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10 August 2012 £1.70
discover the contemporary quaker waythe Friend
10 August 2012 £1.70
The last taboo
2
the Friend independent quaker Journalism since 1843
Cover image: Hollyhocks at Charney Manor.Photo: Trish Carn.
Contents VoL 170 no 32
3 Thought for the Week: Truth, faith and religious belief Terry Wood
4 News
5 Being obedient Diana Sandy
6-7 Business and worship Oliver Robertson
8-9 Letters
10-11 The last taboo Ben Francis
12-13 A quiet place Mary-Anne Hall
14 Worship in Norway Anthony Woolhouse
15 Letting go Tim Hather
16 q-eye: a look at the Quaker world
17 Friends & Meetings
the Friend, 10 August 2012
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HirosHima Day, 6 august 2012, was celebrated all over the world – sixty seven years after the dropping of the first atomic bomb. several hundred peace campaigners met in Tavistock square, London, where Tony Benn described the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as the ‘greatest war crime’ ever.
The Hiroshima Peace memorial (Genbaku Dome – above) was the only structure left standing in the area where the first atomic bomb exploded on 6 august 1945.
Through the efforts of many people, including those of the city of Hiroshima, it has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing.
The dome is a powerful and stark reminder of the most destructive force ever created by humankind. it is also regarded as an expression of hope for world peace and the ultimate elimination of all nuclear weapons.
Hiroshima Day
Pho
to: B
en F
olle
y / C
ND
.
the Friend, 10 August 2012 3
Thought for the Week
Epistemology is the study of knowledge itself. Epistemologists describe several forms of knowledge, each with its own, distinct tests for
truth.
mathematics and logic both use small, deductive steps, each self evident, from a series of axioms, which are acknowledged as being universal, but by far the best known truth test in the post-Enlightenment world is associated with science. it is empiricism. an idea, or hypothesis, is tested by seeing if it can be used to explain observations made in the real world, especially those made under controlled conditions. This method has been applied extensively; for example, as a science teacher, i readily accepted that the old ‘schools’ Council’ history course used the method to greater effect than much that we did!
Nonetheless, we should remember that empiricism can only cause us to refute an idea if it provides evidence from observation that does not fit in with the idea. if the evidence does fit in, the idea is supported, but it can never be shown to be absolute truth; there is no such thing, certainly in the physical world.
When turning to theology, which is what we are about when discussing ‘God’, ‘spirit’, ‘soul’ and so on, and any of their synonyms, what are the tests for truth?
They, plainly, cannot be empirical. you cannot do experiments to establish the existence, or not, of God, of spirit or of our own souls. men like aquinas did try to prove the existence of God by logical deduction, but from axioms, not least that existence is the greatest
perfection. These axioms are questionable and few, today, accept the validity of these ‘proofs’.
one of the most moving quotations i have seen in this connection is by the italian poet Petrarch, who likened theology to poetry – poetry about God – whose greatest value lies not in conveying knowledge, but in its effect upon the heart.
Whilst knowing there are many better equipped than i to describe the effects of poetry upon the reader, i would suggest that the truths a poem conveys are beyond the prosaic, beyond ‘facts’, but concern emotions and ‘emotional intelligence’. These suggest how to interpret the emotional impact of the poem in order to share the emotion of the writer and to gain inspiration for our own lives.
This is the sense in which i see the truth of faith and even of religious belief. We have no idea of possible grounds for these, save for the effects they have upon us, how we see ourselves, others and the wide world, and upon our behaviour.
returning to the world of ‘religion’, in the form adopted by liberal Quakers, after a long period of very strong emotional rejection of it, and all its works, i have often felt inspired by what i have seen and heard. i have also been much saddened to witness, from time to time, strife and factionalism, which i profoundly feel, is, at its worst, often about the wrong kind of truths altogether.
Terry WoodEast Kent Area Meeting
Truth, faith and religious belief
4 the Friend, 10 August 2012
THE amEriCaN Friends service Committee (aFsC) has just released a new edition of the vital publication Survivors Manual: Surviving in Solitary – A manual written by and for people living in control units.
