Spirit Rising
Introducing Spirit Rising, a book to writing and art by young Quakers from around the world
In 2008 Quakers Uniting in Publications gathered an editorial board of ten young people from different branches of Quakerism and different countries. The board spent a year gathering contributions from around the Quaker world. Then they met in 2009 to select and edit the pieces.
Now titled Spirit Rising: Young Quakers Speak, the forthcoming Quaker youth book includes over 210 pieces of writing and visual art by over 150 teenage and young adult Friends from 16 countries, including Australia, Bolivia, Burundi, Canada, Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador, Italy, Kenya, Korea, New Zealand, Nepal, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. All major contemporary theological branches of the Religious Society of Friends are represented. The book is truly an unprecedented accomplishment among Friends and a profound gift of the Spirit.
The board says: ‘If we have done our job well – if we have successfully gathered the voices of teenage and young adult Friends from around the world and across the theological branches of Friends – there will be language and content in this book that both profoundly resonates with you and that is not at all consistent with your tradition of Quakerism or your cultural experiences. Some pieces may surprise, confuse, alarm or even offend you. We recognize that, and we trust you to hold this book – all of it – as a testimony and gift of the Spirit.
‘In his Journal John Woolman noted that while struggling with language, the interpreters “… helped one another and we laboured along together, divine love attending.” That has been our experience – we have laboured together, and we have felt the presence of divine love.
‘So as you begin to read, we invite you to remember John Woolman and to read with an open heart, to listen fully, and to feel where the words come from. It may be a source you recognize.
‘May this book be a journey for you. It has been a journey for us.’
Spirit Rising will be published in English and Spanish by QuakerPress of Friends General Conference, and available for purchase from www.QuakerBooks.org and other Quaker booksellers all over the world. The English edition will be released in May 2010, and the fully translated Spanish edition will be available later in 2010.
For further information visit the Spirit Rising website.
The two poems below are excerpts from the book.
We Cling to Peace
I wish I’d known earlier there would be a fracas,
I wouldn’t have come to this chaotic place at all.
The very soil, normally gentle, has become malicious,
Yet we cling to peace, we progress.Tribe and stature bring discrimination
So that even we who are educated are without jobs.
So much poverty, a world of robbery,
Yet we cling to peace, we progress.Crying and wailing follow the attacker,
Generations are finished by rifle and arrow.
Too much bloodshed, people displaced,
Yet we cling to peace, we progress.God, for that rebellion, has left Satan in charge,
while diseases emerge and spread AIDS, asthma, tumours.
We pray in His name, to bring us abundance,
While we cling to peace, we progress.
Lopeto Peter
This Prayer Has No Words
This prayer has no words.
It has no request, no plea,
no expectation of fulfilment,
nor does it belong entirely to me.This prayer has no words.
Its connection is direct, uncluttered.
Peripheral thoughts slip softly out of focus.
A mind, a heart, a whole being
reaches out to its spiritual source.This prayer has no words.
It is an intensity in the chest, a free tightness of breath
at the same time excited and nervous
A boundless feeling, an energy finding direction.This prayer has no words.
It was not planned or written before
but caught me in a burst
as I looked to the sky.
Joanna Waters
I Am
I am the light and the dark
I am life and death
I am hope when there is no hope
I am solitude and a great crowd
I am joy and sorrow
I am a friendly word and look
I am a kiss and a touch
I am first love and love after many years
I am the wind that touches your face
I am the thunder and the lightning
I am the bird in the sky and the fish in the sea
I am spring summer autumn winter
I am the sun on a cloudy day
I am the seas and the rivers
I am the land and the creatures
I am the beginning and the endI am
Gayle Yeomans
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