Eye - 03 April 2015

From the promise of spring to getting into the groove

The promise of spring and hope

‘Brilliant white to heal the outpouring of November red’ – this is the vision for a recent planting project at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

On 14 March twelve young people aged eleven to eighteen, supported by members of Gloucestershire Area Meeting, arrived bearing 1,500 snowdrops.

The flowers were then planted under trees beside the Quaker Service Memorial. Anthony Wilson, a Quaker Service Memorial trustee from Lichfield Meeting, told Eye: ‘With time they will multiply to bring a promise of spring and of hope.’

This was the first of many planned visits to the memorial during 2015, supported by the Quaker Service Memorial Trust. From late April the Quaker Service Exhibition will be on display and a number of Meetings for Worship will take place during the year, for example, to mark International Conscientious Objectors Day on 15 May.

The Trust is also working to build an archive of the experiences of those involved in the Friends Ambulance Unit and Friends Relief Service.

A Meeting gets into the groove (and costumes)

A joyful parody giving a Quaker slant to the Taylor Swift song ‘Shake It Off’ has debuted online.

Alan Fricker, of Epping Meeting, contacted Eye when he spied the unique and upbeat ‘Quaker Off’: http://bit.ly/QuakerOff

In the video Friends dressed in a wide variety of costumes can be seen dancing to a boppy beat and Quaker-focused lyrics.

The spoof, which was recorded at Wellesley Meeting in America, was created by Ben Guaraldi. Ben has also produced another parody – ‘What Does George Fox Say’ (see Eye, 17 January 2014).

As the scene opens, a Friend rises to give ministry about resisting the damaging effects of today’s society – such as gender stereotypes, lies, consumerism and war – by listening to guidance from the Spirit:

‘Then we start to tune in
to the Spirit moving
us to keep improving
‘til we hear the still voice in our soul…

‘We can change the status quo
Nonviolent movements grow
And that’s what they don’t know
That’s what they don’t know…

‘And the rulers gonna ache,
Ache, ache, ache, ache
And the empire’s gonna break,
Break, break, break, break
We’re just gonna quake,
Quake, quake, quake, quake
Quaker off, Quaker off’

‘Quaker Off’ concludes with links to further information about Quakers as well as racial justice resources.

The music video for Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ has been controversial for its perceived use of racial stereotypes, the objectification of women and cultural appropriation – all of which Friends reject in the concluding messages of their video.

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