Issue 03-11-2023
Featured story
Walking wounded: Dana Smith’s Thought for the week
Vulnus, the Latin word for wound, embodies vulnerability. Like blood or hurt, it is a word we can feel, if we let ourselves.
Top stories
Quakers talk about it a lot, but what actually is discernment? Roy Stephenson offers his thoughts
I was recently asked to facilitate a day on nominations for Central England Area Meeting, and this caused me to think again about the nature of discernment. Its value to the nominations committee can’t be over-emphasised, but what holds true for that committee is true for every Quaker committee,...
Leap in the dark: Alastair McIntosh looks for inner life
We now know that at least seven people have died across the UK from Storm Babet; and in the Middle East, as if Ukraine and wars in Africa were not enough, another kind of storm has engulfed humanity.
Getting the picture: Barrie Mahoney shoots in black and white
Some of the strangest thoughts and ideas pop into my mind during the stillness of Meeting. Yesterday, I started thinking about photography.
Taking care: Mary Woodward on the Mental Health Fund
During lockdown, a very dear friend of mine experienced serious mental health difficulties. I knew about the Quaker Mental Health Fund’s short-term grants, which would pay for six free sessions with a therapist from The Retreat in York, and encouraged him to apply. He found the online sessions invaluable...
Ashes and diamonds
There are no diamonds in the ashes of despair. Anger writhes along each cortège as broken souls go down to brandished flags and guns. Hope seems lost.
All articles
BYM hosts reparations conference
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) hosted the UK’s first reparations conference organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Afrikan Reparations (APPG-AR) this month.
Quakers oppose Telford Arms Fair
Quakers from Telford, Wolverhampton and Malvern joined others to witness against the Specialist Defence and Security Convention arms fair (SDSC-UK) this month.
Chichester Quakers host interfaith prayer service
Chichester Friends hosted an interfaith prayer service for world peace this month. Around fifty people from numerous faiths (and no faith) and denominations met to witness for peace through prayers, readings and poems at the event on 11 October.
Quaker advice to teachers on Israel and Palestine
Teaching materials on Palestine and Israel have seen a ‘rapid uptake’ recently, according to the Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) peace education team.
New Faith Museum features Quaker teacup
A new Faith Museum opened last month, showcasing a Quaker saucer and teacup as part of its collection.
Gender assignment: Abigail Maxwell on what it would take to offer a truly welcoming space
(Warning: contains strong language) When people spread fear of trans people or oppose trans rights, it is anti-trans campaigning. This is normalised in British society. As a trans woman, I want Quakers to learn about this, and call it out when they see it. Trans is not a debate, trans...
Eye - 3 November 2023
The area around Lancashire and Swarthmoor, near Ulverston, is the birthplace of Quakerism – it is where George Fox travelled in 1652. It is the focus of many Quaker pilgrimages, so Eye drew inspiration from the Swarthmoor Hall guide to planning just such a trip, for a puzzle that delves into the...
Letters - 03 November 2023
New wrongs As a woman of over eighty, who grew up in a Jewish family within a Jewish-American community, who lived in Iran under the shah and witnessed the Iranian revolution first-hand, who travelled in Afghanistan prior to the US withdrawal, who lived in Qatar during the Iraq-Iran war, who...