I'd like to tell you about an experience I had in the Allen's Neck Meetingroom. The painting on the east wall shows the presence of an ethereal Christ hovering over a Friends' silent Worship. You could not paint my experience because what I experienced was not seen. It did not have form.
Last May I picked up chicken from Lees Market to distribute to members of the Ways and Means Committee to be cooked for a church supper. I arrived a t the Meetinghouse early in the morning, about eight thirty, and the pick up time was nine o'clock. It was raining heavily and I couldn't spend time by going outside to walk around and look through the cemetery and I couldn't pick up a book in the library because I didn't have my reading glasses. Then the thought occurred to me to come into the Meetingroom and sit on the facing bench, for in all the years I've attended this Meeting, I've never sat on the facing bench.
I entered the room through the library, climbed the steps and sat down. I immediately noticed a very unusual, deep silence. The downpour of rain outside made no impact on the silence inside. There was no ticking clock. Just absolute quiet. As I sat looking out over the empty pews, thinking of all the people I've known who have worshipped here, an unseen presence embraced me with an overwhelming sensation difficult to describe. I had entered this room not seeking comfort, solace or assurance, but there it was. It washed over me like a wave. A feeling of well being, of being in harmony with a presence not seen. I knew God was with me in this room, as the unseen presence. He was here. I sat for about ten minutes, wondering and marveling at what I had experienced until a committee member arrived to pick up her allotment of chicken.
Since 1873, for 134 years this Meetinghouse, this room has absorbed the prayers of many meetings for worship. There have been funerals and memorial services with all their heartache and sadness. There have been weddings with the joy of new beginnings and there has been the joy of children enjoying all their activities. Over those many years I believe this room has absorbed and saved all the prayers and emotions. All the people who have come here seeking comfort and who have joined with each other in prayer have imbued this room with something special. A place where you can come to pray and find comfort and encouragement, whether you come alone as I did, or with others. There are some places that are very special to many people and this room, this Meetinghouse is one of those special places.
Donald Richmond