Maureen W
I am a 24/7 carer for my husband. Fairly house bound, there is no public transport.
So courses to help me care or to stretch my mind are invaluable to me. I am interested in people and what motivates.
Location UK England
Activity
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Maureen W made a comment
I live in UK. I saw the Book of Kells a few years ago. I am attracted to Celtic Spirituality, we use to visit and stay on Iona. St Columba has been part of my journey.
I think the greatest treasures are the stone circles, reminding us at deep in the heart of humankind there is a connection with something greater. -
Maureen W made a comment
Greatest of apologies, I am a 24/7 carer and after the first week doing the course my husband needs more time so it is feeling like 48/7. I have paid for unlimited so I hope to read through it all when I am literally back on course.
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I do not not know but she spoke Hebrew fluently and was well educated.
Whether this was self educated or not, I would like to know about her.
It sounds like Swarthmoor was a place where many minds met.
I wonder what would have happened to the movement without her imput, support and the financial means. -
Maureen W replied to Christopher Morris
Thank you I shall miss your comments, teaching of the Buddha certainly confirmed what I felt and helped me understand the words of Jesus more clearly. As a very young child I felt compassion for the enemy perhaps that awaken my understanding at a young age. I feel I can never sit on previous laurels there is constant choice for every action and attitude....
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Maureen W replied to Hazel Lintott
Probably our greatest enemy is our self, the road to understanding ourself within deep silence allows us to understand others, loving with compassion even when deploring the act. Good sleep helps, more difficult when tired!
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My knowledge about the faith I was born into was enriched by eastern thought. For me it has always been about the inner life that flows outwards. Without that flow we would drown!
This inner guidance can lead to uncomfortable places as it can go against what many expect/prefer.
Once an ordained monk said to me the the problem with Mystics is that the... -
Maureen W made a comment
I was thrown in the deep end when my husband in his eighties had ingested, resulting in pneumonia. I have learned again the importance of posture, my husband is very round shouldered due to his late occupation. I was surprised at the wide range of ages, I was not surprised about how little the condition is recognised as I seem to be explaining to medical...
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It is a closed group on Face Book. I dislike Face Book and to family and friends annoyance I only use FB for closed groups. Perhaps we will meet on there, Hank?
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Maureen W made a comment
Although I have completed the course I cannot help but look at the new comments.
There was a link to www.nontheists-Quakers.org.uk from Rhiannon.
Although I do not claim to be a nontheist, my experience has led me otherwise.
Since a child I feel a Loving Presence. I found the site is full of interesting points and comments that I agree with. Many years... -
Maureen W made a comment
Some of us students may have finished but I and I am sure others will be looking at new comments and insights. For me it has been a remarkable experience meeting many fellow travellers.
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Maureen W replied to Andy Bourne
I have just looked at this link, there are some interesting discussions and views. Others experience and understanding always fascinates me.
I always feel words get in the way, once we were talking about a place in Wales, a Quaker friend said another place was better, we got the map out and found were were talking about the same place we pronounced the name... -
Mine too @JudiBoutle exciting is'nt it!
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Maureen W replied to Andy Bourne
Confused and interested sounds a good place to be, I feel, open and curious, Andy, rather than closed down and static.
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Just looked the term up, it seems to mean sympathising or even empathising with the ideas and principles but not being an member of an actual organisation. Early Quakers did not have organisation until later.
There there has never been a creed to agree to so perhaps is why I personally prefer the word. I could be wrong, I do not know how these people saw... -
Maureen W made a comment
Hello again, Judi, In the eighties I went on a retreat, the discourses were by John Richards, now well retired. He had been brought up in a West Country religious group. He knew his bible inside out. He went to the Far East as a diplomat via Cambridge University, he realised he needed more meaning in his life and felt led to become a Buddhist monk. He learned...
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Maureen W replied to Richard Welch
Thank you for this list. Your book sounds interesting.
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Maureen W replied to Michael Bath
Shame we cannot meet and chat, it could be fun! It would be a bore if we agreed on everything!
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Maureen W made a comment
Even when most of us have reach the end the dialogue goes on, what a shame we cannot continue!
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Maureen W replied to Michael Bath
I do not think it would offend many, especially Quakers, in my experience one cannot divide life into inner and outer, equally history is shaped by individual spiritual issues. Even for atheists it seems it is a inner move of the spirit, that invisible force that influences their personal history.
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No, not in my book. Followers sound like sheep taking on another's ideas often because emotions are stirred. I remember a Jewish woman say to me she listened to Hitler, she was drawn then it hit her that he was talking about people like her.
