In lieu of a long boat ride in pouring rain, we went to the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward to see Stellar sea lions, harbor seals, seabirds, fish, and other creatures of the sea. Our timing was good and we saw trainers work with the sea lions, seals, and seabirds. After these sessions, I sat in front of the tanks and was able to tune out the noise of children and adults around me. I don't know if it was the acoustics or the dimly lit sitting area, but I felt like I was underwater, where all sounds are muffled and motion is fluid and smooth. The slow movement of the fish and repetitive paths of the mammals was calming.
That's sort of the feeling and mood I try to get when I'm sitting in Quaker Meeting. One week after our visit to Seward, I was trying to tune out sounds of traffic and restless children today and turn my thoughts to a conversation started online by some Friends. The topic is religious differences, within Quakerism and with other religions. Some want the children in our Meeting to learn just about Quakers while others talked about the value of understanding other people to reduce conflict in the world. I'm in the latter camp.
As the national elections heat up, rhetoric is turned up a notch with the goal of drawing distinctions and separating one candidate from the other. The focus is on difference, and not what makes the candidates similar. If we could understand how similar we all are, our differences wouldn't have to lead to name-calling, bickering, conflict, and war.
If the campaign season has you down, and you're not a Quaker, I recommend 15 minutes in front of a tank of slow-moving fish to quiet your mind and restore equilibrium to your view of your fellow Americans.
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