"Excuse me, we don't vote."

RantWoman is going to spare her readers a few details about the circumstances behind "Excuse me, we don't vote." Instead RantWoman is going to elaborate on worlds in collision.

A Friend who attends Business Meeting only very occasionally recently presented a routine matter where approval was almost certain, but the word "vote" came up. A Friend who had beenout of the room at the time asked "Did that Friend really say that?" Yeah, and we must embrace it as an opening.

For a few different reasons, RantWoman would guess that Presenting Friend might not necessarily be deeply steeped in concepts such as Business Meeting as mystical experience or Quakerese about the search for unity. RantWoman also would guess that a decent number of other infrequent presenters at Business Meeting, not to mention total newcomers could easily have made the same mistake. So first RantWoman, and, RantWoman HOPES, a topical committee, must hold some questions about Business Meeting as living our walk and what might better tend that.

The next point would be what to say in public rather in private. One usually quite direct Friend tsk'-tsk'ed to RantWoman a few days afterward that that Friend would have spoken to Presenting Friend in private. Friend who said "Excuse me, we don't vote" in Business Meeting probably is not acquainted with presenting Friend at all but is concise, spiritually grounded, and plain-spoken in many contexts. RantWoman considers the absence of "voting" such a basic point of Quaker process and practice that she found herself appreciating the comment at the time it occurred even though it leaned heavily on the plainspoken rahter than the "keeping low" end of the Quaker communications continuum.

Presenting Friend has been providing some measure of adult supervision over email in the Compost melodrama. RantWoman still does not know Presenting Friend well but has come to appreciate very measured communications from this direction. Furthermore, RantWoman has been slogging along for over a year with a very messy nomination process involving both vexatious matters of Meeting life and painful personal issues not related to Business Meeting.

RantWoman has been fighting to speak up for herself and NOT easily or repeatedly enough finding the right words. RantWoman has also felt miserable in her efforts to find specific Friends to walk alongside. Furthermore, RantWoman has not exactly felt more than superficial outreach from others to walk alongside. Sometimes RantWoman has been glad of spells of taking a break from certain topics; other times RantWoman has been peeved by month-long intervals when words did not line up well about superificial inquiries as to how she is faring and lined up only inadequately about what is the next step. In other words, based on RantWoman's experiences she decided it would be totally appropriate just to talk more to Presenting Friend to see whether he was bothered by Business Meeting. Presenting Friend did want some clarification but has not replied to RantWoman's offer of more of a dissertation or to comments about academics who study Quaker process and the lessons it offers for the business world.

RantWoman also spoke to our Clerk. RantWoman and our Clerk both have considerable life experience with different forms of consensus decisionmaking. Our Clerk has been active on a wide variety of Quaker bodies, college boards, and other bodies where decisionmaking is at least nominally grounded in Quaker practices. RantWoman has a lot of experience in activities where Quaker influence is strong but for various reasons decisionmaking occurs without nearly the same level of centeredness as RantWoman experiences when the search for unity is grounded, covered, intentionally cultivated. One of the things that initially charmed RantWoman about Friends was precisely this intentionality and groundedness compared to her previous experiences.

Anyway, RantWoman and our clerk had a charming conversation based on our experiences and the catalyst moments from Business Meeting. RantWoman left the conversation being clear that more conversations are needed but not clear what they might be.

RantWoman will start with the point that the more conversations are probably both Quick and Easy Quaker Process, Applied Quakerism and maybe fuller dissertations. RantWoman is FINE seasoning the question some more over time. This is a GOOD thing because RantWoman, in an effort to be transparent with other members of a committee she now sits on got shushed and told she should have waited on the whole committee, that is waited nearly a month, before saying anything even to Presenting Friend.

All RantWoman can say is Meeting belongs to all of us and RantWoman suspects there is work to be done tending community life even between meetings of a certain committee! Delegate? Empower? Stay tuned.



RantWoman is pointedly trying NOT to wander near the catty comment that a certain Friend who is always ready to expound with great certainty and to opine in definite terms in Business Meeting or otherwise about Quaker process happened to be absent this month. RantWoman does NOT want to gloat, only to point out that perhaps that is one of the circumstances that created space for problems to come forth from other perspectives.

In any case, RantWoman supposes she gets to be grateful that this topic involves specific community problems rather than one Friend who can barely absorb help from God alone and keeps fending off some of that when it comes in others' hands.