The volume is a compelling collection of letters, stories, poetry and practical advice on surviving solitary confinement in prisons.
solitary confinement, characterized by twenty-three-hour a day lockout, with minimal exercise and lack of human contact, affects an estimated 100,000 prisoners in federal and state prisons in almost every state.
‘The isolation of solitary confinement is torture according to the United Nations Convention against Torture. The extended use of solitary severely affects all prisoners’ mental health, making re-entry to society all the more difficult’ says Bonnie Kerness, prison watch coordinator for the aFsC.
News
THE ZimBaBWE Food relief action (ZFra) project celebrates ten years of work in the middle of the worst drought faced during its history.
The project was started in 2002 at the request of Central & southern africa ym and is still responding, as far as finances allow, to the needs of rural people in matabeleland south.
in 2002 a group of Quakers wrote to Thabo mbeki, president of south africa, and asked him to put pressure on robert mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, to consider the plight of his people. at the time
there was no maize meal in the shops. The idea of food relief action and the establishment of Zimbabwe Food relief action (ZFra) came from this initiative.
John schmid, who helps run the project in Zimbabwe, said: ‘over the years my wife, Kelitha, has distributed nearly 700 tons of maizemeal, but what with overpopulation, deforestation, climate change and a government that’s broke, it doesn’t look as if we will be retiring soon!’
John added: ‘The drought this year is the worst in ZFra’s history and people are crying for help.’
LaNCasHirE voLUNTEErs are calling on people to join them on a walk to highlight the plight of small-scale farmers around the world.
The original pioneers of the Fair Trade Town movement will be walking along the Fair Trade Heritage Trail, which connects Fairtrade Towns from Garstang to Keswick, and are inviting people to get involved.
Quaker Bruce Crowther, who helped make Garstang the first Fair Trade town in the world in 2000, is one of the main organisers. He was also a key figure behind the creation of the Fair Trade Way.
He said: ‘We are all excited about walking the Fair Trade Way this year and we want as many people as possible to join us. This is a special year: it is oxfam’s seventieth birthday and Garstang oxfam Group’s tenth anniversary. The group started with myself, my wife and the baby sitter, and ended as the world’s first Fair Trade Town.’
Bruce believes that the six days of walking and evening events, which include hearing stories about the Fair Trade Town movement and the experience of coffee growers in india, will help people connect, share and continue the demand for trade justice. The walkers will also visit significant locations, such as the slave trade memorial in Lancaster and the graves of ex-slave rasselas Belfield and William Wordsworth.
The journey sets off in Garstang on 24 august and goes through the Lake District, with meeting at Kendal meeting House at about 7.30pm on 26 august. The eighty-eight-mile walk concludes with an evening story sharing event in the moot Hall in Keswick to celebrate the seventieth anniversary of oxfam.
By highlighting places that serve Fairtrade products on the route the footpath aims to promote the difference that using these products can have on the lives of small-scale farmers around the world.
New Survivors Manual
Walking the Fair trade Way New date for memorial openinga NEW DaTE has been chosen for the inauguration of the Quaker service memorial in the National memorial arboretum in staffordshire.
it will now be in the spring of 2013. Confirmation of the new date, scheduled for 20 april 2013, will not finally be made until the foundations are firmly in place.
anthony Wilson, clerk of the Quaker service memorial Trust, explained that the original inauguration date, 15 september 2012, could not be met because of practical problems.
He said: ‘water at our site in the National memorial arboretum was wellington-deep after the rain in early July and the lorry taking the concrete to our site needs two weeks clear of rain to be able to reach it.’
‘The foundations’, he added, ‘then need a couple of months to dry out sufficiently to carry twenty five tons of stonework. as the inauguration will take place out of doors, it is not realistic to plan it for a winter day’.
Drought in Zimbabwe
the Friend, 10 August 2012 5
i’m told there is now a badge which reads: ‘i am a Quaker – ask me why’. The shivers of cringe that run down my spine are very real! We have come a
million miles away from our origins if we need to wear such a badge – indeed any badge.
it was about fifty years ago that the society of Friends in Britain began its journey away from its roots. it got itself onto the wrong track for whatever reason and has journeyed along with the rest of the western world into the confused state that this world is now in. Why it got itself onto that wrong track is a matter of pure speculation and conjecture, but it probably includes muddled thinking, confusion and compromise – all of which will have been compounded in the intervening decades.
