Reflection on Today's Meeting 14/08/11

This post is just to share some of my thoughts during Meeting today.

Firstly, I was astounded at the contribution during Afterword by a young woman I'll call 'Ella'. Ella was born blind. She looked beautiful today in a pretty purple summer dress with a glittery black shawl. She spoke following on from ministry given by another person in the meeting about suffering.

The ministry was about the sin that can evolve from feeling like you're suffering as a result of not having the material things others have. The wealth others have. But how it's always possible to turn from that feeling and not let it develop into the sin of hating or stealing.

Ella said that she felt the same "material suffering" growing up and that it did make her feel hatred and resentment for people. But she overcame it by realising that she was in control of those feelings. But also, that those feelings will result in just punishment and overcoming them will result in just rewards. I thought it was amazing how she was able to overcome resentment in her situation and that she didn't 'play on' her blindness.

She highlighted that material suffering isn't the only suffering we face, but it is often the one most talked about. But even the suffering she faces by being blind and the difficulty it brings, doesn't make her resentful. That would cause her to sin and damage her character. She avoids it. But she admitted that she does slip, but agian faces the jst consequences of that. I thought it was powerful what she said. I wish I could have written that down word for word.

The second thing that happened today, was the shared lunch. I thought it was lovely that as Quakers we can bring different foods, homemade and purchased and share them all together. It was so nice to eat with each other and talk about various different topics. But at the same time, we remembered those in less fortunate circumstances. We pause for silence before we eat and when we're done. Giving a moment of thanks and appreciation without diving in to fill up as quickly as possible. At the same time, we thought about the famine in Africa and donated money on a plate that would be sent to help that cause.