Attenders are still processing a meeting a couple of weeks ago when an attender went on an incomprehensible rant that took up all of the visiting half of the meeting. Others spoke, but he didn't hear. We listened and there was absolutely nothing we could do.
It is hard to know for certain when someone has lost touch with reality, when they are in the proper spirit even, or when there are subconscious issues that we can feel but really not understand due to the unclarity of speech or communication. It puts in in an awkward position of being the judge of what we are willing to tolerate in a given meeting. I am proud to say that we have never banished anyone from our meeting, nor blocked anyone or prevented their entry. And we will avoid that option as long as we can.
We hold that attender in the light, as well as those who have been banned from one meeting or another due to awkward communications that tend to be very disturbing for some attenders. As mental health care nosedives and nationwide care of those on the brink has gone by the wayside, this kind of meeting is more and more common. We in a meeting, any given meeting, cling tightly to the idea of truth and the hope that genuine compassion will allow all attenders to be heard and come into the fold of those of us who seek Truth in the Light.
