The Friend is a weekly magazine in which Friends speak to each other and to the wider world, offering their insight, ideas, news, nurture and inspiration.
Nurturing Quaker community, each issue offers a space for Friends to share their concerns, and to support each other in faith and witness.
The Friend: enriching, inspiring and connecting the Quaker community since 1843.
When we lived in Hampshire, there was a wonderful nature reserve nearby called Titchfield Haven. It contained hides from which you could watch birds and other wildlife. Each hide had dense vegetation to its right and left, so, as you entered the structure from the back, you were hidden from the birds, and them from you. The result was that when you entered and looked through the windows, you were able to view a completely different world: a stretch of water, teeming with ducks and waders, and often marshy grassland and nearby bushes. The hide was a window to a natural world of wonder and delight.
It was in his will that Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Peace Prize, specifying that it should go ‘to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.’ Fairly early in its history, the Norwegian Nobel Committee agreed that the award could be extended to organisations as well as to individuals. More recently, it has included contributions to the advancement of human rights and environmental sustainability.
From across Scotland, we gathered for a day of listening, learning and discerning. Some travelled to Edinburgh Meeting House in the heart of the old city; others joined from their homes with the assistance of modern technology. We were here for General Meeting for Scotland, whose task is to oversee the work of Quakers in Scotland.
I write it in the dirt today
in the bottom of the grave
where New Year’s worms ease
in the writhe or relent of human hate.
Quakers in Scotland and Medact drew attention to the important links between climate and health at the Scottish Parliament this month.
Become a subscriber to enjoy unlimited access to our articles, dating back to 2009! Online subscribers get the Friend to their inbox each week, can comment on articles, and dive into our 1914-18 digital archive too!
Whether you are new to Quakerism or have been going to Meeting for years, you’ll find something here to inspire, inform and challenge you.
News | Views | Reviews
Written by and for Friends on the bench
Subscribe