The Friend
Epistle from the Sixth World Conference
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:58To Friends Everywhere . . . To Friends Everywhere, We greet you amid the beauty of the Rift Valley, surrounded by the welcoming embrace of Kenyan Friends. From April 17 to 25, 2012 close to 850 men and women from all the streams of Friends, coming from 112 yearly meetings and groups in 51 countries have gathered at Kabarak University near Nakuru to consider the theme ‘Being Salt and Light: Friends Living the Kingdom of God in a Broken World’.
Culture and conscience
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:56David Gee asks: why are so many corporations now sponsoring the arts? There was a minor furore last year when the Poetry Book Society, which organises Britain’s most prestigious poetry award, the T S Eliot Prize, lost Arts Council funding and a hedge fund firm called Aurum stepped in to save it. The organisers of the prize were relieved but two of the ten shortlisted poets pulled out. One, John Kinsella, described hedge funds as ‘at the very pointy end of capitalism’ and at odds with his ethics. The other, Alice Oswald, wrote in The Guardian that her instinct was to stand with those who were questioning the practices of firms like Aurum, rather than endorse it by remaining in the running for the £15,000 prize.
Only those who see
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:54Hilary Sidwell attended a lively Ireland Yearly Meeting The words of ‘Guide me, Oh Thou great Jehovah’, in Irish translation, resonated round the hall as we sang with gusto, if not great linguistic accuracy! Richard Harrison, our translator, was forgiving. Children’s voices and laughter intermingled. At times of silence the trill of a blackbird filtered through an open window along with momentary beams of sunshine.
Visit of Nobel Laureate
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:52Adolfo Perez Esquivel visits Friends House A Nobel Peace Prize winner visited Friends House on Monday and encouraged Quakers to keep campaigning for peace. Argentine activist Adolfo Perez Esquivel renewed his friendship with British Quakers with whom he had worked during the Falklands War thirty years ago.
Quaker speaks out against ‘deadly trade’
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:50Sam Walton spoke to arms dealers at a recent conference A Quaker delivered an impromptu speech at a gathering of arms dealers in London after interrupting an address by business secretary Vince Cable.
Bath Quaker to ‘Live Below the Line’
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:48Wren Sidhe to join those living on less than £1 a day from 7 to 11 May A Quaker in Bath will spend no more than a pound a day on her food and drink next week. Wren Sidhe is joining the ‘Live Below the Line’ challenge, launched by Christian Aid in solidarity with the world’s poorest people.
Responsible lending
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:46Principles for how governments should behave when borrowing and lending money are being blocked by the UK government The UK government is blocking attempts at the United Nations (UN) to discuss how governments can lend and borrow responsibly. The news comes from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Doha, Qatar.
Quaker takes the plunge
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:44Trevor Jaggar completes a sponsored swim to raise funds to tackle malaria An eighty-six-year-old Quaker has completed a 170-length sponsored swim to raise funds to tackle malaria. Trevor Jaggar, of Uxbridge Meeting, was inspired to take the plunge after attending an interfaith event run by Malaria No More.
The last taboo explored
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:42Death and dying are the subject of a conference being sponsored by Quakers in Leeds Quakers in Leeds are sponsoring a conference to explore ‘the last taboo’ – death and dying. The gathering on 12 May will explore ‘all points of view’ on the issues, according to organiser Ben Francis. Speakers include Emily Jackson, an expert in medical law and Chris Larner, who accompanied his wife to Dignitas in Switzerland.
Quakers in dialogue
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:40Richard Seebohm reflects on some aspects of advocacy Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) has been thinking a lot about advocacy. The practice and practicality of dialogue is a key component of this. It was, therefore, timely that twenty-four Friends and an observer from the world of the churches met at Woodbrooke in Easter week to talk about it.
Thought for the Week: Our Prayer
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:38Stephen Yeo revises his Quakerly version of 'The Lord's Prayer' God in all of us re- membered be your name.
