Culture Articles
Whither Next?
We train them to fire bullets that we have sold them And wonder why they kill the rioting crowd.
Art in the Society
A woman turns, her arms flung high, her body twisting in the movement of the dance. She is vulnerable, naked to the light, and energized. She seems to move with the power of the moment, and yet she does not move at all. She is frozen in time, a sculpture...
Prayers for daily life
Many of us find difficulty with prayer. We want to give thanks. We hope for peace and for an end to the sufferings of others. We may find it easy to offer up spontaneous thanks to God for the blessings of this world, but to engage in daily prayer is...
Writing the Spirit
‘Writing the Spirit’ is the title of a series of creative writing workshops, led by Judy Clinton, in which she encourages people to write whatever they are experiencing in the present moment.
At the gates of heaven
Once upon a time there was a girl called Sinéad, and one day, when she was minding her own business, she unexpectedly died.
Stuffed and starved
This book will make you angry. And if you still have any illusions that the majority of those who process and manufacture our food have our best interests at heart, then they will be dispelled. Today on this planet, 800 million people are hungry, and they are outnumbered by one billion...
Drawing infinity
These are the words of one Harrogate Young Quaker reporting back to the main Meeting on their Sunday morning activity. Robin Wilson had been enthusing them with his fascination for infinity and he has now written a short and wonderful book entitled Of Infinite Beauty: a Quaker explores infinity.
Simplicity made easy
Simplicity. What does it mean? This has been a challenge to me for many years. Some people seem to feel that it is a movement backwards towards an older, supposedly simpler, way of living – growing our own food, avoiding electrical equipment such as computers and so on. For me, this...
An early Quaker woman printer
Printing was a dangerous occupation in 1643: Parliament’s Licensing Order of 1643 instituted pre-publication censorship; registration of all printing materials with the names of author, printer and publisher in the Register at Stationers’ Hall; search, seizure and destruction of any books offensive to the government; and arrest and imprisonment of any...
A Quaker and the Underground
The work of Charles Holden (1875-1960) is celebrated in an exhibition currently on show in the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) architectural gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Holden designed many of the underground stations built in the inter-war period and immediately afterwards and inspired the design of...