Readings at Meeting for worship & other things that came up

Advices & Queries 4




"The Religious Society of Friends is rooted in Christianity and has always found inspiration in the life and teachings of Jesus. How do you interpret your faith in the light of this heritage? How does Jesus speak to you today? Are you following Jesus' example of love in action? Are you learning from his life the reality and cost of obedience to God? How does his relationship with God challenge and inspire you?"

And at our Meeting for worship for Business we were read a section of Quaker Faith & Practice 3.09 "Participation on meetings for church affairs":

"On taking your seat, try to achieve quietness of mind and spirit. Try to avoid having subcommittees or conversations just as the meeting is about to begin. Turn inwardly to God, praying that the meeting may be guided in the matters before it and that the clerk may be enabled faithfully to discern and record the mind of the meeting."


Being Friends Together was mentioned:

Being Friends Together has been developed by Woodbrooke and Quaker Life to help Friends in meetings to:

• develop spiritually, both as individuals and meetings
• learn about aspects of the Quaker and Christian traditions
• develop and express their sense of Quaker identity
• grow as communities
• feel supported to live out Quaker testimony in their lives and localities
• integrate all generations into the life of meetings

so we hope that there will be something here to suit every meeting’s interests and preferences! It also offers a simple discernment process to help meetings identify where they would like to focus their energy and attention first, supported by optional visits from experienced Friends or do-it-yourself guidance on the website. LINK TO WEBSITE

Wales remembers the first world war

(An account of the Commemoration Service held on 4 August 2014 in Cardiff)

 

It was almost dark when I walked down the slope to Llandaff Cathedral to attend the National Service of Commemoration to mark the Centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. I was there to represent Quakers in Wales and felt slightly apprehensive. Not because of the surroundings, I had walked down that slope many times in my pre-Quaker existence, but because these occasions can so easily turn into a celebration of victory or a glorification of war. I paused to observe the crowd entering and was pleased to see the religious and cultural diversity, from Jewish skullcaps to Muslim beards. Here and there a few policemen for security because the Queen was represented by her cousin the Duke of Gloucester and his wife.

 

Llandaff Cathedral, like St David’s Cathedral, sits in a hollow and is the seat of the Archbishop of the Church in Wales. It was severely damaged on 2 January 1941, when a mine was dropped near it during the Cardiff Blitz. Of British Cathedrals, only Coventry Cathedral was damaged more. Restoration was completed on 6 August 1960.

 

The Cathedral slowly filled with people representing our nation and by 21.30 all 350 seats were filled. Most people were dressed up with chains of office, decorations and other adornments. I felt rather plain in my simple black and grey outfit with a single white poppy for decoration. I found myself seated between a Councillor with three chains of office and a Member of the House of Lords, who was very sociable. He noted my white poppy and during the half hour break till the start of the service at 10pm we had a very amiable and varied discussion. He knew about Quakers as he had been to a Quaker service in America recently but he was unaware of Britain’s role in arming Israel, so I enlightened him and asked him to do whatever he could about this injustice.

FOR THE REST OF THE TEXT PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK

today's reading from advices and queries

Come regularly to meeting for worship even when you are angry, depressed, tired or spiritually cold. In the silence ask for and accept the prayerful support of others joined with you in worship. Try to find a spiritual wholeness which encompasses suffering as well as thankfulness and joy. Prayer, springing from a deep place in the heart, may bring healing and unity as nothing else can. Let meeting for worship nourish your whole life.

World Quaker Day October 5th

To Friends Everywhere:

Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) invites every Quaker meeting and church from around the world to celebrate WORLD QUAKER DAY (WQD) on October 5, 2014. As the sun rises in each area of the world we want to remember that Quakers are worshiping through every time zone, celebrating our deep connections across cultures and Quaker traditions. We are united in love and can accompany each other on this special day that draws us together. As we worship, let us hold each other in prayer and thanksgiving, and let our hymns of praise resound across the world.

The theme Let Your Life Speak: Living the Kabarak Call for Peace and Ecojustice, connects us to the work we did at the World Conference of Friends in 2012 in Kenya, taking the work forward in the context of our spiritual communities.

FOUR links:
The Kabarak Call as a video - voice and music - the words are below
World Quaker Day website
and resources page
Finding Quakers around the world map

The Kabarak Call for Peace and Ecojustice was approved on 24 April 2012 at the Sixth World Conference Friends, held at Kabarak University near Nakuru, Kenya. It is the culmination of the FWCC World Consultation on Global Change which was held in 2010 and 2011. It is being circulated with the Conference Epistle.

"In past times God's Creation restored itself. Now humanity dominates, our growing population consuming more resources than nature can replace. We must change, we must become careful stewards of all life. Earthcare unites traditional Quaker testimonies: peace, equality, simplicity, love, integrity, and justice. Jesus said, "As you have done unto the least... you have done unto me". We are called to work for the peaceable Kingdom of God on the whole earth, in right sharing with all peoples. However few our numbers, we are called to be the salt that flavours and preserves, to be a light in the darkness of greed and destruction.

