On balance: David Brown thinks personal, local and global

‘Action without care and discrimination can bring unwanted consequences.’

‘Aren’t we just rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic?’ asked a Friend recently in ministry at Meeting for Worship. He was referring to some concerns about local matters in comparison with the icebergs of pandemic, war and climate change. So how do we find a balance between these issues?

‘Do nothing’ is one suggestion made recently in an article by Stephen Feltham in the Friend (1 January), for what love requires ‘may not be great busyness’. Doing nothing is in a sense what we do in Meeting for Worship or the Experiment with Light, entering an internal spaciousness where we can find peace, joy and love. This is a place which we do well to find and have a relationship with, a place which is there ‘all the time and always available’ (Quaker faith & practice 2.21). But can we, or should we, stay in that place all the time? Isn’t that impractical or selfish?

‘Cultivate our garden’ is another suggestion, from Voltaire in Candide, looking after our immediate interests and responsibilities. Cultivating our gardens can be seen as living an ordered and simple life for the benefit of our friends, families, communities and ourselves. Advices & queries (A&q) 18 recommends we ‘make the meeting a community in which each person is accepted and nurtured’, and this takes work. But can we, or should we, do more than just serve our friends, family and local community?

‘Take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them,’ says Hamlet, wondering if he can take on the big issues in his life with energy and confidence. The suggestion to be bold for the general good is made by William Penn when he encourages us to ‘keep the helm and guide the vessel to its port,’ not to leave the ship ‘without a pilot to be driven by the fury of evil times upon the rock or sand of ruin’ (or iceberg?). This could mean taking a stand on issues like peace, justice, and respect for the planet and our fellow creatures. Such an approach, however, requires great discernment, for action without care and discrimination can bring unwanted consequences, as Hamlet found out!

We need all three responses: sometimes to be still, sometimes to look after those close to us, and sometimes to do something to address the world’s bigger problems. It may be that each of us is more disposed to one approach than the others, and yet perhaps our personal growth requires us to try out or adopt other approaches. After all, we are told that ‘Spiritual learning continues throughout life, and often in unexpected ways. There is inspiration to be found all around us… Are you open to new light, from whatever source it may come?’ (A&q 7).

Within the Quaker community some of us are called to be quiet mystics, others are called to care for individual Meetings and areas, and some are called to help heal the wider world. All these approaches are needed for a community of practical mystics such as ours to survive, flourish and make a contribution to the world.

It is good to rearrange the deckchairs but if we see an iceberg ahead, it is also good to do something about it!

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