Photo: The Friend.
Eye - 20 and 27 December 2024
Eye hears about a haiku happenstance, a Quaker Christmas on the BBC, and offers a well-loved phrase for contemplative colouring
A haiku happenstance
Jon Boaden, of Newcastle Upon Tyne Meeting, reached out to share a Friendly haiku:
In the Meeting house
Quaker silence is golden.
All things considered.
It turns out that this Friend has quite the passion for these seventeen-syllable morsels.
He told Eye: ‘Coincidentally a book called British Haiku, written by me and illustrated by another Friend from Newcastle Upon Tyne Meeting, Caroline Coode, has gone on sale on Amazon today (25 November).’
The book, which can be bought via Amazon at https://bit.ly/3ZsM46P, contains Jon’s favourite:
The temples differ
But their people’s needs do not
In silent prayer
Jon reflected: ‘I retired about six months ago after thirty-five years as a shipping lawyer, and found that I had a lot of time on my hands. I thought that writing a book of haiku about modern Britain might be fun, and it was indeed fun, particularly after Caroline became involved to do the illustrations.
‘Also, I love writing haiku and entertaining people if I can. I run a website http://www.britishhaiku.com where I post a new haiku every weekday morning... There is a different theme each week.
‘Other than having three lines of five syllables, seven syllables, and five syllables respectively, the haiku commonly do not follow traditions of Japanese haiku such as (for example) a reference to seasonal weather – although they sometimes do.
‘One motivation for the book, and the website, has been to give a better picture of Britain than is commonly given in the media. Yes, there are problems in Britain, and some people have a very difficult time indeed. For most people, however, there are the small joys of (for example) walking a dog, riding a bike, reading a book, being with family, meeting friends, going shopping, or watching some sport.’
A Quaker Christmas
Sheila Hancock has appeared in the first episode of My Life at Christmas with Anita Rani on BBC1. The series asks: ‘What does Christmas mean to some of our best-loved personalities?’ First aired on 1 December this year, the episode is now available on iPlayer: https://bit.ly/MLAC-SheilaHancock
In a wide-ranging interview, Sheila shares memories of her childhood, reflects on her varied career, talks about Christmas with her loved ones, and offers insights into her faith.
John Reeve, of Rugby Meeting, told Eye: ‘A large part of the interview is devoted to her testimony of faith and being a Quaker – about a quarter of the whole episode, beginning at 44 minutes in. Together with Rani she visits a splendid contemporary Quaker Meeting house in West London where she worships.’
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 19.03.
