Reflections on my time as a Palm Beach (Lake Worth) Quaker

 It's very odd how apparently bad things turn out good. And it is regrettable that I did not employ non-violent communication to express my unmet needs. But at a deep soul level, I needed to go. I was getting great gains from the Silence there. And let's also be clear: the people who attend there need to be there and they are getting what they want at this moment in Spacetime. But my search for community since then has been nothing short of amazing. And I would not have done it had I stayed there and did my best to remain married  to them And please stop all nonsense about me graduating to something better than them. Again: it's about what brings you joy. And clearly I was not totally receiving joy in certain material concerns. I had an old friend named Lisa Rippy and she said: "I see it like a checkerboard... where people are basically just making the moves that work for them" LET ME REPHRASE THINGS: My search for community has been agonizing. I did not know how ...

 The Quaker so-called consensus process is the complete opposite of sitting and waiting for God... at least in my experience of it. The egos are flying and the pressure to have your way is immense.  When a person stands aside, it is similar to getting out of the way of an oncoming 18-wheeler. You arent doing it because it is right, true or good... or most importantly because it is God's will. You are doing it because everyone else in the room wants things their way and you are tired of these people tearing into your subtle body with their resentment. And it isnt just the Lake Worth meeting where this happens. Note this: https://www.reddit.com/r/quakerism/comments/17y5bxa/i_can_give_examples_of_monthly_meetings_which/ And non-Quakers who take a rational objective evaluation of Quaker consensus critique it as follows: https://berkeleyjournal.org/2015/05/26/the-theology-of-consensus/   Quaker meetings have a huge uphill battle in reconciling the truth in silence (the spiritu...

  Rabbi Silver, I learned of your call to action at the Palm Beach Quaker meeting. I am the sole individual opposing the Palm Beach Quakers joining PROTECT democracy. Of course, nothing is stopping individuals in Palm Beach Quakers from joining PROTECT democracy individually. But my concerns and questions in response to your call to action is below.  You wrote “an entire political party supports insurrection and threatens the liberty and natural beauty that we cherish in America.” what political party are you talking about? what specific ways does this party support insurrection? what liberty and natural beauty is threatened? You wrote “In Florida, Governor DeSantis seeks to impose a right wing, Christian theocracy upon the rest of us” what makes you think that he seeks to impose a right wing, Christian theocracy? You wrote “They seek to replace democracy with demagoguery” what specific comments or legal/political action supports your viewpoint? who is ‘they’? You are aware th...

Rabbi Barry Silver wrote the following to invite Palm Beach Quakers to be listed as a member of his organization PROTECT Democracy: Hello fellow progressive activists: On this Memorial Day, our basic rights and freedoms are under attack. Patriotic Americans fought and died to preserve our freedom, while today, an entire political party supports insurrection and threatens the liberty and natural beauty that we cherish in America. In Florida, Governor DeSantis seeks to impose a right wing, Christian theocracy upon the rest of us, dismantling the separation of church and state, which the founders of this nation established to ensure that the soil of America would not be soaked in blood as it was in Europe. They seek to replace democracy with demagoguery, education with indoctrination and to torch our freedoms rather than let the torch of freedom burn brightly as a beacon of hope for the world. Learning nothing from the past, they threaten to reinstate the horrors of yesterday by aligning ...

  What went on at the Lake Worth Quaker Center for me was not as bad a Stockholm Syndrome. Let us be clear that neither John or Ellie are abusers and the Lake Worth Quaker Center is not (quite) a cult: sure they stroke each other's ego and let things slide. But there is no evil or destructive intent behind their unskillful actions. They just dont have an accountability buddy since my ousting. But let's get back to the topic of this post. I became emotionally connected to Ellie during the Women's World Cup 2023. She was grateful that I showed her a way to watch a 5-minute highlight reel instead of 90 minutes of the whole game. And we had some good discussions about the games as she would walk into meeting. So when I pointed out the attempt to let programmed worship creep into our unprogrammed meeting without group consent. IT HURT. And it hurt in realtime. She was right there in the room when I started outing her behavior. It did not feel good. But I did it anyway. I would s...

I’ve had many revelations since this apparent “bad” event took place. The goal of this writing is not those revelations but to accurately report what occurred on that day. The Palm Beach Quaker meeting meets at 823 N A St, Lake Worth, FL USA. After morning worship and lunch, there was a decision to hold the business meeting even though some key people were absent. The first item of business was to ratify the minutes from the previous month. The Clerk (John Palozzi) said “do all agree to this summary report of last month’s minutes”?  It was at this point that I said:  “I am not in agreement with the statement that COVID rates are rising in Florida. Before I could agree with such a statement, I would need to confirm at least the following: the existence of the Corona Virus The infectiousness of the Corona Virus Evidence that there is a working test for the Corona Virus It was at this point that Atlanta Chuck said “Oh jesus” Then the Clerk said: “This is not the time or place to ...

 I live halfway between Palm Beach Quakers and Ft. Lauderdale Quakers. I wasnt sure which to attend, but just ended up at Lake Worth first.  I mentioned to John and Ellie that I was halfway between them and thought about alternating Sundays, which of course brought up the question of what to do on a 5th Sunday. John said: you can come here on the 1st and 3rd Sunday and go there on the 2nd and 4th Sunday and on the 5th Sunday, you can go hunt alligators and crocodiles. John was making a joke out of something we had discussed earlier. This was our first but not last foray into the world of humor.