My Brother and Quakerism
I started attending a Quaker meeting last autumn. I’ve quicky become part of the community and find great joy, connection, and faith in both the silence and in the fellowship of our meeting.
My brother is a Catholic Jesuit priest. For the past six months, I avoided telling him that I was attending Quaker meetings. (It helped that he was in residential treatment during part of this time for some of his own mental health concerns.)
I finally told him a few weeks ago. His immediate response was, “I hope you enjoy hell.” I said, “I hope you don’t believe that,” and after a brief pause he replied, “I don’t, but I’m not God.”
We didn’t talk about that conversation again for a couple of weeks, until this past weekend when I visited him.
When I saw him this weekend, he acted like nothing had happened. At one point I brought up the Quakers, and he told me that one of his priest friends now calls me “Quaker,” and that he “cannot believe” I would “forsake the faith of our fathers.” After that, I decided not to bring up Quakerism again during the visit.
I would rather not hide such a growing and meaningful part of my life from him, but I don’t know what to do. I also don’t want to disconnect from him, though his treatment of me throughout my life is a frequent topic in my therapy sessions.
My meeting has a time for “hopes, joys, and concerns” at the end of worship. I’m thinking of bringing this up, but I’d also really appreciate any advice or recommendations.