Issue 10-07-2020
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‘Our own creativity can best come from deliberately-chosen places of quiet and silence.’
Advices & queries 29 tells us that ‘Old age… can… bring serenity.’ But lockdown has taught me that it might be more widely available. The world’s religions frequently suggest we need places of waiting – places where we accept and go with the flow of life. Lao Tzu asks: ‘Do you...
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‘We need a narrative capable of motivating, reformulating and regenerating social justice.’
‘Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.’ Robert Louis Stevenson Parables were an integral element in Jesus’ teaching. They were a way of explaining abstract ideas in a relatable way. He told stories drawn from everyday life, attracting attention, arousing...
‘I see my role as a kind of spiritual accompaniment.’
I am a volunteer breastfeeding counsellor with one of Britain’s leading breastfeeding charities. My work involves helping new mothers to get breastfeeding off to a good start, and to overcome any problems they might face. But it is also much more than that.
‘Our testimonies are the values by which we can measure the possibilities for change.’
Since our last meeting, a decision had been taken to write to all the peoples of the USA following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The letter said that Welsh Quakers share their brokenness and stand with them in the Light. Clerks received several replies, including a detailed minute...
‘I’ve watched our response to the growing issue of black rights. And I’m a bit disappointed.’
Friends, do you care about black lives? I’m sure you believe you do. But if a non-white person comes to your Meeting, do you treat them as an equal? Or do you slow your voice and ask if they speak English, or where they’re from?
The Fabricated Christ: Confronting what we know about Jesus and the Gospels, by Paul Laffan
In the beginning was a folktale – a folktale about a holy man, a man of the people, cruelly done to death by the powerbrokers of the day. The man was impish and witty. Some say he was a bit of a devil, while others say he could have saved us,...
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Woodbrooke affiliate signs Armed Forces Covenant
Woodbrooke has said that it will be speaking with Lancaster University ‘as soon as [it] can’, following news that the university, which accredits some Woodbrooke degrees, is to sign a special covenant with the Armed Forces. According to the university website on 22 June, ‘the special Armed Forces Covenant encourages universities...
2020 Swarthmore Lecture live-streamed
The 2020 Swarthmore Lecture Openings to the infinite ocean: A Friendly offering of hope by Tom Shakespeare will be live-streamed on 1 August.
Friends say Johnson’s ‘New Deal’ does little for climate crisis
Quaker climate campaigners have said that Boris Johnson’s ‘New Deal’ in which he pledged to ‘build, build, build’ offers little to tackle the climate emergency and create a green and just recovery from the pandemic.
New panel for gender discrimination in religious organisations
Quaker Hannah Brock Womack, who was recently blocked from being the fourth president of Churches Together in England because she is in a same-sex marriage, is a member of a new panel to address discrimination and prejudice within religious organisations.
QARN calls for Friends to write to MPs
The Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network (QARN) is urging Friends to write to MPs seeking support for recently-tabled amendments to the Immigration and Social Security Coordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill 2019-21.
Glenthorne to reopen in August
The Glenthorne Quaker Centre in Grasmere has said it is reopening from 7 August after being closed since 23 March.
To Thine Own Self Be True: A spiritual journey by Howard Grace
This is a small book of thirty-two pages but it is not a quick read – there is much in this gem to reflect on. Howard Grace recounts a journey of four score years from militant atheist, to becoming a believer in ‘shared humanity’ as a Christian, to, finally, a Quaker.
Eye - 10 July 2020
An uplifting offering There once was a Heswall Quaker Who was a mover and shaker. His words were so many Friends didn’t have any Time to dwell on their Maker. Ann Fox
Letters - 10 July 2020
Heartfelt wish I am so grateful for the truth telling of Tim Gee in his letter and Bonnie Gibberd in her article in the Friend of 26 June. Tim Gee’s truths have been presented to us before in so many different ways and by so many different people and then...