The Friend

You see me; I see you

I was amongst over 130,000 participants at the ecumenical interfaith and interpolitical event ‘The Kirchentag’, in Berlin, which was organised by the Protestant Churches of Germany and ran between 24-28 May earlier this year.

The Kirchentag has taken place every two years since 1949, alternating with the German Catholic Congress (Katholikentag). These original purpose of these ‘days of the churches’ was to help Germans rediscover their humane and spiritually-based way of life after the horrors of the Nazi era.

A day at war with the arms trade

I believe the Spirit of God is stirring deep inside me at the moment. On Tuesday 5 September I attended my first ‘proper’ demonstration when I participated in the No Faith in War day at the ExCeL Centre in London where the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair was being held.

Mental health: the challenge

I would like all Friends to consider whether we should separate off something that has an effect on all our lives: mental health.

Divine love

Oxford English Dictionary definitions suggest that divine love is strong feelings of affection having to do with God. It is usually felt to be a gift of universal love from God to mankind. Are all Friends of the Truth at ease with this broad statement?  Is love a universal gift? The energies proceeding from God are universal, but is divine love universal or, indeed, real? What of the calamities that affect good people and bad alike: war, disease, pests, famine, storms, floods, droughts, forest fires, earthquakes and poverty? A universal love from God? Something doesn’t fit. Perhaps we should consider alternative views of divine love.

Marcus Borg and God

Borg, Marcus Borg. I met him about six years ago. He was introduced to me by a Friend from another Meeting when we were on a course at Woodbrooke – and it was love at first sight! Well, not quite ‘sight’ as he wasn’t there in person. The Friend recommended a particular book of his, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith, which I devoured. I read others. Then, later, at the bookshop in Friends House, I came across what for me is his pièce de résistance – Speaking Christian: Recovering the Lost Meaning of Christian Words.