Worshiping with Solebury Friends
One of my responsibilities as Bucks Quarter Coordinator is to visit all fourteen monthly meetings in the Quarter on a regular basis. It is the best part of my job, because I get to meet and worship with so many different Friends. Some of the meetings in the Quarter are small – fewer than 10 members – and others have membership in the hundreds. But all of them have one thing in common: they love their Quaker community. There is always joy and Spirit-filled worship whether there are two, twenty-two or sixty-two Friends sitting together in expectant silence.
Last First Day I joined Solebury Friends for their 10:00 am worship. It was a beautiful spring day and the view through the windows was a mass of spring-green leaves on the trees. A dozen or so Friends gathered in worship for an hour, silently listening for the Spirit. Some were moved to speak; others held the silence.
At the rise of meeting, as is customary, Friend Chris Kerr picked a hymn for Friends to sing. His selection was Everything Possible, by Fred Small, which I was not familiar with, so I chose to simply read the words as Friends sang along. The words moved me deeply. I hope you are moved as well.
We have cleared off the table, the leftovers saved,
Washed the dishes and put them away
I have told you a story and tucked you in tight
At the end of your knockabout day
As the moon sets its sails to carry you to sleep
Over the midnight sea
I will sing you a song no one sang to me
May it keep you good company.
You can be anybody you want to be,
You can love whomever you will
You can travel any country where your heart leads
And know I will love you still
You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around,
You can choose one special one
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind when you're done.
There are girls who grow up strong and bold
There are boys quiet and kind
Some race on ahead, some follow behind
Some go in their own way and time
Some women love women, some men love men
Some raise children, some never do
You can dream all the day never reaching the end
Of everything possible for you.
Don't be rattled by names, by taunts, by games
But seek out spirits true
If you give your friends the best part of yourself
They will give the same back to you.
You can be anybody you want to be,
You can love whomever you will
You can travel any country where your heart leads
And know I will love you still
You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around,
You can choose one special one
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind when you're done.