IT IS HARD TO ASSEMBLE WORDS TO DESCRIBE the way the Spirit teaches us in Quaker open worship. The various contributions are rarely linear. Yet there is wonder when we realize that something fresh has been opened to us. One such occasion happened in Meeting recently. Let me see if I can share how it unfolded. . . .

The message was brought by Acacia on trust. She articulated the difference between trusting God for outcomes (which is a false understanding of trust) and trusting the nature and character of God. Then she went on to describe the textures of her trying to live in trust in a situation she was in. She was clear about what her prayers were and that she might or might not get the outcome that seemed so important. She shared her anxiety in this “messy middle”–that anxious time of waiting between her prayers and the outcomes. Her message felt like we were all witnessing her trust journey in action.

As we settled into the silence, several folks shared stories about time in which they did not get the “answer” they wanted, but as time passed they saw the grace and wisdom of that. They were sharing the “all-things-work-together-for-good” truth for folks trusting God’s care.

Another member observed that many folks don’t trust God because they have an untrustworthy or inadequate image of God. Again silence settled over the Meeting as folks gave space to reflect on the textures of God’s nature (which I call Godness). Then new images rose among us.

It was observed that for jillions of years, God’s will has not been done. Yet God has not been stopped or tripped up by that! God’s love and power has marched through history unabated. God hasn’t moved by controlling and coercing human choice. Neither has God been an inert Presence watching the kaleidoscope of destructive choices with detached sorrow. Rather, the Meeting began to have images of God actively transforming evil into something useful. Weaving brokenness into some useful and beautiful. Deflecting many “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” Bending trajectories of destruction; disarming hatred. Creating out of rubble.

Rather suddenly we had a corporate sense of Godness that is alert, wise and energetically involved in our human endeavor. Some had images of sports in which a player is constantly responding to their opponent’s moves. Another laughed as she imaged Godness as a good computer virus—moving and responding to every invasive tactic. Another saw how complex and amazing it was for Godness to do good for all. Others experienced new energy sensing the activity of God’s love all around us. We sensed that the “hand of God” really is at work in these present times.

Now it remains true that we may not get the answers to prayer that we had so hoped for. The world may look bleak and hopeless. And we may find ourselves sharing in the suffering of a broken world. But is also true God’s attentive care for us does not doze off in slumber. God’s attentive care for us—and the world—is active and constant. And it also remains true that God is energetically up to Good. Good that we can join in this journey of transformation. And that brought a bounce in my step and a trustful smile to my heart.