Thought for the Week: Hope

Ian Kirk-Smith reflects on darkness and light

It would be understandable if many Friends approach this Christmas as Friends may have done one hundred years ago – with a growing sense of apprehension. There has been much darkness in 2015. The opening of a poem by WB Yeats resonates with a chilling familiarity:

‘Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned…’

These words were penned a year after the carnage of the first world war, and at a time when Ireland was experiencing further conflict. The falconer, it has been argued, was a symbol for Christ. Today, violence is constantly in our news. Was it ever so? Quakerism emerged after a terrible period of conflict. At that time George Fox wrote these words:

‘I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness.’

The faith of Friends is rooted in a belief that there is ‘that of God’ in every man and woman. The spirit of Christ is within. It is an optimistic conviction and prompts a positive approach to people and to life. We must cherish it. We must live it. It is central to the Quaker vision of people and our witness in the world. Victor Hugo once wrote, in Paris, a significant line: ‘Hope is the word that God has written on the brow of every man.’

Paris was also the scene, in November, of a coordinated terrorist attack in which scores of people died – the darkest moment of 2015 in Europe. The same city, a month later, hosted people from all over the world dedicated to finding a solution to climate change. The unity they achieved represents a victory of light over darkness. It offers hope for the future.

This special seasonal issue of the Friend provides a range of personal responses to the world today. The topics cover everything from climate change to the plight of refugees, spirituality and faith, and Quaker history and life. We hope you enjoy it. The issue is a kind of mirror reflecting the witness, concerns and lives of Friends today. This is, of course, what the Friend does every week of the year. It has done so for over 150 years. 2016 will be the 174th consecutive year that the Friend has been produced. It is one of the oldest continuously published magazines in the world and was founded the same year as The Economist.

The Friend is a completely independent publication, not tied to Britain Yearly Meeting or any Quaker organisation, which enables it to be free of any influence. The staff and trustees of The Friend Publications Ltd, which also publishes the Friends Quarterly, are extremely grateful to our subscribers, contributors and advertisers. Your loyalty and support is deeply appreciated. One gift we would heartily recommend you give to someone for 2016 would help keep a doughty old magazine afloat and to sail on to new waters – an annual subscription.

We would like to wish you seasonal greetings and a happy and peaceful 2016.

You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.