I was fascinated to read Marko’s post about a Quaker Clearness Committee. I’d not heard of one of these before, but in a jumbled existence where there are too many good, demanding, urgent ideas, the idea of taking some space and time with some good friends to think things through sounds like a great idea.

The overview according to Marko

this process was fairly simple, really, and is based on the idea that the holy spirit is in each of us (both the person with the question, and the other participants). but it’s not as much about “advice giving” (which often crosses into our own junk and mere opinions), as it is about asking open-ended questions to bring the convener into a space where he or she can more clearly hear what the spirit is saying.

Of course, as soon as the process is over it would be really easy to slip into advice giving mode, but that’s not the point.

While I was at uni I had a friend who would get into a real flap about her assignments. Deadlines would loom and the pressure would increase and she’d ask, ‘what do I do?’

We’d then talk for a bit about her options and she’d come to some kind of conclusion and press on with the task. Her assignments would all get done and the pressure would ease.

I never once said, ‘Well, I think you should do this.’ We’d just talk until she had a clear idea of what needed doing and when. This Clearing Committee sounds like the same kind of thing. Giving an individual the space and time to think through some of the stuff that life throws at us and making us more equipped to make decisions.

Maybe for some there is an element of the Holy Spirit in there, especially around certain issues, but I also think it’s a pretty good process for people who don’t necessarily believe in God.