Issue 15-09-2023
Featured story
Article of faith: Dorothy Searle’s Thought for the week
I often wonder whether disharmony between people with spiritual awareness is caused by confusion between the terms ‘God’ and ‘Religion’.
Top stories
Angry young men? Neil Crabtree suggests an environmental home guard
I am a conflict negotiator. In the late 1990s, then a mediator, there was alarm in the press about the behaviour of young people, mainly males. I devised an idea in response: a contemporary rite of passage for young people, especially with young working-class males in mind. It revolved around...
Friends arrested at DSEI day of witness
Nine people were arrested, the majority of them Quakers, at last week’s ‘No Faith in War’ day of witness against the DSEI (Defence and Security Equipment International) fair. The event, at the ExCel Centre in London, hosts around 2,800 defence and security suppliers, and representatives of human-rights-abusing nations.
Terra affirma: Abigail Maxwell visits the Greenbelt Festival 2023
The Greenbelt Festival is an experience of Christ and of the church that challenges, affirms, delights and teaches me. After it, I am better fitted to do Christ’s work in the world.
Low blows: Sanjive Mahandru on suicide and depression
In November 2021, my colleague and I had a random, small-talk conversation about an argument he’d had with his housemate, who was depressed and talking about death. His friend was one of my old tenants, and known to me.
Meeting
Breath held – while still idling in and out. Breath as a bubble, something caught and sealed. Breath expanding then, becoming its own country, world, see: whole continents of breath.
All articles
Swarthmore Lecturer announced
The 2024 Swarthmore Lecture will be given by Ben Jarman. His talk will focus on imprisonment and punishment, exploring what Quakers have to say today about these topics.
New song for 2024 World Plenary
A special version of the song ‘Every Time I Feel the Spirit’ has been published to celebrate the 2024 World Plenary.
Quaker takes fundraising trip
A Suffolk Quaker is embarking on a walking and cycling trip, visiting twenty-six churches to raise funds for places of worship in the county.
BYM responds to anti-boycott bill
The Anti-Boycott Bill ‘will prevent concerned citizens from using the few instruments they have to call attention to global injustice’, a Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) staff member highlighted this month.
The secret’s out: Tony D’Souza on espionage and human weakness
How do you recruit a spy? According to the former Soviet security service, the KGB, the best way is to appeal to their human weaknesses. It used the acronym MICE: M for money, I for Ideology, C for Compromise, and E for Ego. It turns out to be a very...
Wakefulness: Roger Babington-Hill rises to the challenge
A theme that is common to all religious and spiritual traditions is the need to develop the skill of paying attention. The lower our level in this skill, the more life slips by us in a fog of activity, beyond our observation and our control.
Country pursuits: Ian Tod on Friends in Georgia
During the past few years, Jesus Lane Meeting (JLM), along with Irish Friends, has supported Georgian Quakers by paying for the rental of a flat in Tbilisi for their Quaker activities. Georgian Quakers are a very diverse group who live throughout Tbilisi.
Out of Excuses: The Loving Earth poetry book, edited by Tracey Martin
This is a unique climate text. A colourful book, the size of a double CD, it is part of the Loving Earth Project, which has been exhibited in the UK, France, Belgium and the US.
Eye - 15 September 2023
A myth In a Quaker museum near Dorset On display was a period corset. It was said to look swell Upon Margaret Fell, But that may be a myth, so don’t force it. Alec Davison The first tea-party in Nantucket John Lynes, of Hastings Meeting, has added a spoonful...
Letters - 15 September 2023
Gifts from the gods? Sharing the concerns of Anne Wade and Robin Waterson (letters, 31 August), I wrote to Paul Parker seeking clarification of his use of the word ‘gender’, which he described as a ‘sacred gift’ after signing the Charity So Straight pledge on behalf of British Quakers. Paul responded...