We have come to the end of the track now. We’ve hit the buffers. We cannot go back and start again. But continuing on the current track could mean we take ourselves over the edge and into the obscurity that other groupings have done over the decades. it is time now to reflect what business we think we are in.
i was registered at birth as a member of the society of Friends of the Truth (Divine Truth that is!) – a 300-year-old religious break-away body from the established church. The label ‘Quaker’ was usually in brackets and known to be a nickname. Friends had acquired a reputation over the centuries for many contributions to society and the world and the expectation on all of us was that this informed our way of life together with our own revelation and experience of the Light. should anyone ever ask, the reply would be along the lines of: ‘being a member of the society of Friends – sometimes referred to as “Quakers” (because they quake in the presence of the divine)…’
But why would anyone have the need to ask? Today, i appear to be part of a charitable enterprise
with a socio-political agenda. There is ‘talk’ of spirituality but for me the ‘feel’ is no longer there. i’m not even sure whether many members of this enterprise are all that bothered about seeking the guidance of the holy spirit in the many issues that face us. How much practice do we have in discernment of that guidance and how many are willing to be obedient to it if it goes against our secular notions?
This trend, which has grown over the past half century, means that there are very few now who will have experienced the former religious order and will struggle to understand my position. i am accused of being a ‘George Fox sort of Quaker’ – whatever that may be! What other sorts are there? are other sorts more desirable in these troubled times?
many newly joined Friends, enquirers and attenders have expressed their puzzlement as they do not see in our current practices and methods any similarity to what we say we are about or what they read in our many books. None of our current situation bears any reflection of the past. all we seem to be left with is the word ‘Quaker’ and it would not be truthful to hide behind the label if the word has lost its meaning.
i would be very distressed if i felt the need to be pushed out of my long time place of being by the faceless pressures of twenty-first century political and financial conformity. i have commented often over the years that trying to run a bottom-end-up tradition in a top-end-down system doesn’t work.
it will, in the end, be self destructive.
Diana is a member of Beverley Meeting.
Talking point
Being obedient
Diana Sandy regrets muddled thinking, confusion and compromise
6 the Friend, 10 August 2012
if you want the essence of this article in one paragraph, it is this: which parts of our life bring us closer to God? Which parts are spiritually deadening? and
how can we change the second type into the first?
Good business
For me, one of the crowning geniuses of the early Quakers was the meeting for Worship for Business, because it turned administration into a spiritual activity. it turned it into worship. We shouldn’t underestimate the magnitude of that achievement, but nor should we underestimate its simplicity, because at its core it just needs us to look differently at the issue and think not ‘we have this business that we must do’ but ‘how can we make this welcoming enough for God?’
i believe that, at base, if a part of our Quaker activity is not a spiritually uplifting experience we’re not doing it right. and with this, like with anything else, we get better with practice. my best experience of Quaker Business method is with young Friends General meeting (yFGm), the national gathering of 18-30ish Quakers. There, they don’t just do business, they also teach us how to do business with introductory sessions every time we meet. To keep it fresh, they deliver it in different ways, through straight talking, song, pictures or role-playing a really bad Business meeting, but the most important bit, the core, which in this case is the information – that stays the same.
Good roles
We should always be asking ourselves: what is at the core of whatever we’re doing? Which parts of it are necessary? What is needed? For me, the core of Quakers is very simple. it’s about people worshipping their God,
and then following whatever promptings emerge from that. and if that’s all we need at heart, we should ask ourselves why have we got everything else? How do our committees, our Quaker libraries, our post-worship tea and coffee, our recording clerk help us to lead lives that are close to God? some or all of these clearly do work for some or all of us, but we could be much more rigorous in testing and re-testing this and then jettisoning the things that are pulling us down so that we can rise up and go Whoosh!
my personal experience of doing this comes from the yFGm Nominations Committee. i don’t understand why there are vacancies on Nominations Committees because it’s a wonderful job, focused on finding ways for people to flourish. it’s about nurturing people and encouraging them to use existing skills, and develop new ones, in the service of God and the community. Unfortunately, too often, people can get caught on the periphery of thinking: ‘We have these jobs, and they must be filled’. i remember speaking to a young Friend who was so excited to be appointed to one of the jobs at Junior yearly meeting, but that at her Local meeting her parents were very much ‘oh well, i’ve got to be elder again’. What are we doing wrong if our roles are seen as a chore rather than a joy? What does it say about our communities if we require people to do jobs that neither they nor anyone else care much about?
Good community
Whenever i think about community i remember and struggle with Quaker faith & practice 10.20, in which George Gorman says: ‘one of the unexpected things i have learnt in my life as a Quaker is that religion is basically about relationships between people. This was an unexpected discovery, because i had been brought
Businessand worship
Oliver Robertson believes all Quaker activity should be rooted in worship
‘Whoosh’ conference
the Friend, 10 August 2012 7
up to believe that religion was essentially about our relationship with God.’ i don’t fully grasp this, but i do feel that he’s probably right. Certainly the meetings where i have consistently felt the greatest spiritual depth have also been the ones where i am closest to my fellow worshippers, and the meetings where i have felt closest to my fellow worshippers are ones where i don’t just worship and drink tea. again, i think back particularly to yFGm as one of the strongest Quaker communities i have found.
a Quaker who just goes to yFGm gatherings and a Quaker who just goes to their Local meeting on a sunday will probably spend a comparable amount of time among Friends each year (a bit over a hundred hours in each case). But the experience can be very different. at ‘normal’ meeting i get the regularity of contact but often not the same depth. What works to stop that? What role do notices play and the fact that they are the last thing we hear in meeting? What role does tea and coffee play, and the fact that we usually drink it standing up, which can encourage shorter conversations? Perhaps we’re not together long enough for the ebb and flow of conversation to wash
us back towards the shores of deep sharing. When we spend longer together, such as young Friends do at their weekend gatherings, participants have a chance not just to worship together, but also to do Quaker business together, play together, clean together and eat together. all these things are important in developing a rounded understanding of each other. members of a community need to know one another in the things that are ephemeral as well as eternal.
i am not suggesting that every meeting copies yFGm. Clearly, sunday worship works well enough for tens of thousands of people across Britain to attend, but it does show that we can be more varied in how we worship and practice without losing the core of our Quakerism. ‘Whooshing’ is about doing more of the good stuff, which is not necessarily the same as doing more of the existing stuff.
Oliver is a member of Geneva Monthly Meeting. This article is a shortened version of his introduction at the recent ‘Whoosh’ conference at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre.
‘One of the unexpected things I have learnt in my life as a Quaker is that religion is basically about relationships between people’
Pho
to: T
rish
Car
n.
8 the Friend, 10 August 2012
All views expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the FriendLettersQuakers or Friends?Gordon smith’s letter (27 July) has spurred me to write in his support, but also to warn prospective converts that it can be a long business where telephone directory entries are concerned. Firstly, there are at least three out there (Thomson, yellow Pages, British Telecom – ‘BT’). secondly, if the phone number isn’t a BT one (such as the Phone Co-op), BT won’t change the entry unless the service provider authorises it. Thirdly, if the directory covers more than one area meeting and uniformity of entries is sought, then they all have to agree – to say nothing of the Local Business meetings. But yes, go for it. Why should people have to look in five possible places: F(riends), P(laces of Worship), Q(uaker), r(eligious society) and s(ociety of Friends) when just one entry under Q would suffice? We are reminded of the importance of ‘in essentials, unity…’ and i do think ease of location is one of the essentials of good outreach.
Kurt StraussYork Area Meeting
While i agree with Gordon smith’s reasons (27 July) for calling ourselves Quakers, rather than Friends, in Darlington it is not so simple because to many residents ‘The Quakers’ refers to our football team. you can imagine we get some newspaper headlines which are quite hilarious to Friends.
also, several local businesses with no connection use the name Quaker. a few years ago we had a butcher selling ‘Quaker sausages’. When asked, he said, ‘because they are so good’.
Dorothy [email protected]
i was pleased to see the letter encouraging the use of Quaker rather than Friend, especially where the public at large are concerned. specifically, i do wish we would stop using the term ‘resident Friend’ and substitute it with ‘resident Quaker’. members of the public who come across the former term, as many must do, can only think it bizarre.
i wonder if Friends House will ever change to being Quaker House. i hope so.
Rod Harper9 Montpelier Grove, London NW5 2XD
i hope last week’s letter pointing out the problem about what we are called will not be ignored. ‘Friend’ is now used by so wide a range of organizations that it no longer says anything. i am not over fond of ‘Quaker’, but since we are not likely here to be taken for an american cereal it is unambiguous and therefore i always now use it and avoid ‘Friend’. it seems that our publicity producing groups nationally
and at Woodbrooke are increasingly of the same mind. your journal will, no doubt, go its own ‘independent’ way, and so, of course, will the americans. But in Europe let us fix on Quaker and be understood.
Cecil W Sharman [email protected]
Populationi was saddened to read John morris’s response (27 July) to roger Plenty’s letter (13 July). i think John is very much mistaken if he believes solving the important issues of hunger, water, health, war and so on, will cause roger’s fears to ‘evaporate like the dew on a warm summer’s morning’. solving these issues is important but they will not solve the problems that overpopulation is already bringing. in fact, solving some of them might actually increase our demands on the world’s resources as the poor get richer even if the rich get poorer. Nor do i believe John morris to be right in thinking that roger Plenty restricts his view of this important issue to a western perspective. rather, roger makes it very clear, by quoting worldwide statistics, of the effect that overpopulation is already having on the planet. if the issue only affected England, bad as it already is for England, it would be of far less importance. roger also makes clear from his figures how the greed of humanity in over populating the world is leaving little space for other species be they plant or animal. Friends should remember that the world is not just for mankind.
i hope that Friends will now consider it time to consider this important issue, and not sweep it under the carpet as was done as Canterbury when we were meant to be considering green issues but left out one of the most important factors in environmental degradation, human overpopulation.
Jonathan RiddellAlton Meeting, Hampshire
To fly or not to flyi write in answer to Jenny vickers’ letter (3 August). i agree with her judgement. i also think about Balby Friends in Quaker faith & practice 1.01: ‘These things we do not lay upon you as a rule…’
all my family live in the Netherlands. my ex- husband lives in india, where i worked extensively from 1972 onwards. my main research area (since 1963) is Zimbabwe. i am seventy-one years old. The only practical way now for me to visit friends in these areas is to fly.
Because i have no family in Britain, i rarely leave my hometown and then almost always by public transport. i do not drive. in my hometown i usually travel by tricycle.
i believe that if we cease to visit people to whom we
9
the Friend, 10 August 2012
The Friend welcomes your views. Please keep letters short (about 250 words) and include your full postal address, even when sending emails. Please specify whether you wish for your postal or email address or Meeting name to be used with your name, otherwise we will print your post address or email address. Letters are published at the editor’s discretion and may be edited. Write to: the Friend, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ or email [email protected] if you are online that you can also comment on all articles at www.thefriend.org
can only fly, we impoverish ourselves and may close our minds to significant new insights. i am also aware that every air-mile i don’t use may well be used by an upwardly mobile Chinese or indian wanting to visit, for instance, oxford.
We have to do what we can within our personal constraints. What we can do when we are very young may be impossible when we are older.
Marieke Faber ClarkeOxford & Swindon Area Meeting
i would like to respond to Jenny vickers and say ‘what does love require of you?’ i say it jolly well requires visits to our families, wherever they are and however we go. Diana and i are very fortunate in that our children and grandchildren are all living in England, and we see a lot of them. We hugely sympathise with others who only see their families maybe once a year. Diana still flies to troubled areas around the world, sometimes on behalf of Quakers, but we are also lucky in not wishing to go anywhere on holiday other than Cornwall, West Wales or Western scotland. We might freak out and go on Eurostar to Belgium, i suppose, but we won’t be flying anywhere for holidays. and that’s where Friends might search their consciences, i guess.
Nick FrancisBradford-on-Avon Meeting, Wiltshire
Jenny vickers asks whether other Friends have faced the dilemma about the environmental costs of flying to see close relatives. over twenty years ago our daughter moved to New Zealand, married and has made her home there. We manage to visit every three or four years. We also take the chance to visit Quakers in all parts of New Zealand and give what service we can. Last time, when we were at their summer Gathering a Friend castigated us for flying. i asked him whether he was saying that we should decide never to see our daughter again. another Friend overhearing this, intervened: ‘Those are “Love miles”, which are surely allowed!’ so we hope Jenny uses and enjoys her ‘Love miles’ as much as we do, at long intervals.
