In considering the Spiritual State of our Meeting Community this year, we looked at the extent to which we are a centered meeting. We held two focused opportunities for small group discussions, as well as noting comments made more informally. We asked five questions:
- What does centering mean to you?
- How well do we center for Meeting for Worship?
- As a community, are we more centered, or more scattered?
- What might we do to be more centered more of the time?
- How well does our community nourish and inform your spiritual development?
These resulted in a series of rather wide-ranging, challenging, and enlightening discussions summarized here.

Conversation around the meaning of centering went in two directions; Centering as an individual activity, and centering as a corporate undertaking. Personal centering was described as a process of pulling the attention inward, of trying to be present in the moment. It is deeper and more spiritual than focusing, which is felt by some to be a more mental process. Centering has a physical element as the breathing slows and one becomes aware of visceral clues. Some feel that effective centering begins before Meeting starts; some arrive early to settle, and others try to find ways to settle while driving or walking to the meeting house. One friend found that a sort of mantra - God loves us, God loves this meeting, God loves this meeting through the message-giver - was powerfully helpful in preparing for Meeting for Worship. Others use prayers, images, and poems like icons to gain access to the presence of God.

We find that when the Meeting for Worship is collectively centered, the quality of the silence as well as the messages is different. When messages build on one another, developing or expanding upon the messages that come before, centering arises, while a more fluttered Meeting results when messages come too close together or are jarringly different in theme or tone. This latter phenomenon suggests a need for our meeting to improve its listening skills and habits and to find bridges between apparently divergent messages. Some find that the Meeting centers earlier when the children donŐt come in until later, while others find the arrival of the children energizing in itself; we are seeking ways to make the presence of our children a rich Meeting experience for child and adult alike. The very presence of certain members of the meeting sometimes helps us center.

There is some difference of opinion on the question of how well we center for Meeting for Worship. Some feel we do it quite well, especially when compared to larger meetings or those with a larger proportion of visitors to regular attenders and members. It was noted that the ongoing Experiment with Light sessions based on Rex AmblerŐs book Light to Live By has helped some approach centering more effectively. Others feel we donŐt do it easily, in as much as we are a collection of folks with many facets to our lives, Bethesda Monthly Meeting being but one. We sometimes lament the fact that we gather only for worship, and find other communities for other needs. It was mentioned that we have lost a common core of reading and reflecting. While we have forums on the Bible and Quaker writings, it was suggested that online discussions could enhance our common knowledge. We struggle with the diversity of cultures in our meeting, sometimes failing to recognize and appreciate the significance of a practice or symbol before pointing out its divergence from Quaker tradition; one gave an example of a First Day School lesson on simplicity that inadvertently was felt as a criticism of a culture that remembers and reveres departed family members with metal bracelets. We examined ways to make our clearness process more of a gift than a burden, speaking of a need to convey responsibility while being welcoming and affirming.

There is a similar range of thought on the question of how centered we are as a community. It was noted that other communities rely more on their meetings for their social relationships, while we are busier and have less time to gather outside of Meeting for Worship. We find that the fact that the meeting is not the primary community for many makes it difficult to address some needs. Some find that the lack of our own meeting house works against centeredness as we find we cannot have a spontaneous gathering or freely access the library during the week. Most felt that as a result of constant attention, we do a remarkably good job of being centered, especially when one considers the possible distractions. We noted that our examination of our relationship to Friends United Meeting has led us to consider a number of aspects of our community, including openness and centeredness.

We asked what we might do to be more centered more of the time. Some asked if this was needed. Others asked if it was possible given the nature of the community. Some suggested opportunities to gather before Meeting for Worship - having coffee hour before Meeting, or holding 9:30 programs as a warm-up to centering. We need to remind ourselves that it takes time and energy from each of us to create a centered Meeting. The extent to which more of us can be in worship before Meeting begins will enhance the experience for all.

Our question about our community's effect on spiritual development sparked some discussion around the meaning of the term spiritual. Some felt it was difficult to describe, while others characterized it as 'whatever is beyond.' We came to recognize that we all have a spiritual journey, even if some of us have more dramatic milestones than others. We place much value in simply coming together quietly, and we find relatively brief messages that are more universal and related to other messages enhance a centered Meeting more easily.

In short, we are a meeting that puts thought and attention toward the effort to be centered, both within the Meeting for Worship and as a spiritual community. It is felt that we have made much progress, but we have a ways to go in our quest to have 'gathered' Meetings, perhaps in worship sharing sessions and other assemblages dedicated to centering. We know that we will be a stronger meeting to the extent that we include our children and youth, and we continue to struggle to find ways to do so effectively. We find that as we attend to our personal centering, we contribute to collective centering, which helps bring about the centered working community we seek.

Note: I have capitalized 'Meeting' when it is used to be short for 'Meeting for Worship' as an event, and not when it refers to the community.