FALL 2003Phil Anthony
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ennifer Elizabeth Gross and John Bruce Broyles married each other in the presence of God and their friends at Woodstown MM on a beautiful Saturday this July.
The wedding was meticulously planned. I’ve never seen the meetinghouse look so spotless. The musicians and the soloist were wonderful, the photographers carefully commemorated the event, and everything went off according to plan. I know Woody and Diane Gross were as proud as the parents of a bride could possibly be.
And then the music stopped. The couple exchanged their promises. We entered into waiting worship. And the Spirit, who is never predictable, moved in wondrous ways to bless the couple and the guests with the presence of the living God.
It came to me: Between all the human activity and busy-ness—important as it is; between the preparation and the celebration, lies the Mystery. We allow space for the Divine to enter into our lives, and come face to face with the Magnum Mysterium.
One doesn’t have to be a Quaker to have this experience—I counted only twelve Friends among the 160 or so who were there. Nor is it necessary for the messages to be deep and soul-shattering. I felt the Presence as profoundly as I’ve ever felt it in my life. Expressions of awe on other guests’ faces told me they too were aware of the One among us.
“Few things are needful, indeed only one,” Jesus said. Personally I think he overstated a little; Martha needs to be honored along with Mary. Still, the essential thing is to be there, open and listening. Thank you, Jennifer and John, for letting me share this experience. Come back often in your marriage to the deep, still pool of the Mystery for new strength, comfort, and challenge.
It was a special treat for me to hear one of the participants in the wedding speak of his own marriage in the Woodstown meetinghouse 52 years before. The planning and arrangements, he noted, had been done by his sister-in-law, Woodstown MM’s Marion Frazier.
Soon after Marion’s death last February, Emma Prince of Mullica Hill MM sent me the drawing of shore birds that appears on our cover. She’d originally created them with Marion’s own love of the shore in mind. It seemed right to hold the drawing for this issue of Salem Quarter News, where you’ll also find Salem Quarter’s memorial minute for Marion.
SEPTEMBER QUARTERLY MEETING
Greenwich Monthly Meeting
Sunday, 14 September 20032:30 pm Gather: coffee and doughnuts 3:00 pm Meeting for worship for business 5:00 pm Brown-bag supper: beverages by Greenwich MM, desserts by Mickleton and Seaville MMs 6:00 pm Program: Mystical experiences—essays by Mary Waddington, Salem MM, read by the author 7:00 pm Candlelight Meeting for Worship Child care provided Right now, in late July, I’m looking forward to a number of upcoming events. In a few weeks we’ll hold the Salem Quarter Retreat at the Burlington Meeting House, facilitated by Chip Thomas, who grew up in Woodbury MM. The Steering Committee will meet at Seaville MM at the end of August. And our next Quarterly Meeting will feature the reading of essays on personal mystical experiences by Mary Waddington of Salem MM when we gather at Greenwich MM on Sunday, 14 September. Thanks to Mickleton and Seaville MMs, which will provide the desserts for our gathering.
The Summer issue of the newsletter was chock-full of what I think of as the required things—minutes, committee reports, columns from the clerk, Friends Home, and Friends School, Retreat information, and the calendar. I’ve tried to bring us back in balance with the Fall newsletter. There are poetry and essays along with the “required things.” I want to make special mention of one of them: an essay of Mary Waddington’s to give us a preview of September’s Quarterly Meeting program.
I had the good fortune to sit in on a meeting with Mary’s oversight committee when she decided which essays to read. They’re carefully crafted works which capture moments that have changed Mary’s life. You’ll find a sample that I hope will whet your appetite for more. And for those who have never been there, we have a map to the Greenwich Orthodox meetinghouse. I hope you’ll be there.
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