I'm never quite sure what meets the definition of irony, but, to me, the issue of communion, and the controversies that surround it, strikes me as very ironic. A Greek word used in the New Testament that is frequently translated as "communion" is the word, "koinonia". The irony lies in that koinonia also means "fellowship" or "joint participation". What ought to produce togetherness can frequently bring strong differences of opinion and dis-jointedness. This is what Isaac Pennington and George Fox referred to as "strife and jangling about outward Things, and Shaddows,..." For Quakers, the solution to this irony is to focus on the Real Presence of the Risen Christ, "in whom there is no strife but Life and Peace."
Of course, that doesn't solve all the problems. The question then becomes, "how to focus on the Presence?" For many, who haven't grown up amongst Friends or haven't entirely become convinced Friends, they still cling to outward symbols, like bread and wine, as helpful or even necessary for connecting to Christ's Presence. There is a 300 year-old tendency amongst Friends to be tolerant towards those who have differing opinions. However, then a new problem can arise: a meeting containing those who require outward symbols and well as those who don't. Can a meeting survive for very long with two differing groups? One side can point to their own meaningful experience and background of the use of outward symbols, while the other side can point to their own experience without symbols and the vast preponderance of Quaker faith and practice. Yikes!
I am not saying that I have the answer. The direction I'm exploring, as a Friends elder, is the practice of "laboring", meaning that I'm laboring with those in our midst who are not yet convinced. I'm doing this with temerity, because I believe elders ought to do, as Becky Ankeny says, "the hard work." And this is hard work for me, an introverted, don't-make-waves kind of person.
In addition to boldness, I'm trying to be gentle. I often find those whom I disagree with often have arrived at their positions genuinely, and I like praising and affirming the avenues they have taken. But then, as an elder and a convinced Friends, I attempt to lead them in a different direction.
I will try to report on how this is going.