Issue 29-03-2013
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Thought for the Week: A mystery
Some see the division between theist and nontheist as both puzzling and unbridgeable. But is it really? When do we sit down together, not to argue but to explore and listen deeply to each other? Do you know what I, a theist, believe? Do I know what you, a...
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Opening up the heart
Prayer, for many faith communities, is an essential part of their spiritual life. It is important, also, for many Quakers, but has always been a concept that can stir strong emotions. It still does. How would Friends define prayer? How important is it to them? How do they pray? Where...
Different levels of worship
There are times in our lives when we know that we have been touched by the Spirit. Reflecting on the bewildering variety of circumstances, I have often wondered if there was a common thread. Recently, I attempted to recall such instances with some extracts from my notes.
A grandfather of Quakerism
‘Why may not rich citizens, racking landlords in the country, and mighty moneyed men, be made to rise immediately in their payments, that poor farmers, labourers and honest tradesmen may be spared?’ Who was he? He was called ‘a champion of the Seekers’. He used the phrase ‘society of...
Friends celebrate Geneva success
Friends at the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva are celebrating a significant breakthrough over a long-standing concern. The UN has announced that in September, for the first time ever, it will discuss the issue of children with a parent on death row. The subject has been an...
Michael Bartlet to leave Friends House
Michael Bartlet, parliamentary liason secretary for Quakers in Britain, is to leave Friends House at the end of April. Michael has given seventeen years service in this position. He has had a special interest in human rights, policy and political ethics and education.
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Doors open on temporary home of Quaker Tapestry
The Quaker Tapestry moved to its temporary home in The Elephant Yard, Kendal, on Monday, 25 March. The Quaker attraction was forced to leave its usual location while urgent building repairs are carried out (see ‘Tapestry moved to temporary home’, 15 March). The Elephant Yard in Kendal stepped into the breach...
The power of prayer
Four out of five British adults believe in the power of prayer, according to a new ICM survey in the run-up to Easter. Three in every ten people, asked what they would pray for, cited peace in the world and an end to poverty.
Easter
Quakers make the bold claim that we do not need to keep ‘Times and Seasons’, that every day is a day for remembering the meaning of the great Christian festivals and for living in their reality. I wonder how well we live up to this claim. Is Easter a daily...
The Word
– The Word has disappeared into Flesh; become implicate, folded into the tapestry of things.
Letters - 29 March 2013
Israel/Palestine I write following letters in the Friend (22 February, 1 and 8 March) concerning a comparison of the Holocaust with ‘what the state of Israel is doing to the people of Palestine’. I am distraught at the seeming unconcern expressed by the quietude of many in the Society of Friends on...