Thought for the Week: Being a Quaker
Ian Kirk-Smith introduces a special edition of The Friend
In 1947 the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian parliament awarded that year’s Peace Prize to ‘two great relief organizations, the Friends Service Council in London and the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia’.
It is seventy years since this momentous event in the history of the Religious Society of Friends. Quakers had been recognised for putting their faith into action. They did not do this, though, for any recognition. It is what being a Quaker is all about.
In this special Quaker Week issue of the Friend the point is eloquently expressed in Janet Scott’s ‘From the archive’ series. A report, published in the magazine 100 years ago, on the work of the Friends’ Ambulance Unit in Europe contains the following words:
The earnest endeavour of this great band of young men, hating war and loving peace, pledged to struggle for the life of other young men, sometimes amid great danger, cannot fail to leave behind in the texture of the human family something invisible, imperishable and eternal… And this is the contentment of Friends that this volume of work has been done, in spite of weakness, faltering and failure, by a voluntary Unit, unarmed, unenlisted and not serving for reward.
There are, elsewhere in this issue, many examples of Friends who have put their faith into action, such as those engaged in peace work in Africa and those working to stop modern slavery. Anna Sewell, author of Black Beauty, turns up among a list of Friends who, over the centuries, have worked for the wellbeing of animals. She once wrote:
There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, then it is all a sham.
This edition also features personal reflections on what it means to be a Quaker today and on Meeting for Worship and personal transformation. Putting faith into action, prompted by a spirit of love, is at the heart of Quakerism. Action is rooted in the experience of worship. Gunnar Jahn, chairman of the Nobel Committee in 1947, said in his presentation speech in Oslo:
The Quakers have shown us that it is possible to translate into action what lies deep in the hearts of many: compassion for others and the desire to help them – that rich expression of the sympathy between all men, regardless of nationality or race, which, transformed into deeds, must form the basis for lasting peace. For this reason alone the Quakers deserve to receive the Nobel Peace Prize today.
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