Ellen Bassani
The idea for our retreat arose out of a desire to refocus on Quaker roots, the seeking of the Light within a gathered contemplative stillness. We event organisers (Deb Arrowsmith, Ellen Bassani, Anthea Richards, and Carol Saker) had discerned that this aspect of Quakerism risks becoming secondary, especially in times of pressing need for social action.
My blindness has allowed me to catch glimpses of the deep joy in surrendering to the promptings of the spirit, and I have arrived there through learning to place my complete trust into the hands of God and the kindness of strangers. Where I have felt hesitation in trusting, I’ve come to appreciate that I am bridled by my fear and a false belief in total personal independence. Accordingly, I led a retreat exercise in which sighted participants were first blindfolded and then paired with sighted guides upon whom the blindfolded would need to depend totally as they allowed themselves to be led out unsighted along a busy street and also through the confines of 43 St Giles. My idea was that these brave participants would be inspired to glimpse the blocks impeding their own pathways to trust and surrender.
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Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 512 • December 2021
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW