Friends at Britain Yearly Meeting on Tuesday this week considered Economic Justice and contributors had a range of opinions on the subject. Most were sound, but there were those whose contributions seemed more political than ‘Spirit led’ and at least one speaker thought that if there’s a problem Rupert Murdoch must have something to do with it.
One of my problems with Friends is that they do have a tendency to ‘talk Quaker’ and there was very little reference to the work on Economic Justice and Equality undertaken by other denominations, organisations and charities both in the UK and the World.
Friends also tend to talk ‘big’ and focus on global capitalism and multi-nationals as part of the Gordian Knot that Quakers need to address and untangle. Other Friends, however, can’t undertsand why, by setting an example and living an ethical lifestyle themselves, other Quakers do not follow suit.
The title of this blog is a bit tongue in cheek, but there is a reasons that Mums, and many others on low incomes, shop at Iceland rather than buying organic food and ecologically friendly washing powder.
The truth is that hundreds of thousands of people in this country, like elsewhere in the world, exist on poor benefits or low wages. On top of that, many are likely to be in debt and to have other problems. For them, cheap food is the only food they can afford and trying to pay off debt is an on-going and terrible problem. Small wonder then, that they often scrape together to buy lottery tickets or are the likely prey of pay-day loan shops and on-line bingo. I don’t think I could ever imagine anyone in their situations going to Britain Yearly Meeting with a voice to be heard.
On reflection, I was really concerned that the rest of the day was not devoted to work shops where we could consider the many, many issues around Economic Justice in some detail. Economic systems are complex and require consideration in more detail than the topic at Britain Yearly Meeting allowed for. There wasn’t much room either for Friends to consider what they already do, or could do individually in their own communities and in many of those the Quaker presence is often quite small or non-existent.
We are about to enter the second phase of the Double Dip Recession and this means that more people will require help and support. I only hope that all Friends will find some means of contributing towards this locally rather than keeping their eyes fixed on the theme of Economic Justice. Practical action to help others is what is needed rather than a noble Britain Yearly Meeting Minute that doesn’t have any impact in reality.
Early Quakers referred to ‘the seed’ a lot in their writings and many modern Quakers might puzzle over this word and see it as arcane language. Looking again at the Gospel of Mark, the explanation seems quite simple. Jesus used the idea of the ‘seed’ because a seed is something small and lifeless. Once a seed is sown, Jesus reminds us, it germinates and grows into a plant that grows and flourishes and, in the end, produces more seeds to germinate and grow. Jesus also reminds us that we never think about this or what a miracle it is. He uses the anaology of the seed to show us that every individual can change for the better is they become less selfish and materialistic and more aware of doing things for others.
So Friends, when we come across reference to the ‘seed’ amongst early Quakers, don’t dismiss it as a meaningless word. See it instead as a simple lesson in how all of us can change for the better. The ‘seed’ is indeed at the heart of all our testimonies.
Quakers are often reticent about using ‘God language’ and prefer to stick to Quaker beliefs about letting their light shine by doing good. Quakers also pride themselves on being compassinate and are involved in many projects supporting the world’s hungry, prisoners and refugees. Quakers do not believe in killing people or acts of violence. Their worship is quite simple and they do not believe in outward ritual, ecclesiastical dress or status and titles. Quakers also believe that all days are holy and that Sunday is not a special day on which you can or cannot do certain things. For Quakers every day presents an opportunity to do good and they try to live simply with few possessions. Finally, Quakers tend to believe in being doers of the word rather than hearers only and to be non-judgmental. They have no problem working with people who are the least advantaged in our society.
All these attributes, however, follow exactly the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. So many Quakers are Christians whether they like it or not.
'Broken Glass Shards Urban Exploration April 19, 20101' (cc) Steven Depolo
There is a brokenness
out of which comes the unbroken,
a shatteredness
out of which blooms the unshatterable.
There is a sorrow
beyond all grief which leads to joy
and a fragility
out of whose depths emerges strength.
There is a hollow space
too vast for words
through which we pass with each loss,
out of whose darkness
we are sanctioned into being.
