Eye - 19 April 2024
From Glimmers to Well-loved phrases
Glimmers
A touching moment of generosity moved Noël Staples, of Peterborough & Wisbech Meeting, to reach out.
Originally published in the Stamford Mercury, in hopes of being read by the woman he encountered, Noël writes: ‘I got to Stamford Waitrose checkout today with four cartons of soup and three ready meals and reached into my back pocket for my wallet. Nothing!
‘Checked all my pockets. Still no wallet! So I put the goods back in my trolley and said to the checkout man I would have to put them back and turned to go.
‘I was astonished when the tall, silver-haired lady behind me said “Put them back. I’ll pay for them.” She insisted despite my protests…She would not hear of me offering to pay her back. I offered to send a cheque or do a BACS transfer. No, she would not hear of it. Now I realised I had left my wallet on the kitchen worktop and said so…
‘We chatted a bit about our ailments as our vehicles were parked near each other. She was surprised at my 750cc Honda scooter despite arthritis and my seventy-eight years. Being a biker gets in your blood!
‘This amazingly generous lady has sciatica from years of horse riding and lung problems as well. All she would say is that she lives between Maxey and Helpston. I said I knew Helpston well from my eleven years as a committee member of the John Clare Society but that since I stood down as chairperson in 1996 I had involved myself in Quakerism.
‘What I can say is that she stunned this embarrassed old Quaker biker with her amazing generosity. Isn’t it good to know such people exist!’
Indignant of Ipswich
The elders of Ipswich are displeased
At Alec’s suggestion* we have fleas
We cannot let it go
At this crying of woe
Let’s have no more of it please.
Eric Walker
*see 8 March
An unusual first step
A newcomer’s journey to Friends caught the attention of Anne Watson, of Oxford Meeting, recently.
She told Eye: ‘This was told to me by Jacqui Mansfield, the Meeting House manager of Oxford Meeting. A young woman came into the lobby to ask about times of Meetings for Worship. After giving her the information Jacqui asked her what had prompted her enquiry.
‘She said that she had often walked past the building and seen the notices, but what prompted her to come in was the scene in Fleabag (by Phoebe Waller-Bridge) where the priest (Andrew Scott) takes Fleabag into a Quaker Meeting House (was it Westminster?).
‘A Google search on “Fleabag” and “Quaker” gives opportunities to understand why this is not a usual first step into Quakers, and it is not for the puritanical.’
Well-loved phrases
Eye invites you to contemplate well-loved phrases from Quaker texts by picking up a pen or pencil and colouring, doodling… whatever moves you! This week, the phrase is from Quaker faith & practice 22.01.
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