Diana and John [email protected]
Sheila Hancock‘moving words’ (27 July) reminds me of the profound experience of singing The Gates of Greenham enhanced by sheila Hancock’s narration in 1985 to a packed Festival Hall.
i wish we could proclaim another hope for the world in music again.
Judith Chandler12 Vyvyan Terrace, Clifton, Bristol BS8 3DG
Many Marthasmartha (Luke 10:38-42) was reproved by Jesus, yet became a roman Catholic saint. We have many marthas, devoting their energies to aiding homeless and hungry – but concerned, thus, with symptoms. Thank God for them – saints all, but ignoring advice 33: ‘seek to understand the causes of injustice, social unrest and fear.’ Why do they not listen to their Friends in the Quaker Land value Group, who have the complete and beautiful answer – incentive taxation, which is simple to set up, completely just, and can be neither evaded nor avoided? They incur martha’s reproof.
Ralph [email protected]
Quaker Friends of IsraelFor robin Waterston (3 August) and others who have assumed that Quaker Friends of israel (QFi) must be ‘blindly uncritical’ of government policies, i should make it clear that QFi has little or nothing to say about policies of the israeli government of the day. That is the business of israeli voters, not outsiders. Quaker Friends of israel simply support the right of israel to exist as a Jewish state without fear of annihilation. much is made of ‘international law’ in reference to israel/Palestine as though it were a matter of clear-cut statute law, but the best legal minds are in disagreement about the legal principles involved.
Sarah LawsonForest Hill [email protected]
GroundspaceGeorge Fox, Edward Hoare (6 July), ‘The inward Light: Universal and universalist’. The inner Light: which one? Twelve individuals, twelve individual cigarette lighters, twelve lots of smoke. i have been trying to get this across to Friends for over half a century. Thank you, Edward.
Bob Needham 4 Shanklin Gardens, South Knighton, Leicester LE2 3QL
10 the Friend, 10 August 2012
The topic of death and dying is rising, inexorably, on the public agenda in the UK, not least because current law is in disarray and in need
of amendment. a recent one day conference, entitled ‘Death and dying: the last taboo’, organised by Leeds Quakers, addressed some of the key issues involved and raised awareness of how other countries are dealing with the subject. The event, held at the oxford Place Conference Centre, Leeds, grew out of a growing interest in end-of-life care.
Jan Bernheim gave the keynote opening lecture on ‘Comprehensive end-of-life care: The Belgian model of synergistic legal physician-assisted dying and palliative care’. Jan Bernheim is a distinguished medical oncologist who is now a part-time professor and researcher in medical ethics and end-of-life issues at the End-of-Life Care research Group at the vrije Universiteit Brussel. His concerns include the measurement of the subjective quality of life.
Voluntary euthanasia
The 2002 Belgian law on euthanasia defines it as the intentional termination of another person’s life at that person’s request. This is in effect ‘voluntary euthanasia’. This is legal under the 2002 Belgian law. There have to be repeated, consistent requests, in writing, from the person concerned, who must be competent to do this. it must also be without coercion. The person has to be clearly in ‘intolerable’ and irreversible suffering, physical and mental, the cause of which is an irreversible medical condition. The person concerned must be duly informed of alternatives, including palliative care.
The termination is carried out by a medical doctor, following consultation with the nursing team and a competent colleague, and the doctor remains always with the person until death. if it is the case that a patient is not expected to die within the foreseeable future, further colleagues must be consulted and a moratorium of one month instituted and respected. Finally, the whole procedure has to be accountable. a report has to be sent
to the Federal Control and Evaluation Commission. one can foresee that in the UK a similar body would be needed under the law and would link a similar procedure to coroners and inquests. Jan Bernheim emphasised that the underlying ethic of the law is procedural rather than prescribing what has to be done.
