I’ve become increasingly challenged over the past year or so by the way in which Quakers put their belief that all of life is sacramental into practice. This belief is often offered as a justification for the tradition of not keeping “times or seasons” but I suspect that none of the Christian denominations who do keep “times and seasons” would disagree that all of life should be sacramental. They would, however, be as unsettled by the Quaker approach as Quakers are by the ritual and liturgy which other Christians wrap around their festivals. I tried to sum this up in an article in The Friend, a draft version of which is reproduced below.
In short, I think that there is much that Quakers can learn from the way that other denominations festivals to emphasise certain aspects of spiritualiy. Strip away the elaborate rubric and elaborate flummery, and an annual sequence of religious festivals becomes a spiritual circuit training, emphasising all aspects of the Christian story over the course of 12 months. The New Testament was the inspiration for George Fox and the early Quakers and there are, therefore, direct links between Christian festivals and Quaker testimonies. There is a place for extempore ministry, of course, but there is a danger, too, in depending solely on silent waiting as a source of inspiration. Without the discipline of a rhythm, a Meeting may retread the same ground, potentially missing opportunities to explore spiritual byways and backwaters in the process. Of course, sticking to a liturgical calendar too rigorously, and getting preoccupied by the rubric, brings its own dangers. It’s all about finding a balance, but thinking through the meaning of the major Christian festivals is a good first step.
A minor problem is that the Christian year does not start on 1 January. Rather, it starts on Advent Sunday, a month or so earlier. So we are picking up a story that is already under way. Nonetheless, the formal celebrations of Christmas continue into January so, though joining somewhat belatedly, we have not missed that boat completely. We start, therefore, by looking back on the meaning of Christmas through considerations of Epiphany and Candlemas.
In addition, I have included the Anglican Collects (short structured prayers) for the relevant festival from the Book of Common Prayer, and added one of my own. I’ve also included some appropriate music and further reading as well as links to relevant passages in Faith and Practice for anyone who wants to pursue the subject in more detail.
A man for all seasons
(from The Friend 23 December 2021)
Quakers don’t keep “times or seasons”. Except that, in the run-up to Christmas time, someone invariably reminds us during Meeting for Worship that Quakers don’t keep times or seasons. Which means, that we sort-of do keep times and seasons, if only to express Quakerly contrariness.
The point of not keeping “times and seasons” is that the whole of life should be sacramental and particular days in the week and particular seasons of the year should not, as a result, be set apart as being particularly holy. In the religious tumult of the mid-17th century that might have been an important step in differentiating the young movement from other sects that had tumbled out of the Reformation. But it is a tradition that makes little sense from the standpoint of practical spirituality. The principle is sound but the risk of ensuring that every day is sacramental is that none end up being particularly special. We want to level up; in reality, we find that we sink to a spiritual lowest common denominator. The point of focussing on the spiritual for one day a week is not that the other six days are in any way less sanctified but that the one day sets the benchmark for how those other six days should be lived. We need to lift our eyes from computer monitors, supermarket shelves and kitchen worktops once a week to focus on the horizon, to remind ourselves how much more there should be to life. That’s a better way of living every day sacramentally than treating Sunday the same way as we treat the other six days in the week.
The same applies to Christmas. For the moment, focus on practical spirituality rather than formal theology (it is easy to forget that our most important secular festival is, in fact, only the second most important Christian festival). Quakers believe in a participatory eschatology, meaning that the destiny of humanity (and, more specifically, the communities amongst which we live) will be shaped by the actions that we take more than by supernatural events. We are protagonists, rather than pawns, in the world in which we live. Broadly speaking, the Kingdom of God, as talked about in the Bible, is what the world would look like if God’s will really had its way: the poor fed, the naked clothed and nation no longer warring against nation. Quakers are proud of their long tradition of social action but, like everyone else, we live busy lives. We see needs and want to do more to help but finding time amidst our busy schedules is never easy.
Christmas is a festival of hope, an affirmation that better times are coming and we express this in many different ways. One way is by meeting friends and family, and much of the busy-ness of Advent comes from preparing, one way or another, to share with others. This might be through presents or through cooking or even through communal singing. We could say that, regardless of the formal theological interpretations of Christmas, the broader secular festival is one of sharing. We focus this on family and friends but, at the same time, we become more aware of differentials. The idea of others being needy whilst we are enjoying ourselves is saddening so an inevitable response to share beyond our immediate circle too. Donations to food banks increase significantly at Christmas, for example.
It is all linked: we exercise our sharing muscles (as it were) in the lead-up to Christmas and, as a result, we are fitter and healthier in this regard when faced with the needs of others. So, from the point of view of participatory eschatology, Christmas should be a significant season that Quakers should keep, if only because it reminds us that the hope that the Christian message embodies needs to be catalysed by our own actions if it is to be realised. For one month in the year we set a benchmark in our personal lives which precipitates a response that spills out into the wider world. The trick is to keep those sharing muscles fit for the other eleven months of the year.
The modern anchorite 