Why? How? Hayley & Mia

By Hayley and Mia

Hayley: We have been attending Quaker meetings for about a year and a half now.  Mia has made friends and I often stay in the family room for the first part of the meeting to play games with the young ones. I found out about Quakerism through reading and researching on the internet. The way it has felt so much like home was completely unexpected but now I honestly cannot imagine being anywhere else. The very essence of the Quaker way simply suits the people we are – the way we already live our lives.  As parents we have striven to instil solidity through honesty, peaceful conflict resolution, a non-materialistic simplicity and the deep sense that all people are equal. Plus, my husband is an environmental conservationist so ecological living is very important to us. Also, many of our close friends and family member are gay, so belonging to a group of people without prejudice matters hugely to us.

Mia: I have very much enjoyed my time being a Quaker as it is so different to any other gathering of people. It is all completely and utterly fair with no ceiling to the sort of people who join and participate in our meetings. Since I am only young, my mum and our friends go in to the family room to play games and keep us occupied throughout 45 mins. For the last 15 mins we join meeting and sit in silence. It is not as long as an hour but it does give me time to think about my life and the sort of stuff that happens. Going back to what my mum said about our friends and family being gay, I think that’s one of the greatest things that I personally love about Quakerism. I got quite upset at our last church when they were being quite homophobic but now I am ecstatic that me and mum have found a group of people that spread equality throughout our hearts. Thank you Quakers!

Hayley is a community artist and teacher and Mia is in Year 8 at school.

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