End-of-life care
Belgium has dedicated health services for end-of-life and palliative care that are among the most developed in the world. in Europe they are second only to the UK. it also has the Life End information Forum, with doctors, nurses and paramedics. This is similar to the support and Consultation on Euthanasia in the Netherlands. The forum provides information to the public on all aspects of end-of-life care and the options available. it trains health professionals and provides consultant physicians for second independent opinions following a request for euthanasia.
Following the Belgian law, the Netherlands introduced a similar law in april 2002, and Luxembourg in march 2009. so, the Benelux countries constitute the test-bed for these laws and procedures, which can evolve further and could be adopted by other European countries, the UK and the world at large. Jan Bernheim made it clear that ‘physician assisted dying’ is part and parcel of palliative care in Belgium. in 2003 the Flemish Federation for Palliative Care position paper made the following important comment: ‘Palliative care and euthanasia are neither alternatives nor antagonistic… euthanasia may be part of palliative care… caregivers are fully entitled to ethical limitations, but they must be expected to state these limitations candidly, clearly, and above all in due time.’
A ‘slippery slope’?
it is important to point out that what we have described, vis-a-vis Belgium and the Netherlands – that is, ‘voluntary euthanasia’, or as Jan Bernheim has described
Witness
The last taboo
Ben Francis considers some of the issues raised at a recent conference on death and dying
the Friend, 10 August 2012 11
it, ‘physician assisted dying’ – has to be distinguished from the situation in other countries. in the states of oregon and Washington, Usa, the law on assisted dying governs terminally ill, mentally competent, dying patients who are legally required to self-administer the life-ending medication.
in switzerland the law on assisted suicide allows assistance to die to chronically ill and disabled people who are not dying but who are aware that a terminal situation probably awaits them. and, finally, in this matter of definitions in various legal systems, it has to be made absolutely clear that we are not discussing or considering in any context euthanasia as it is usually defined: namely, the administration of life-ending medications or procedures by a third party not necessarily with the consent of the patient or person concerned. That is ending life without explicit request. We are not going down that road and that is why there is no ‘slippery slope’.
The Benelux model of end-of-life care shows, in fact, that there is no ‘slippery slope’. The law and the procedures go so far but no further. The model is comprehensive in that it covers all deaths. most of these take place within the category of palliative care as we understand the practice in the UK. From within this category some patients will choose voluntary euthanasia. and there will be another minority of patients who will choose voluntary euthanasia in the first place.
one of the most significant facts to emerge is that patients in palliative care in the Benelux countries know that, should they reach a particular point in their lives, they have the option to request voluntary euthanasia. Patients in palliative care therefore know that their situation does not have to go on for ever. This leads to an enhancement of their wellbeing and some patients, paradoxical though it may seem, actually live longer. so Jan Bernheim showed that this is how the Benelux model works and how it can be objectively described as a system of integral palliative care. There is no evidence of abuse and no epidemiological slippery slope.
Trust and confidence
Jan Bernheim made it clear that trust and confidence on the part of the public is essential. This is why the forums mentioned earlier are important in relation to the public’s attitude to the law. Equally important is the attitude of the medical profession. in Belgium a large majority of physicians agree that the euthanasia law beneficially influences their work in end-of-life situations and that a patient’s request for voluntary euthanasia is absolutely part of good end-of-life care.
Jan Bernheim showed a deeply moving clip from the documentary film Epilogue, directed by manno Lanssens. We saw a terminally and irrevocably ill patient who had chosen voluntary euthanasia. accompanied by the family doctor, who oversaw the whole procedure, and surrounded by family and friends, we witnessed a serene death and a humane end to suffering. This was a profound demonstration of the Benelux model in action. The conclusion is inescapable that the option of a request for euthanasia brings serenity to the person concerned at their life’s end.
The Benelux model can have profound consequences for the development of palliative care in the UK. The integral system that is now fully taken on board in the Benelux countries has resulted in an increase in palliative care resources and their availability. The way forward in the ongoing debate and the campaign to change UK law can be the application of the principle of integral palliative care as described here. Not only does it show that there need be no antagonism between apparently opposing systems of palliative care, but also that there is a cooperative middle way that has resulted in ethical practices embodied in an acceptable and workable law. There can be no better exemplar for Friends to reflect upon.
