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Swarthmore Lecture

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The Presence in the Midst

Peter J. Eccles

Swarthmore Lecture 2009

How do we make sense of and respond to our experience of the world around us? How do we discern well together?

By considering profound questions such as free will and the place of life in the universe, Peter J. Eccles casts an illuminating and engaging light on a key element of Quaker practice.

He emphasises the profound importance of discernment to Quaker experience:

“The quality of the experience when we come together in meeting for worship depends on each one of us. The Presence in the Midst is always with us, ready to sustain and support us. It calls on each of us to rise above our weakness and live out our true self.”

Peter Eccles studies and teaches mathematics at The University of Manchester. He is a former clerk to Meeting for Sufferings and to Yearly Meeting.

 
Painting of the Christ appearing amongst a Quaker meeting.
 
The title of the lecture comes from the well-known 1916 painting by James Doyle Penrose, “The Presence in the Midst”, which pictures a meeting for worship of earlier years taking place in Jordans Meeting House, with Jesus, the Christ, standing in the meeting. This reflects an understanding that the experience of meeting for worship is an encounter with Christ, identified with the historic person of Jesus of Nazareth. Today some Friends may need to find other words and images to convey their understanding of this experience.