Issue 05-01-2018

Featured story

Thought for the Week: Silence

FREE 4 Jan 2018 | by Gordon Yapp

Does not exist in the past nor in the future. Only in the now, this moment in time, the mindfulness of now.

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Top stories

Quakers and spirituality

4 Jan 2018 | by Madeleine Kay

'…be compassionate towards every aspect of what we find within ourselves' | Photo: BobHteU / flickr CC.

Direct spiritual experience, I believe, is found in having a deep, embodied sense of connection both with other people and with aspects of the world that cognition alone cannot understand and, therefore, cannot connect with.

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Discernment and inner values

4 Jan 2018 | by Ruth Tod

'Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world...' | Photo: Russell Charters / flickr CC.

Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in the darkness for the light that is you. - LR Knost...

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A day of healing

4 Jan 2018 | by Peter Wilson

'...it would be impossible to deny that the world needs healing.' | Photo: Joanna Paterson / flickr CC.

‘Everywhere we look we see sickness, tragedy, starvation, homelessness and conflict… Add the damage we do to the environment, and it would be impossible to deny that the world needs healing.’

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Being there

4 Jan 2018 | by Roland Carn

'Without enzymes the chemistry of life would not be possible.' | Photo: poisson lucas / flickr CC.

I had a vision where Quakers were catalysts in the world. A catalyst enables a change that would otherwise need great energy, without being consumed itself. Without enzymes the chemistry of life would not be possible.

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Meetings and care homes

FREE 4 Jan 2018 | by Mary Brown

'Do we need more Meetings for Worship in care homes?' | Photo: henry rabinowitz / flickr CC.

One of the advantages of a Meeting for Worship with no Meeting house is, I think, that we are happy to hold our Meetings anywhere. Meeting for Worship does not necessarily imply a particular building.

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All articles

Singing in the dark

FREE 4 Jan 2018 | by Oliver Robertson

How did Jews in Germany go from being deeply integrated into society in 1918, even serving in the German army in the first world war, to the pogrom of Kristallnacht twenty years later? This is a question that Marigold Bentley, from Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), has asked herself – and...

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Dementia: What is our witness?

4 Jan 2018 | by Alison Mitchell

What is our witness on our shared journey of dementia? This key question was asked at the first Quaker Mental Health Forum held on 9 December in York. Sixty or so Friends gathered – despite snow and a train strike – to reflect together on our shared experiences. Dementia affects everyone: the people...

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Privilege

4 Jan 2018 | by Marian McNichol

If we live in true community then there can be no gainers or losers. We are all accountable to, and responsible for, each other. We are all hurt by the harm done to one among us. Inequitable distribution of resources does as much damage, spiritually, to the rich as to...

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A life well lived?

4 Jan 2018 | by Alex Thomson

Are you able to contemplate your death and the death of those closest to you? Accepting the fact of death, we are freed to live more fully. In bereavement, give yourself time to grieve. When others mourn, let your love embrace them. Advices & queries 30

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Letters - 05 January 2018

4 Jan 2018 | by The Friend

Scott Bader Further to Craig Barnett’s article (8 December), a review of Faith in politics? A testimony to equality by Catherine West and Andy Hull (the book of the 2017 Swarthmore Lecture), I would like to point out that the ninety-five-year-old Scott Bader chemical company has been paying a minimum of...

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