues throughout life, and often in unexpected ways. There is inspiration to be found all around us, in the natural world, in the sciences and arts, in our work and friendships, in our sorrows as well as in our joys. Are you open to new light, from whatever source it may come? Do you approach new ideas with discernment? (Advices and Queries No. 7, QFP)
The website for Quakers in Britain is www.quaker.org.uk if you want to learn more about the Society today.
Of course I'm happy to have a go at answering anything else you want to know.
Zillah
