Eye - 08 March 2024
From Never too old to
Never too old
Friends might remember a story that appeared in the sunshine pages on 26 January, ‘Never too old’.
Bristol-based Roger Sturge, an eighty-five-year-old Friend, appeared on the BBC News website, sharing how he hasn’t let age stop him from pursuing a PhD examining the work of Quakers in Nazi Germany.
Roger told Eye that the story developed from an unexpected place: ‘Oddly enough the contact arose from me being interviewed on WhatsApp by BBC News over the disruption to Eurostar on 30 December when I was held up in Brussels for twenty-four hours, and I mentioned that, among other reasons for being in Germany in December, I’d been getting archive material from German Quakers.’
Roger has found that the piece has sparked curiosity locally: ‘I’m expecting to hear from Radio Bristol… but my favourite response was a message on the WhatsApp group for the community of my road, asking if they’ll have to ask for my autograph.’
Peace-loving eggs
How does our faith impact on the language we use?
Beth Allen, from Bromley Meeting, shared a story of how this can filter through as far as a dippy egg: ‘My parents both served in the Friends Ambulance Unit during the 1939-45 war and we grew up as a pacifist family.
‘When we had boiled eggs, we cut our toast into “soldiers” and dipped them in the yolk like thousands of other children.
‘A Quaker I once met, from a family even more committed to the Peace Testimony, told me that they didn’t call their toast fingers “soldiers” – but I can’t remember what word they used! What is an appropriate name? Volunteers? Protestors? Conscientious objectors?’
What do you think trusty readers? Have you got any suggestions?
You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.