Yes, as we mentioned, we’ve been living in Bennington and other parts of this region for over 229 years, lots longer than your Quaker Oats boxes have been around.
We also call ourselves Friends, from the early name “Friends of Truth”, that was used by our founder, George Fox, in the mid seventeenth century, and from Jesus having called his disciples his friends. The formal name of our group is the Religous Society of Friends.
There are Quaker carpenters, teachers, politicians, writers, business people, artists, telephone operators, stock-traders, musicians, needle workers, social workers, lawyers, nurses, and everything in between, not to mention two Presidents of the United States. In the countryside there are a lot of Quaker farmers.
In Bennington eight to twenty of us worship together on Sunday(which we traditionally call First Day) in silence. In silence we pray, give thanks, or reflect on what we’ve done, what has happened to each of us, and how we might live. The center of our worship is waiting upon God for inward direction or strength to do something …alone or together… about what deeply concerns us. When we feel led, we may speak about the spiritual insights that we believe have been given to us out of the silent contemplation. And in that way we learn from each other. We do not have a minister to tell us what we should do or believe, though there are many sources from which we get inspiration.
Words spoken in Meeting may comfort or they may be pointed, prophetic, and disturbing. Our stillness in meeting may force us to listen to others and to know better our fears, doubts, where we fail, our common humanity and divinity, humor, insight, and the power of God. The knowledge we gain in this way is the primary source of our integrity and the urge to carry out what we perceive as God”s work in the world.
How do we understand that work? One of our primary concerns is to try to live peaceably in our private lives and to oppose violence and war on the national level. Some of us have refused military service; some decline to pay war taxes; many encourage friendly relations around the world. All with the primary purpose of seeking peace at all levels of social engagement.