tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post115981125106012488..comments2024-01-07T09:34:44.086-05:00Comments on What Canst Thou Say?: Runner? Writer? Quaker?Robin M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10336915224193704866noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-1164943497460711782006-11-30T22:24:00.000-05:002006-11-30T22:24:00.000-05:00Congratulations on reaching the 30 minute running ...Congratulations on reaching the 30 minute running goal!<BR/><BR/>And this whole post is great! I bookmarked it a long time ago intending to respond -- sorry to be so late!<BR/><BR/>I too think a lot about identity issues. Your reflections and questions (queries) are wonderful!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-1162324702598649082006-10-31T14:58:00.000-05:002006-10-31T14:58:00.000-05:00A further update on the running front: as of today...A further update on the running front: as of today, I finally ran for 30 minutes in a row! This was a big goal for me, and I feel great.Robin M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10336915224193704866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-1160003900804073092006-10-04T19:18:00.000-04:002006-10-04T19:18:00.000-04:00Hey, I'm a Quaker and a writer and a runner too! B...Hey, I'm a Quaker and a writer and a runner too! But I have never thought of an identity in these concepts. They're more verbs than nouns: I Quake, write, and run. The "I am" of identity is just the "me" of me.<BR/><BR/>However, this gave me a great deal to think about in the context of Quaking, writing and running.<BR/><BR/>BTW make sure you have very, very good shoes for running. I ran on average shoes and have the plantar fasciitis to show for it. Running ain't cheap either!Nancy Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14260235828442346455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-1159925100173462482006-10-03T21:25:00.000-04:002006-10-03T21:25:00.000-04:00I'm imagining the questions as the police interrog...I'm imagining the questions as the police interrogations of an accused Quaker: "Do you or do you not admit that you believe that you are hearing God right now? Do you deny that you have compelled your children to attend Quaker meetings?"<BR/><BR/>My point about the Religious Society of Antiquarians is that I fear that too often we describe our faith as decrepit rather than dynamic. We can value our past without being hung up on looking old-fashioned. A recent example for me was the preference of Friends for antiquated looking typefaces rather than modern designs. I don't mean that traditional forms of worship are outdated - they appeal to me greatly.<BR/><BR/>Another interesting facet of all this is that my running is the part of my life that I have the clearest goals and in which I am achieving the most regular feeling of success - yet it's the part of my identity that matters least to me. Oh well.Robin M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10336915224193704866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-1159895408125910182006-10-03T13:10:00.000-04:002006-10-03T13:10:00.000-04:00Wonderful post, Robin. And so was your article in ...Wonderful post, Robin. And so was your article in Friends Journal. I hope both spark more conversation.<BR/><BR/>This post reminds me of something I heard once (was it Andrew Weil??) that is an interesting take on identiy questions: There is no such thing as disease; there are only sick people.<BR/><BR/>"Disease" is the convenient, useful concept for caring for sick people who are sick in very similar ways, but too much focus on the disease can lead one to forget the sick person.<BR/><BR/>I wonder whether religious identity is similar: There is no such thing as "Quakerism"; there are only people who call themselves Quakers.<BR/><BR/>The point is that we need both: If you don't know anything about the disease -- its etiology, biology, treatment, etc. -- you may have nothing to offer the sick person (or, at least not what they want the most). So if Quakerism doesn't have some kind of generally accepted content, what does it have to offer the world? <BR/><BR/>On the other hand, if all you focus on is the disease, or the visible church, you will fail to see the person and begin to treat him or her as an "it" rather than "thou."<BR/><BR/>So keep on running, keep on writing, keep on Quaking, keep on being.Paul Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03483071863453025925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-1159880609923038002006-10-03T09:03:00.000-04:002006-10-03T09:03:00.000-04:00The questions you ask towards the end are good as ...The questions you ask towards the end are good as queries, rather than as criteria according to which one might be classed as a Quaker or not-a-Quaker. So the style you chose would indicate Quakerish tendencies.<BR/><BR/>However, the last question isn't a query but a false dichotomy. Why does being Quaker have to be "of the moment," without honor to the insights and experience of our predecessors and their efforts to pass it along? (Or vice versa?)kwattleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03971593049045600399noreply@blogger.com