Fellow travellers, in my book, are individuals who are struck with a personal truth and travelled a parallel path,... -
Maureen W made a comment
I shall miss all the insightful comments, I think we strayed off track at times too. It is hard to really put ourselves into how anyone really feels, we can be empathetic but even so history is in a time and place so different, if similar, to our own.
How the early Quakers felt may be difficult to grasp but Ben's small book Living the Quaker Way, will help... -
Maureen W replied to Karen Fountaine
It was Thomas Cromwell, I believe there was a distant family connection.
It is a problem when surnames are used. Easy mistake! -
Many do enjoy singing but not during Meeting, I went to one where there were many musical events and shared meals.
At a different large meeting a Friend would occasionally stand and sing. It seem a very mixed bunch.
I think what has shown on this discussion is the variety, one I heard Quaker say at a business meeting there are many paths but we are all... -
Maureen W made a comment
Thank you it was very interesting as it explained well. I will look at the rest of the courses at a later date.
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Maureen W made a comment
I found this interesting, at the moment I have little time but I have written in the past.
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Maureen W made a comment
I was surprised to find myself on a heritage site, but basically not much which is not unexpected. Just Face Book and that is restricted to private groups. I do post a lot on a forum attached to Carers fo Dementia but the privacy seems tight on that.
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Maureen W made a comment
Thank you for week one, food for thought as I do more on line study.
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Maureen W made a comment
Neil Markham with daughter Ella. They were trolled by anonymous people. He stood up and took these people on publicly, it was a brave act but has helped others. They have been on news this few weeks.
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Maureen W made a comment
This code applies to every communication, I would ask myself too is this necessary, is it helpful and is it kind.
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Maureen W made a comment
I will not say anything that would not print and hand deliver.
I will try to express a feeling I have rather than an opinion. -
Maureen W made a comment
It shows how things get out of hand so easily. It shows how somehow there is a lack of self worth, this is a problem that needs fixing. Too many are seeking approval of strangers, and words get twisted out of context.
Self worth means more self respect, I noticed the poor girl was talking about what had been taken from her, not perhaps what she was taking... -
Maureen W made a comment
I think it is my nature to be private. I find too many forms on the web do want to know too much.
I was on FB because a child in the family was ill and it was easier for her Mum to update a group. That seemed to generate s lot of kindly meant but negative comments.
I came off, then I went on joining another closed group but with a partly true identity.... -
Maureen W replied to Doreen McIntyre
I am pretty old too Doreen, when young we did not even have a phone! A neighbour had one, but otherwise hat and coat on, a walk crossing several roads and joining a queue, hence the hat and coat!
I use the internet for many essential parts of my live. So just need more confidence about identity issues. -
Thank you
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Maureen W replied to Michael Bath
Not so much lists as possible solutions, then I can put concerns aside without constant worry. Lists are something else, I need some as a memory aid but also I remind myself, it will be much the same in a 100 years for the mundane in life, the dust will keep coming back. So concentrate on the important things! When that get pared back it is about love and...
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I think both share deep emotional response, so I think you are right.
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Maureen W replied to Tony Richards
Yours too, perhaps it is the Banburyshire air!
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Maureen W replied to Michael Bath
When I make plans I often find the thing that works is beyond my own making. Yet the effort of making of a plan opens the unexpected door. Like the knock on the door.
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Maureen W replied to Tony Richards
I suppose some may not have read the bible but were conversant with the content. I think churchgoing was compulsory and sermons were long.
You make an interesting point about oppression the wars must have made all the people feel oppressed in a way. Crops stolen, billeting imposed. It must have been a tough time for so many. Inner freedom to think must have... -
Maureen W replied to Rob Bollington
Very true but of course Margaret Fell was able to help financially too. I wonder what would have happened without the support of the Fells, Judge Fell had a great influence.
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Maureen W replied to Michael Bath
So lovely to hear your story, I love the idea that a radical community is just lying fallow. I have also learned we need our fallow times, our lulls when nothing seems to be happening. Once I felt I was doing something wrong in my work then I would find something large to deal with and without that lull I would not have been prepared.
I have always... -
Maureen W made a comment
Just been exploring the different branches of Quakerism, I had not realised the variety. I knew some were programmed but that was all. It started as I was surprised at the larger numbers of African Quakers.
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These flashes/promptings have guided my life so much, my childhood allowed that to emerge. I fear many children these days are so programmed with activities and outside input they not develop this intuition. The spirit seems to have a gentle patient sense of humour too! Barbara, we could share some good conversation!