There is a cry deeper than all sound
whose serrated edges cut the heart
as we break open to the place inside
which is unbreakable and whole,
while learning to sing.
~ Rashani ~
I have spent the last three weeks de-cluttering our house and have been surprised at how acquisitive I have been in the past. Tucked away in cupboards are dozens of glasses, unused tea sets and a whole dinner service that never sees the light of day. These have now gone to neighbours or charity shops.
The hardest thing to give away,however, are books. This is because, in a sense, they represent my life so, in giving them away, I have been giving away some milestones as well as memories. Gone now is the complete works of Shakespeare I bought at the age of 16 when I went to Drama College. Gone too are books from university and books from teacher training. Also gone are travel books about places I’ve been to and novels read once and then left to gather dust.
I suspect that we all have to do this at some time in later life and it is liberating. At the same time it does remind me of my mortality. However, far better they get given away now for charities to benefit from than allowing them to be thrown away en masse once I’ve gone.
Bring on even more Simplicity and give me the courage to embrace it!
One May Day morning in 1805, young John Holford woke early and ran to the window. He looked down the Old Steine and Brighthelmstowe ( which is now called Brighton ) in Sussex. The outsides of the big houses were decorated with branches of hawthorn with the white may-flowers scenting the air. Already the band was playing in the bandstand. It was a holiday.
After breakfast, Johns Quaker parents spoke to him very seriously. ” John, if thou goest to the bullring this morning, see that thoukeepest in the watching crowd. No interfering! Just be one of the crowd and merge with it.”
John had no idea what they were talking about, but he was an obedient boy. He wandered up to the town centre, where he saw a flat, paved area with a big iron ring firmly fixed in the centre of it. This was the bullring. A bull was led through the streets by the small ring in his nose and chained to the big ring. Country folk brought their dogs: terriers, bull terriers and mongrels, ready to unleash their dogs to fight the bull.
As the oranizer shouted, and the hand bell was rung, the Brighton Quakers quietly stepped out of the crowd, joined hands and made a circle around the bull. The dogs were loose, and pandemonium broke out. John wanted to help his parents who were being bitten, but he remembered his promise.
The constabulary came and arrested all the Quakers, put them into horse wagons and took them off to jail in Lewes Town. The bull was killed by the dogs.
Many years later, in 1834, Parliament made bullbaiting illegal in Britain, thanks to the pioneering work of Brighton Quakers and others like them.
Quaker Concern For Animals. Spring 2011 magazine.
The moon appears in every season, it is true,
But surely it’s best in fall.
In autumn, mountains loom and water runs clear.
A brilliant disk floats across the infinite sky,
And there is no sense of light and darkness,
For everything is permeated with its presence.
The boundless sky above, the autumn chill on my face.
I take my precious staff and wander about the hills.
Not a speck of the world’s dust anywhere,
Just the brilliant beams of moonlight.
I hope others, too, are gazing on this moon tonight,
And that it’s illuminating all kinds of people.
Autumn after autumn, the moonlight comes and goes;
Human beings will gaze upon it for eternity.
The sermons of Buddha, the preaching of Eno,
Surely occurred under the same kind of moon.
I contemplate the moon through the night,
As the stream settles, and white dew descends.
Which wayfarer will bask in the moonlight longest?
Whose home will drink up the most moonbeams?
We are, I believe, lessened by restlessness because our culture’s emphasis on quick gratification is always forcing us to look ahead to the next pleasure-ideal perhaps for those who are in the business of running a commercial enterprise, but less satisfying for those that are not. In these circumstances the consumer’s enjoyment, being hurried, even snatched, is more superficial, less imagnative than one enjoyed slowly, and in depth. One of the benefits of a slow, contemplative pleasure is that it nurtures the soul; the satisfaction of speed is less lasting, less profound and more superficial. A reflective person is able to look backwards and is less likely to make mistakes; an unreflective person is always looking forward towards the next and better fix.
O’ GREAT SPIRIT, help me always to speak the truth quietly, to listen with an open mind when others speak, and to remember the peace that may be found in silence.
~ Cherokee Prayer
