"Seekers" or "Those Who Dance With The Divine"

By Mark Helpsmeet:

Many different names have been used to describe Quakers through the ages, but one that resonates profoundly with many of today’s unprogrammed Friends is "Seekers." The word implies a continuing search for God and the Light, helping to balance a sense of many religions as rigid and doctrinaire. Certainly, these aspects of the concept have drawn me to the label and affirm a part of the truth that I experience and wish to validate.

There is a quality of the name that fits less well with my experience. In addition to our seeking, we occasionally find ourselves in the presence of that which we are pursuing. Sometimes we find ourselves moving with that Spirit, harmoniously living with the call of the Divine in our lives. At this time we feel something like Finders – not of the ultimate and final Truth, but of the place where we belong and the path along which we are called to continue. We haven’t trapped or boxed the Spirit, but we find ourselves moving and growing in concert with it. It feels like something beyond merely being a Seeker, but is such a fluid and moving experience that calling ourselves Finders would also seem misleading.

This experience came upon me clearly in the course of the Friendly FolkDancer tour to New Zealand. I had the sense of us moving to the lead of the Spirit, to the rhythm and pace of the Divine. This contrasts with the times we are out of step, aware of the lack of flow in our lives. It seemed clearly to me that Quakers are Seekers, but more than that we are Dancers with the Divine. We are seeking to be in that continually unfolding movement of the Spirit. At our best, we are partners of the Divine, faithfully following the lead, always sensitive to the changes in tempo and direction. When this image came to me, I had a tremendous relief because, instead of an endlessly pursuing an unattainable goal, I saw myself attempting to learn the dance. My task would never cease, because the dance and its variety never end, but I could know the faithfulness of being in the right place in the dance, for at least the present moment. That, in itself, is a powerful and rewarding place to be.

May our seeking be fruitful and may we each find our right place as we dance with the Divine.