OLD CHATHAM QUAKERS
  • Home
  • What's Going On?
    • Calendar
    • Upcoming Events
  • Donate
  • More About Us
    • Location
    • Quaker Links
    • Renting the Meeting House
  • Meeting Life
    • Meeting Business
    • Meeting Directory
    • Miscellaneous Documents
    • Document Archive
    • Worship Sharing
    • The Role of Ministry and Counsel
    • Friends Burial Ground at Rayville
    • Photo Archive
  • Covid Policy
  • OCMM Visibility Strategy Survey
  • Blog
  • Sanctuary Documents
  • OPJ Documents
  • Solitary Housing Unit
  • Memorial Minutes

Serendipity

10/29/2021

2 Comments

 
My becoming a Quaker was serendipitous—that is, I accidentally found something good. Rewriting a definition of serendipity from yourdictionary.com , I propose that serendipity may be a combination of random events, individually beneficial or good, which—perceived to be related as time passes—produce a wonderful (more than good) outcome. (Bev Thompson will recognize a trace of Alfred North Whitehead in this definition.)

In fact, let’s rewrite the statement like this: serendipity is a combination of random events, individually revealing God, which—seen as related in the perspective of time—produce a mystical but actual outcome in the world.   

Whew! Are you still reading? So, my Quakerness is a combination of accidental (but revelatory) events through the years. For example, many years ago, I accidentally pulled from a library shelf Jessamyn West’s A Quaker Reader. I casually turned to a section of the book with quotes from Isaac Penington. I found myself thinking, “This is it. This is the path.” At the time I did not, however, explore Quakerism further since my native skepticism quickly reasserted itself. Nevertheless, a seed had been planted.

Much later, bored by my job as a route vendor, I began looking for some hobby or activity that would make life a little more interesting. I decided to start studying Spanish. Soon I was spending all my leisure time on the project; and after several years, including a stay in South America, I had developed a very real fluency in the language. In learning Spanish, I met the Catholic culture of the Spanish-speaking peoples. Catholicism vanquished skepticism, and I converted. In the process, I considered Quakerism but was too shy to penetrate the aloofness of the Quakers in the local meeting.  

As more time passed, I discovered my religiosity to be quite heretical and un-Catholic. I drifted away from the Church. About three years ago, again during a period of boredom, I happened upon the spiritual e-retreats of Friends General Conference. After taking just about all those courses, I began thinking in earnest about becoming a Friend.

Unfortunately, there were no meetings near me in North Texas. An FGC internet acquaintance suggested I look at New York Yearly Meeting, which had recently adopted a route to membership that bypassed monthly meetings. The pandemic struck. More and more meetings went online as a result. Since I was interested in NYYM, I decided to investigate the websites of New York monthly meetings. I made a list of a half-dozen New York meetings that allowed people to join online without e-mailing in advance for a Zoom link.

Strictly by chance, I chose Old Chatham Monthly Meeting as my first experiment. I was warmly welcomed by Jens Braun during the afterthoughts in the spirit of worship. I began attending regularly online and soon discovered the OCMM worship group. I applied for membership, and the rest is history.

So, this was the series of events: a library book, the study of Spanish, conversion to Catholicism, FGC e-retreats, NYYM’s membership option, the pandemic, and barging into an online meeting of Old Chatham Quakers. None of these events was pre-determined or anything but random from my perspective. But God was present in all the above happenings. And being accepted by Old Chatham Quakers was the serendipitous result.  
 
~ Richard Russell
2 Comments
Donald Lathrop
11/4/2021 09:30:57 pm

Excellent short history.

Thanks for sharing this.

Peace,
Don

Reply
Richard Russell
11/5/2021 06:27:34 am

Hi, Don.

Sharing experiences is surely an important part of Quakerism. Vulnerability and transparency must surely be Quaker values (though by no means restricted to Friends).

Thanks for your comment.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    ​This blog was set up to post content of interest to Old Chatham Quaker members and attenders. Posts related to one's own personal spiritual journey, reports based on interviews with others, and reflections on Quaker-related topics are welcome. Posts by individuals are personal expressions and do not necessarily reflect those of the Meeting as a whole.
    Guidelines for posting on website blog:
    Submit to member of Communications committee; committee has editorial oversight over all content posted on the Meeting website.

    Be respectful of the nature of vocal ministry given in Meeting for Worship or other settings and any private conversations about spiritual matters.

    Cite source of any image or other external content submitted.

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • What's Going On?
    • Calendar
    • Upcoming Events
  • Donate
  • More About Us
    • Location
    • Quaker Links
    • Renting the Meeting House
  • Meeting Life
    • Meeting Business
    • Meeting Directory
    • Miscellaneous Documents
    • Document Archive
    • Worship Sharing
    • The Role of Ministry and Counsel
    • Friends Burial Ground at Rayville
    • Photo Archive
  • Covid Policy
  • OCMM Visibility Strategy Survey
  • Blog
  • Sanctuary Documents
  • OPJ Documents
  • Solitary Housing Unit
  • Memorial Minutes