We have heard of the disappearing snows of Kilimanjaro and glaciers of Bolivia, from which come life-giving waters. We have heard appeals from peoples of the Arctic, Asia and Pacific. We have heard of forests cut down, seasons disrupted, wildlife dying, of land hunger in Africa, of new diseases, droughts, floods, fires, famine and desperate migrations -- this climatic chaos is now worsening. There are wars and rumors of war, job loss, inequality and violence. We fear our neighbors. We waste our children's heritage
All of these are driven by our dominant economic systems -- by greed not need, by worship of the market, by Mammon and Caesar.
Is this how Jesus showed us to live?

: We are called to see what love can do: to love our neighbor as ourselves, to aid the widow and orphan, to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, to appeal to consciences and bind the wounds.

: We are called to teach our children right relationship, to live in harmony with each other and all living beings in the earth, waters and sky of our Creator, who asks, "Where were your when I laid the foundations of the world?" (Job 38:4)

: We are called to do justice to all and walk humbly with our God, to cooperate lovingly with all who share our hopes for the future of the earth.

: We are called to be patterns and examples in a 21st century campaign for peace and ecojustice, as difficult and decisive as the 18th and 19th century drive to abolish slavery.

We dedicate ourselves to let the living waters flow through us -- where we live, regionally, and in wider world fellowship. We dedicate ourselves to building the peace that passeth all understanding, to the repair of the world, opening our lives to the Light to guide us in each small step.

Bwana asifiwe. A pu Dios Awqui. Gracias Jesús. Jubilé. Salaam aleikum. Migwetch. Tikkun olam. Alleluia!"

World Quaker day on
Twitter
Friends world committee for Consultation 
Website 
Facebook


World map of where most Quakers are & pie chart of religions - and none - in world!

The White feather Diaries

A project from Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain:


The white feather diaries is a social media storytelling project marking the centenary of World War I. It offers an insight into overlooked aspects of war: resistance to killing and the relief of suffering.


The website follows the lives of five young people who lived a century ago and opposed World War I. Their stories, published periodically over three years, take us from the outbreak of war to the introduction of conscription and groundbreaking legislation recognising conscientious objection. Through daily posts we share their moral dilemmas and their often dangerous decisions.


For those wanting to delve further into these fascinating stories, each blog entry includes rich background material about the content of the post or the diarist and their contemporaries.


The white feather diaries sheds light on the hidden stories of those whose bravery saved lives and changed British legislation, leading to a wider recognition of the legitimacy of the right to refuse to kill. It poses the question, "What would you do?" and encourages discussion about issues still relevant today. This fascinating project, drawing from original diaries, letters and other materials, will run from 2014 to 2016. To stay informed about new posts, please follow The white feather diaries on Twitter or Facebook.




A link to the diaries

Post Quaker Yearly Meeting

British Quaker Yearly Meeting was held in Bath.

Some links:

The Epistle from the Yearly Meeting can be found here:
2014 Epistle

The George Gorman Lecture 2014 Equality: Is it what we really think? [very good]
In short sections at this link

There was also a statement on the situation in Gaza
Quakers urge recognition of Palestine

Also here is the news release for the Swarthmore lecture

Finally Thought for the Day on BBC 4 on 6th August [Hiroshima anniversary] from Geoffrey Durham link here

European and Middle East Section of the Friends World Committee for Consultation

Here is a link to Among Friends Summer 2014 [a PDF] from the European and Middle East Section of the Friends World Committee for Consultation [EMES]


includes:
the annual meeting of the EMES
the Human Impacts of Climate Change
John Henry Barlow, Quaker Man of Peace


Testimony to him in Quaker Faith & Practice: 18.12

Testimony concerning John Henry Barlow (1855–1924):
Resolute but cautious, judicial and yet sympathetic, a man of quiet strength and almost stern gravity, and yet with a very tender spirit beneath apparent severity, a man slow to take the initiative, yet vigilant and constant in the discharge of responsibilities which were laid upon him – such was John Henry Barlow… His character and his faith qualified him to render invaluable service to the Society as clerk of [London] Yearly Meeting from 1913 to 1919. During these troubled and perplexing years when feelings were often strained and patience nigh to breaking point, when new elements of enthusiastic life were beginning to emerge in the Society, John Barlow showed himself to be a true leader, by promoting real harmony without compromise. ‘He had a great gift in knowing, during those difficult war years, just when the Meeting had got to a place where it might step quite swiftly into a region higher and clearer than itself realised it was yet ready for, and he helped it to take the step by offering minutes which, while they did not compromise, did not on the other hand rouse factious opposition nor lead to subsequent reaction by any over-stressing or labouring of words’.
Warwickshire North Monthly Meeting, 1924


EMES website