The Friend is a weekly magazine in which Friends speak to each other and to the wider world, offering their insight, ideas, news, nurture and inspiration.
Nurturing Quaker community, each issue offers a space for Friends to share their concerns, and to support each other in faith and witness.
The Friend: enriching, inspiring and connecting the Quaker community since 1843.
‘Mistah Kurtz – he dead’ – The Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad.
It was the smell I remember most. That night, as we lay anchored on an island in the bend of the great river, I remember the unmistakeable whiff of dense tropical jungle, a pungent smell of mud, of foetid standing water and damp, decaying vegetation.
Twenty years ago, when I moved to the charming market town in which I live (population 9,000 and growing), it had three fully-functioning banks, providing counter service, cash, and private offices for more sensitive issues. They were supported by a magnificent, purpose-built Post Office, which, in addition to postal matters, provided some additional financial services. Together, they supported much of the infrastructure of the town, both commercial and social.
Imagine you were made homeless on the streets of London tonight. Who do you turn to, and who could you trust?
Ruth Jones concludes her interesting article on precision fermentation technology (‘More Food for Thought’, 1 August) with an invitation for more features about projects addressing the impact of climate change in rural settings. One such example is the rice padi scheme sponsored by Forever Sabah in villages in our neighbourhood in Malaysian Borneo.
What are we, Papa?’ the toy mouse’s child asked his father.
‘I don’t know,’ the father answered. ‘We must wait and see.’
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Written by and for Friends on the bench
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