Peace be with you / Quaker music hour

I have stated my plan to make a Quaker music hour. I have not pulled it together, as of now, so I'm not doing it this week. I may yet do it, though. It's a good idea, and an idea whose time has come.

I am just me, trying to organize Cloud Quakers and keep it going. These are turbulent times, with people thrown off their schedules, kept out of their meetings, etc. I feel like we have a strong contribution to make by reaching out to Quakers worldwide, and showing that using zoom is easy.

My main reasons for not getting music hour together yet are: too much happening here (four kids at home, school out for the year), and cold feet about starting something I may not be able to keep going. If I had help, yes, I would be able to keep it going. But nobody is stepping forward, and I'm not holding my breath. Either I'll do it myself, or I'll wait.

Several other trends are evident. First, lots more people come to meeting. This is both good and bad. I'm ok with it so far. Sometimes we see them (they use camera), sometimes not. I'm ok with that too.

Second, nationwide, people have been hacking in to zoom meetings. I am afraid this might happen to ours, and I'm not sure I'm technologically adept enough to keep it from happening. Apparently you can just block the perpetrators. I will try, if it is necessary; I don't want our meeting to be hacked.

Third, the world is suddenly on to zoom and all its uses, and we are no longer alone in our understanding of it or our general ability use it. We are pioneers, and I'm proud of that, but we are not, as you can tell, necessarily expert on it.

There is a general conundrum faced by all Quakers about how much Jesus-talk, or even God-talk, to embrace. I myself could go for weeks without mentioning either, and I have, but that's not necessarily good, because it doesn't give people the opening they need to discuss either if they are so inclined. It is my feeling that we are a diverse community as to our beliefs on how God should be defined, if at all, and what role Jesus plays, if any, in our own spiritual lives. What we hold in common is a commitment to knowing ourselves, becoming better, and using our spiritual core to make decisions in our lives, especially in turbulent times. I need to stress this more strongly and play a stronger role in guiding the conversation.

Finally, I have a personal commitment to keep politics out of meeting. We actually have more in common politically than religiously (having diverse feelings about Jesus and God both), so Quakers often fall into talking politics, about which they often agree, just like people in elevators talk about the weather. We will be here on Easter no matter what; that's not political. Hope you join us!

Cloud Quakers and Coronavirus

This is a stress-inducing airport picture, but coronavirus is a stress-inducing event. The question is what Cloud Quakers can do. At a time when many Quaker meetings are going online, we've already been online for some time. At a time when people ask how online worship is different from in-person worship, we can answer the question, if we're here, and if people ask.

The coronavirus brings a whole new dimension to the stress of the average person just trying to get by in this world. School is out, but we have no daycare; restaurant business dries up, and we have to survive for a while with no money; needing social interaction, we are told to avoid it at all costs. What can we say? We rely on our Quaker spirit to survive the rough times. We survived the Depression, and we can survive this as well, I'm sure.

My heart goes out to those who are separated from aging parents; for those who are struggling with little or no income; for those for whom this has brought interminable suffering. May this be only a short chapter, and a new dawn bring light to a world that seems plunged in darkness.