Cost effective: David Grimshaw wants to talk about money

‘There is much more that can be done.’

Friends are rightly proud of our historical work in business and commerce, Bournville and Woodbrooke being good examples. But the way we use our money now – in a global economy, in a digital age – raises ethical dilemmas that previous generations did not face. The recent, brave decision to hand over Woodbrooke’s building has prompted me to explore other avenues of change. I’d like us to begin a new conversation, keeping sustainability at the heart of our ideas. I address Area Meetings most obviously, but the principles ought to apply at Yearly and Local levels, from a spiritual point of view.

‘Let your life speak’ is a phrase commonly quoted by Quakers, but the original quote is ‘let your lives preach’. I believe that it’s time for us to find a new focus in these words of George Fox, who was speaking to merchants and tradespeople. Fox initially admonishes Friends for neglecting their Meetings in favour of business. He goes on to remind us that conduct in everyday life is an outward sign of our inner spiritual state. Is there a difference between speaking and preaching, beyond semantics?

In an article on the Woodbrooke website, our Friend Martin Layton has noted that ‘preaching’ can only ever be a public declaration of a confidently-held truth. ‘Preaching’, of course, is a very action-orientated word. Letting our life preach is much more challenging than letting our life speak.

Let’s consider the fuller quote: ‘So let your lives preach, let your light shine, that your works may be seen.’ What ‘works’ undertaken corporately by an Area Meeting might meet the Fox test? We all know that money ‘speaks’, from the fast expensive car on the drive to space exploration as tourism. The issue before us is how to transition from letting money speak to letting it preach. We might look at various ways in which the financial world has changed. Consider, for example, how the concept of an ‘ethical bank’ has shifted. It is no longer defined by what a bank does not invest in. The credo is now about supporting economic, social, and environmental sustainability. There is much more that can be done.

To write, act, or speak of ‘money talking’ is, in our contemporary world, to acknowledge that money can easily be used as power. And as Friends, our testimonies lead us to question any concentrations of power, and to use our corporate resources to build sustainable communities.

I’m writing in the hope that we can begin a discernment process. If it is true that the internet, and social media, amplifies voices, we need to understand how we can move from amplified speech to amplified preach.

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