Thought for the Week – 23rd July 2023

How Big is God?

My eye was caught this week by an interview in the Church Times with Ian Cave, a former nurse and now a human rights observer, with a particular interest in Israel and Palestine. He is a Quaker but it is worth quoting his words.

“While my mother used to go to church on Sundays when we were very young, I was brought up in a secular environment and considered myself an atheist… [Now] I share the Clerk role with my local Quaker meeting… I remain a non-theist Quaker (ie a Quaker who does not feel the need to speak about God) but I believe that many of us share a common experience which some people call God. When I sit silently and manage to clear all the thoughts and words bursting inside my head, sometimes I become aware of insights. Some Quakers call this listening to the light, others call it the voice of God. You probably know what I mean. I’ve tried to put my values into practice- to let ‘my life speak’ as Quakers say”.

I am a Christian priest who affirms the creeds each Sunday and I make no apologies for speaking of God as a reality and sharing my faith with others. But I recognise and value those who clearly have a spiritual dimension in their lives and engage with it but do not wish to label it. I have a feeling that the God who I worship is also happy to speak to those people who do not call her/him by name. I have more concerns about those who do not engage with any spiritual aspect of their lives.

Rev David Poyner