Life is an adventure, once I tried to... -
Maureen W made a comment
Is there any chance of a follow up course to continue into the next stage?
The quietism, the social concerns etc. -
Maureen W replied to Michael Bath
Sometimes I feel there is little that we actually can really control, we can strive and make things better for people, we may succeed or not. So much is beyond personal control.
Looking back things that seemed a disaster at the time opened up opportunities I could not have foreseen or even planned.
There seems a perchance so often, a serendipity, odd... -
It must have been tough for you at times. I find all situations can teach us more about ourselves, I have found strengths and frailties I did not know I had! Learning to ask is one frailty! I have found people are kind even when organisations they work in are not. Experience helps me help others too.
Life is a bit like a jigsaw isn't it, as I go on more bits... -
Maureen W made a comment
Margaret Fell was amazing, she was fluent in Hebrew and had nine children
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There does seem a rhythm, a time when a collective surge responds.
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Maureen W replied to Michael Bath
I am sorry that you did not find what you are looking for, I hope you find answers. There has never been a Creed, only advices and queries, I believe, giving just gentle advice to guide
Quakerism is about self responsibility and self discipline.
Even headstones were thought to be a vanity, my husband found many unmarked graves when the grave digger was... -
Maureen W made a comment
Oh, dear, Ben, a bit like showing me a cake when on I am on an enforced diet. How mean!
I shall explore more short courses though. Especially those of social and spiritual interest. As a 24/7 home Carer I have found this a real respite with adult conversation which is somewhat lacking these days.
I have just signed up to Quakers Unbound.
I cannot thank... -
Maureen W made a comment
Women thoughout history have been underestimated, during war with men away they have taken over the reins for centuries. The same with the wars in the last century, yet as a married woman I was not able to open a bank account without my husband's permission! Even now the local Anglian Church has been able to refuse a woman for applying for the vacancy.
So I... -
Yes, Carol, my husband cannot be left alone as he has dysphagia among other things. This stage of life is a challenge but what stage isn't, in some way.
I am certainly on a steep learning curve, physically and spiritually.
Our life has never been static, that, I think holds us in good stead.
I often imagine managing life is like a see saw constantly... -
Maureen W made a comment
I agree with the problem of memory, I think what we remember can be enhanced as years go by. My father used to reckon the weather was always better when he was young.
However in my study of memory and forms of dementia, memory fades or is lost but feelings engendered often remain clearly.
So outside of brain damage, is that why Margaret Fell remembers so... -
Maureen W made a comment
Hearing the words was so moving, as if she suddenly stepped out a ready made coat into a custom made one that fitted her spirit.
Sometimes even a few word or brief experience can change one forever. -
We have been married more than sixty years, our early life was so much simpler than now. Fewer clothes, no phone at all, radio and a few records and a record player that one wound up! No plastic or detergents, just paper bags, much just went straight into a shopping bag or basket. But more buses, local shops, doctors within walking distance.
We have no... -
Maureen W made a comment
Perhaps like so many busy people, and it sounds she was responsible for many things in her husband's absence, she outwardly followed Church teachings. She had a deep knowledge of the Bible. Fox and his words converted head knowledge into heart knowledge. As a simple example one can be kind, carry out duties kindly but not feel kind. I felt her breakthrough on...
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Maureen W made a comment
GF was certainly very forthright but we only hear his words and not the words directed to him by the clergy and professors. He was probably forced to be somewhat outwardly arrogant to be heard. Yet I wonder about his inner torment too. I feel he was a person with an urgent message and he was frustrated as he tried to make his message clear. I do not think he...
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Thank you, I enjoyed your thoughts. I know I once questioned 'duty' to other people's causes. I suggested that the ability to listen to our inner calling could be stifled if we were overbound by fulfilling duties we inherited by previous generations.
They were led by passion, we too should recognised where our passion/mission leads. Some small groups seem... -
Maureen W replied to Michael Bath
There is a saying in the north of England 'muck to brass to muck in three generations' that is the first work hard to make money, the second enjoys the fruits of it, and the third wastes it. Perhaps this is not just about money, certainly I see it in other things, people struggled for human rights and welfare, the next generation enjoyed the benefit and the...
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Maureen W replied to John Plimsoll
I think you are right about it being more difficult but more satisfying too. Self responsibility in all things is difficult.
We brought our children up to be responsible as far as possible according to their age and means. Offering choices rather than orders, although I must admit I weighted the choice on some oassions!
One at the age of fifteen complained... -
Maureen W replied to Michael Bath
I understand how you may feel, I remember how I felt emotionally when I saw a memorial stone to part of my family, so many, although they had good standing in the community, died of TB at a young age.
