A different slant on a Quaker Education

I've often bemoaned my inability, seemingly honed to perfection, to stay focused on a speaker such as my college professors, or in professional seminars, and the resulting lack of absorption of the things they are trying to teach me. But I have to admit, though with more embarrasment than pride, that the talent has come in handy when listening to the opening sentences of some of the messages I hear in Quaker Meeting on any given First Day.