J-Funk Goes to Church, Again

I went to church again today. This was my second time at church in Seattle and my second time in church in about five years. I chose not to return to the last one, which was a very small congregation - I've always enjoyed being a bit more anonymous and didn't want to be the only one my age. I went instead to a Quaker church, which gets me back to my Quaker roots a little bit (my mom and my dad independently became quakers in my youth, and then one of my brothers ended up going to a quaker high school in Iowa, Scattergood). This church was appealing to me for several reasons - 1) it is within walking distance, 2) it is in what is called "University District," which I thought might increase the population of young intellectual types like me, and 3) it is a fairly big church.

The drawback is, it's a traditional unprogrammed Quaker meeting (church isn't actually the correct name for it), with no minister and no service. Everyone just sits and stares at each other, sometimes for the entire hour (the alternative is for someone to stand up and say whatever is on their minds, sometimes this can be much more powerful than any sermon but sometimes it's not that interesting). For people who like to be quiet, sitting in silence for an hour is the best thing ever. For people with Attention Deficit Disorder (like me), this is not so great.

I knew this was what it was going to be like before I got there, but I still went because I thought, hey! everyone meditates (even Wolverine, and he's hot) so why shouldn't I? Besides it seems like that kind of thing outta be helpful in some way (especially for a young stressed out thing like me). And again, the church had many other perks.

So I went, and you know? Sitting in silence for an hour is exactly as horrible as it sounds (maybe even worse). But two other things happened that were neat. First, I saw the leader of my book club there, and he came over and talked to me for a while which is exactly why I've been wanting to join a church - seeing a familiar face is uplifting in so many ways. And then, I met a girl from my hometown in Iowa. She knew some people I know (my neighbors! who are also Quaker), she recently worked at Scattergood, and she also has Attention Deficit Disorder. It's hard to tell right now if we're soul mates, but it was certainly looking good (note: I'm not looking for a girlfriend, since I'm hetero and married, but I am definitely in the market for a friend, since I currently have none within a ten mile radius). So she had some suggestions on how an ADD girl like me can get through an hour of silence and then promised to sit by me through the next service to help me get through it. yay!

Note: for those of you who aren't familiar with the Quaker religion, you could probably think of them as being famous for their anti-war philosophy (and yes, they are Christian and sometimes conservative but generally very liberal). This church was liberal, and definitely anti-war. They organize peace rallies, get arrested at protests, put out signs and have bumper stickers and one guy even mentioned today that he puts "Give Peace a Chance" on all of his stationary at work (and he's a lawyer!).