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.
When in Italy I have a problem explaining what Quakers are and what they believe. For that matter, I even find it difficult to translate the name ‘Quakers’, as very few people in Italy have heard of this strange name: Quaccheri.
I certainly knew nothing of them before arriving in Britain more than fifty years ago. The fact is that even here, the birthplace of the Religious Society of Friends, Quakers are still a bit of mystery for most people. The word ‘Quaker’ is generally associated with porridge, plain dress code and old-fashioned values!
I remember a conversation between two Friends back in the 1970s. The two old men were reminiscing about their youth before the second world war. The thing that struck me about their conversation was not only that they had an experience of the Inner Light which I was expecting, but also that they believed the Light in one person could communicate with the Light in someone else.
Evils which have struck their roots deep in the fabric of human society are often accepted, even by the best minds, as part of the providential ordering of life. They lurk unsuspected in the system of things until men of keen vision and heroic heart drag them into the light, or until insolent power visibly threatens human welfare.
William Charles Braithwaite, 1919
Quaker faith & practice 23.05
At Britain Yearly Meeting Gathering this year we were reminded by Elizabeth Allen, from South East Scotland Area Meeting, to look for God in organisations as well as in people. George Lakey, the American Quaker author and activist who addressed Friends in a session, stressed the importance of us just showing up in difficult situations. Steve Whiting, from Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), enjoined us to liberate whatever we possess for God’s service.
We live in turbulent times and mental health issues can be part of this. We live in a society with increasing levels of mental distress identified, diagnosed and discussed. Friends are worried about their own mental wellbeing and worried about that of people they love. There are Friends experiencing mental distress and Friends caring for people experiencing mental distress. There are people in our Meetings who need support. Friends look at the news, look at services their area and see how difficult things are.
In 2013 a group of Friends completed the two-year Equipping for Ministry course at Woodbrooke and, since then, have formed a community that continues to grow.
Jesus was a man, not God. He did not ‘come’ to ‘redeem’ us from our ‘sin’, nor was he ‘sent’ by God to ‘atone’ for our wrongdoings. Instead, he chose to die for Love, his Abba-Imma (Hebrew for ‘faith-mother’). This Love (or ‘Word’ as John calls it in his gospel) is the ‘Kingdom’. It is not a human kingdom but of Abba-Imma. This Kingdom is inside, among and around us as the Presence of Love, a Love that is only ‘almighty’ in its omnipresence as Love, in its capacity as Divine peace, justice and compassion.
Become a subscriber to enjoy unlimited access to our articles, dating back to 2009! Online subscribers get the Friend to their inbox each week, can comment on articles, and dive into our 1914-18 digital archive too!
Whether you are new to Quakerism or have been going to Meeting for years, you’ll find something here to inspire, inform and challenge you.
News | Views | Reviews
Written by and for Friends on the bench
Subscribe