However if I had to consider every decision I made now extended into future generations I would be paralysed. As of now I can only consider the family I know... -
Maureen W made a comment
Eagerly waiting for part three! Just a thought, how do you feel about the the parallels of today. Once again there is a spiritual thirst not entirely being met, bookshops show that.
Once again there is turmoil and people feel there is little personal control over poverty, as shown in food banks and homelessness.
There for the Grace of God go I.
There... -
Maureen W replied to Michael Bath
I am not sure I am qualified to answer your question, I do understand that in the UK non Anglicans did not have access to public life until the latter 1800s. This must have made them a close knit society with their own schools etc. Universities were not open until the 1870s. I imagine people joined the Society for many reasons, there were birthright Quakers...
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Maureen W replied to Michael Bath
I am not convinced that we are ultimately responsible for our descendants, I feel we can supply our own children with the right tools but then they take the baton on to use as they choose, I think the hinge depends on what is done with the wealth, is it fairly shared, are employees cared about on all levels without too much paternalism? Age equals?
So what... -
Thank you too Ben for keeping an eye on the comments. This has become more that a learning course I feel.
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Maureen W replied to Barbara Musgrave
@CathyKelly perhaps that is what gave early Quakers their edge, life enforced thinking time. More physical work, more rhythm to the year.
We knew an old Quaker she was probably at university just after WW1 she complain that students in the 60/70s were not taught to think! She was quite a character. -
Maureen W replied to Barbara Musgrave
@CathyKelly looking back I have found what seems like a disaster is a gift in disguise. A school in North Norfolk taught simple philosophy to primary classes. Children became calm and better focused, they excelled in music too.
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Maureen W replied to Cathy Kelly
@CathyKelly I often have found a few words or action really sends one in a different direction or has a profound effect. Angels in disguise?
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Maureen W replied to Emily Ginder
Thank you Pamela I have just watched it. My history on American Quakers was very scant even though I have had a dear Friend for many years. @PamelaSimones
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Maureen W replied to Anna Green
We worked at Sibford and our daughters attended, 69 onwards @AnnaGreen
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Maureen W replied to Pamela Simones
Some of this separateness was forced by church and society who prevented education and therefore access to professions etc.
As I understand it was not like the sects that refuse contact with outsiders. I know a young woman whose religion does not allow her to eat her mother's cooking, she takes her own.
Early Quaker start businesses and support each other... -
Maureen W made a comment
I cannot see there is any any point in an inner life without it having an good/useful effect on our outer life in some way, mainly by being able to be more patient or tolerant etc.
I feel it is about being true to oneself. I do go to church services on occasions to support another. However I find the words of hymns really difficult.
If I cannot agree the... -
Maureen W replied to Cathy Kelly
Cathy, What a lovely example.
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Maureen W replied to Barbara Musgrave
Walking alone can be so healing. As a child I used to walk to school, I was not given pocket money so I used to save the fare! I think that helped me a lot as I had thinking time.
Again I used to walk from work a good three miles or so through London varying my route. It cleared my head and gave me head space.
Now I care for my husband who cannot be left,... -
Maureen W replied to Dennis Orgill
Well there is always hope! Thanks for another laugh! I need it I have to deal with a council matter and they are virtually bankrupt!
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Maureen W replied to Judi Boutle
@DennisOrgill Very true point. Perhaps truth differs too.
we found a lump of slate years ago. Each side was different, smooth, steep, rough and uneven, it had a flatish top. We called it our truth stone, it was different depending on perspective. One could only see the whole by the higher view of looking down from above. -
Maureen W replied to Dennis Orgill
Well, that was our thoughts too, it was the speakers thought too. He said having more than wife and treat them absolutely equally in all things would be physically and emotionally exhausting.
But it shows how culture overlays religious original thought as humankind uses it, consciously or unconsciously, to its advantage.
So much is down to culture and... -
Maureen W replied to Judi Boutle
Just noticed your location, very interesting!
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Carol, I was Christened too, I was taught the stories at Sunday school for the similiar reason to you, it gave my parents a break.
I am very grateful to the young girl teacher with long brown hair.
I took myself to church at the age of ten, but disagreed with the vicar who preached about sin, hell and damnation. I felt in my experience God was about Love so... -
It still is I think, I upset a very humble clergyman when during a group discussion I suggested that we all had inner light to turn too. He raged about the time he had spent studying theology at university. We saw a different part of his nature.
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Maureen W made a comment
It must have come at the right time, there had been other movements to till the ground, the largeness of the parishes meant less control so people were freer.