Letters - 04 May 2012
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:36From sustainability to Coca Cola Sustainability Sustainability is a word widely encountered in today’s media and in conversations. It has not always been so. Rather global banking activities and environmental destruction, as well as personal lifestyles, have been completely unsustainable, hence the many crises now confronting us. The fact is that we have been living not only beyond our means, quoting Jonathon Porritt, but well beyond the means of future generations.
A Peace of Africa
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:34Marian Liebmann reviews a Quaker response to a fascinating continent We have been fed so many ‘disaster Africa’ images that it takes a conscious effort to look further and realize that there are many aspects of life there that are superior to those in the West – such as the way people cooperate to achieve things and families help each other out.
Life Lines
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:32Malcolm Elliott reviews a moving account of what it was like to be Jewish in Hitler’s Germany Some things in life are just beyond our imagining. What it was like to be faced with the gas chambers and ovens of Buchenwald is, mercifully, not in our own experience and, for most of us, the nightmare belongs to past history. Yet the fact of the Holocaust, and the fate of six million men, women and children, must not be forgotten if we are to ensure that such evils never recur. Ruth David knew the reality of these things in her own childhood. She endured daily rejection by her non-Jewish classmates and the horrors of Kristallnacht, when windows, crockery and furniture in her home were smashed. Her father and eldest brother were arrested, beaten and taken to Buchenwald. Local villagers trashed everything, including the preserves her mother had carefully stored on the pantry shelves for winter. Her parents eventually perished in Auschwitz in 1942.
Eye - 04 May 2012
Thu, 05/03/2012 - 06:30From movement to leaning Kingston on the move In 1656 John Fielder and his wife Ann ‘gave up their house for a Meeting place and accordingly a Meeting was settled’ in Kingston in Surrey. Three hundred and fifty years later the current Meeting house (sketch by Geoffery Weeden) has just been sold and Kingston Friends look forward to moving to a new location.
Quakers in the World (Africa): Unity in diversity
Thu, 04/26/2012 - 06:58Ian Kirk-Smith and Trish Carn conclude the series ‘Quakers in the World’ with a look at Quakerism in Africa ‘Our peace work is our evangelism’ is one of the explanations that Friends in the Congo give when people ask why they work on peace and conflict resolution. Violence has been a ‘defining narrative’ in a number of African countries and Quakers have made, and continue to make, a significant contribution in the area. A number of Friends from the Congo and Rwanda are among the hundreds of African Quakers in attendance at the Sixth World Conference of Friends at Kabarak University in Kenya, organized by the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). Their experience of working for peace is shared by many African Friends at Kabarak.
Quilted greetings
Thu, 04/26/2012 - 06:56British Friends send quilter greetings to world conference From flags to tapestries – fabric has often been used to communicate messages by using words and symbols. This quilt, stitched by British Friends, has been made to send loving greetings to all Quakers attending the World Conference of Friends 2012.
Keeping an open mind
Thu, 04/26/2012 - 06:54Don Mason addresses a young ‘self-proclaimed atheist’ and makes a call for tolerance Inevitably what we come to believe is heavily influenced by our own experiences. It would be surprising and disappointing if it were not so. Because no two people are alike, a very diverse range of world views are on offer to the enquirer. Don’t stop looking because you feel satisfied with what you think you know or what your teachers may think they know.
A bird meditation
Thu, 04/26/2012 - 06:52Poetry: A bird meditation by Michael Searle Why did you come? Why did you come here? I came because nothing is asked of me here, but to just sit. Just sit quietly in silence.
Quakers urged to be the change in Kenya
Thu, 04/26/2012 - 06:50Speakers urge Friends to ‘get up and get involved’ Quakers from around the globe have been encouraged to revive the enthusiasm of early Friends for living out their values and changing the world around them. The World Conference of Friends has heard passionate reflections on the theme of ‘Being Salt and Light: Living the kingdom of God in a broken world’.