Eye - 6 January 2023

From A little laugh to Pencils at the ready!

A little laugh

‘Much Quaker humour raises a gentle smile rather than a belly laugh,’ reflects Beth Allen, from Bromley Meeting.

She shared a tale from the book More Laughter in Quaker Grey, first published in the 1950s:

‘In a small country town, the Quakers were holding their Business Meeting.

‘It was a hot day, and the door to the street was wide open.

‘In the pause between two items, a hen wandered in and stood in the centre.

‘The clerk leant over the table and said gently: “And what have you to lay before the Meeting?”’

Sing a song of ‘phut’

Musical memories from Betty Hagglund (2 December) prompted John Newton, of Pickering Meeting, to share two further verses of ‘The Quakers have Foundations’.

This song ‘circulated amongst Young Friends in the 1960s’, he writes, ‘the reference to 22,000 was accurate at that time’. Set to the tune of ‘The Church’s One Foundation’, the additional verses read:

Another Friend we sing of,
His name was William Penn.
He was a famous soldier,
And influenced many men.
One day while shining buttons,
And feeling rather bored,
He heard George Fox, whose teaching
Was mightier than Penn’s sword.

And now the Friends are wondering
If they are dying off.
There’s two and twenty thousand,
You can’t call that enough.
Now this is not too cheerful,
But things have not gone “phut”.
The Inner Light’s still shining,
Despite the power cut.

Pencils at the ready!

Eye hopes these pages find you safe and well. For Friends who celebrate the festive season, I hope it was a happy one. For anyone who finds it a challenging time, welcome to the other side.

Eye invites you to pour yourself a cup of tea and take a few minutes to relax with a gentle puzzle. Nestled within this grid are a dozen familiar words, can you find them all?

Equality
Friends
Meeting
Ministry
Peace
Simplicity
Testimony
Truth
Witness
Worship

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