Culture Articles
‘The Kabul Peace House’ by Mark Isaacs
This book tells the story – and tells it well – of a house set up in Kabul, Afghanistan, by a community of volunteers pursuing nonviolence and equality. These volunteers were young; the originator, a medic called Insaan, seems to have been in his thirties. At the house they taught and learned...
O brother man
O brother man, fold to thy heart thy brother; Where pity dwells, the peace of God is there; To worship rightly is to love each other, Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer.
Imperial Voyages of Discovery
Imperial voyages of discovery – rich chancers manning expeditions almost always equipped with the following: (1) pith helmet (ivory coloured), (2) expensive English public-school education, (3) penis. (the third item made compulsory by the second – although this item is now seen as optional at more progressive fee-paying educational establishments).
The last days
If these days are the last days I will prepare my hours a will and testimony each breath a gift each smile a legacy to pass on to the soil for the next great ascendency
‘Sweetness of Unity: Three hundred years of Quaker minuting’ by Judith Roads
In the preface to this book, the author writes that it is aimed primarily at those with some experience of Quakerism and who understand something about Quaker processes. Those interested in language or historical aspects of business English may also find nuggets of interest. Those who are, have been, or...
‘The impact is heightened by the curator’s imaginative use of the historic setting.’
The principles of stewardship and reverence guide Seeking Routes, an art exhibition currently showing at Swarthmoor Hall. The theme is sustainability, the fragility of the natural world, and the artistic and spiritual response to it.
Looking for cows
After Meister Eckhart We went looking for God the way one looks for a cow: expecting warm flanks, soft cheese while all the universe ran away from us, its rivers of milk
‘Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the road to war’, by Tim Bouverie
What is of special interest to Friends in this story, so well told by Tim Bouverie, is the strong inclination to pacifism which existed in Britain between the wars, and the huge efforts of Neville Chamberlain to preserve peace. Bouverie writes: ‘The campaign against the arms manufacturers was continued by...
Words to conjure with
It’s OK – you don’t have to call yourself a Christian. That’s a word where too many difficult relations Are all too ready to drop in, some of whom You really wouldn’t want to meet for a coffee However many custard tarts were on offer.
‘Stop Being Reasonable: Six stories of how we really change our minds’, by Eleanor Gordon-Smith
At the end of anti-religious polemics, there is often the conclusion ‘since there is no evidence for religious belief, you shouldn’t have any – if you do, you’re irrational,’ as though that were straightforward. One is interested to find, at the end of her book about being rational, Eleanor...