The simplicity, equality must have appealed to people ravaged by war.
Of course there seems some would have been fearful of the authorities so rocking the boat would have been a concern for some. -
Maureen W replied to Michael Bath
Many were forced into commerce as so many careers were closed to Quakers. Universities and schools were not available. Quakers had to establish their own schools, so this intelligence had to go somewhere.
Their word was their bond too. People trusted them.
I met a non Quaker who was invited to tea at a Quaker neighbour's house as a child.
She told me... -
Maureen W made a comment
The Biblical language would have been part of everyone's life. People were expected to go to church so it would have been familiar in ways not so now.
To us, it perhaps sounds more fervent that it did at the time.
I imagine such events would have been a diversion in the days of little entertainment.
I remember being taken to Elim Tent meetings in the late... -
Maureen W replied to Christopher Morris
thank you
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Maureen W replied to Christopher Morris
True, I am not sure how I pose this question, do you think though there is a
collective ego when enough people join together hopefully in the power of good.
A rightness of time. I often think of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I remember it being built.
There seemed little personal reward, more people were against GF in the early days.
This seems different... -
Maureen W replied to Linda Torres
Gratitude is so important to me, I find it leads to finding Joy in small things. From saving a slippery cup from breaking to woderful sunsets,
A kind gesture from a stranger, to catching someone's eye and sharing a smile. -
Maureen W replied to Barbara Musgrave
You are right, it needs commitment, time just fills itself if we are not aware.
We need to be awake to opportunities, walking everywhere must have helped early Quakers.
In the seventies I had a 30 minute bus journey to work, I spent time dropping the home responsibilities, meditating, then picking up work issues, remembering what was needed. On the return... -
Maureen W replied to Julia Collings
Wow, even 'good' things can demand too much! There is a danger that 'doing' stifles 'being'.
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Maureen W replied to Christopher Morris
Perhaps 'true spirituality' is always about changing ourselves and never about changing others. Never thinking we have the power over others.
Much human action is of ego, of being special, trying to prove our value to the world. Perhaps this where the problems lie. -
Maureen W replied to Dennis Orgill
It seems that the religion is not as much at fault as how humankind interprets it through ego, greed and selfishness.
We attended a course on Islam by a doctor from Oxford. It was about peace.
As he said he could have had more than one wife according to the Koran, but and it was a big but each would have to be treated equally, no one favoured. Woman were... -
Maureen W replied to Hazel Lintott
Perhaps because inward does not mean individual, it allows access to a common ground of good. A collective unconscious perphaps there are deeper and deeper layers of GOOD. Some beyound human reach? Just a thought on the hoof as I considered your words.
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Maureen W replied to Melissa Marsh
@MelissaMarsh I feel we have to risk to learn to trust. If this is authentic it will not harm anyone, it may be inconvenient to you, it often is.
Though silence I developed a sensitivity. This manifestived into action.
We lived in a flat for awhile, sometime I would get a 'nudge' to go to the communal area. So I turned the cooker off etc. There was always... -
Maureen W replied to Rob Bollington
I find that different things can uplift too, especially music or a poem that echoes a thought. I remember at Colchester Meeting house many years ago there was a great concern as to whether a painting of an empty cave should remain. I feel that whatever is external is only affective when internalised.
To me the picture was just a pointer to empty myself to be... -
Maureen W replied to Judi Boutle
I do not think I can say I believe, I think a better way is to say I seek. In seeking a truth revealed, or rather part truth which is still growing in me.
Some things I know, this is because I have experienced and tested the result of that experience. Even so I am sure more is revealed in due time.
I think we have to be open and not substitute external... -
Thank you, I will look at the link
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Maureen W made a comment
I feel the simple lifestyle would have shown an inner self confidence. Attracting some but disturbing many others, some people must have feared a group they did not understand, their certainly showed an inner joy perhaps in such uncertain times.
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Maureen W made a comment
This text made me feel that GF had grasped the personal truth, we all see truth through our own perceptions, as through a dark glass, we have to individually start to clear our own glass. By going direct to the source. Other people even well versed and educated cannot do this for us just by the merit of being well verse and educated. In fact they could make...
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Somewhat weary, I am a 24/7 carer. I was doodling on a link leading to another link.
I came across mention of Godless for Gods sake. Edited by Robert Boulton about Quaker nontheism, several short essays by modern Quakers.
I downloaded a sample, Meister Echart of the Middle Ages was quoted. Nothing is new! I will probably buy a copy. -
I understand some Quakers are Humanists, so win win ?
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Maureen W replied to Jan Cantle
A well read book in my childhood!