Ben is a member of Adel Meeting.For a £10 DVD of the conference contact Judy Kessler, [email protected], from the end of August.
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12 the Friend, 10 August 2012
Reflection
‘True silence… is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.’ These words of William Penn have been
echoed by other Quakers through the centuries. Thomas Kelly urges that ‘such practice of inward orientation, of inward worship and listening… is the heart of religion. it is the secret, i am persuaded, of the inner life of the master of Galilee. He expected this secret to be freshly discovered in everyone who would be his follower.’
The life of Jesus as told in the Gospels is one of action arising from contemplation and inner listening. His call to ‘come away with me to a quiet place and get some rest’ is joined today by The Quiet Garden movement. stepping aside from the busy, sometimes chaotic, hurly-burly of everyday life to quieten the mind and to cultivate attentiveness is recommended by spiritual, psychological and well-being practitioners. Time spent apart, in nature, has been important to those seeking to deepen their spiritual lives from the earliest times. Examples in the Christian tradition include Jesus Christ, st anthony, the desert fathers and mothers and, of course, George Fox.
George Fox experienced many of his spiritual struggles, insights and callings as he walked in the countryside during his early ministry: ‘as we travelled
we came near a very great hill, called Pendle Hill, and i was moved of the Lord to go up to the top of it’. Fox’s reflection on top of this hill has become an iconic part of Quaker history.
Nowadays, at our meeting Houses, the communal gathered silence of meeting for Worship often takes place indoors. at my own meeting, the vase of flowers on the centre table and the branches of trees viewed through the meeting House window form a link to the outside of the meeting House – the burial ground and garden. it reminds me of the unity and interdependence of all people and creation. This has become evident from scientific, political and ethical perspectives and humanity’s effect on the environment is a concern of Friends. But the beauty and intricacies of our natural surroundings have also been shown to enhance spiritual lives.
Time spent in the garden being attentive to a flower, an insect or some berries can be transforming, as ralph Hetherington describes: ‘The experience could not have lasted more than a few seconds, but that was a moment out of time. i was caught up in what i saw: i became a part of it: the berries, the leaves, the raindrops and i, we were all of a piece. a moment of beauty and harmony and meaning. a moment of understanding.’
it is the opportunity for this healing and
a quietplace
Mary-Anne Hall reflects on twenty years of the Quiet Garden Movement
the Friend, 10 August 2012 13
transforming experience that is offered by Quiet Gardens. They are a precious resource – especially for those who may not have easy access to natural surroundings. Each Quiet Garden is unique – large or small, formal or wildlife haven. some are in meeting house or church grounds, others are in people’s homes, schools or hospitals. many Quiet Gardens have a programme of quiet days at which someone will gently lead people into the silence and may provide a short passage for reflection.
a led Quiet Day can be an excellent way to introduce people to silence. my own regular visits to a Quiet Garden helped me feel at home in my first meeting for Worship.
This year The Quiet Garden movement celebrates its twentieth anniversary. The seed of the movement was sown by Philip roderick and a foresighted garden owner in Buckinghamshire. as Philip said: ‘From gardening to being, from stewardship of the earth to learning how to pause, The Quiet Garden movement seeks to encourage inner reflection and equip people for living out the paradox of contemplation-in-action.’ There are now around three hundred Quiet Gardens worldwide. The original vision of low cost, simple hospitality and a welcome for all is still at the heart of each Quiet Garden.
Mary-Anne is the administrator of The Quiet Garden Trust.
The photo at the top of the opposite page is the Quaker Quiet Garden in Boscombe, Dorset. The Beaconsfield (top of this page) and Burley-in-Wharfedale (middle of this page) gardens are Quiet Gardens in private homes. The garden to the left is at the Centre of Reflection at Aston Tirrold.
All photos are courtesy of the Quiet Gardens Trust.
14 the Friend, 10 August 2012
Ten Quakers from the 2011 Equipping for ministry course at Woodbrooke, plus one partner, spent a week in Norway in april. This
was the result of an invitation from Linda Eide, a Norwegian Friend on the same course.
We stayed in the youth hostel in voss, which was simple and comfortable and even equipped with a sauna. We found Norway to be a calm, well organised and peaceful society still coping maturely with the mass murder by anders Behring Breivik.
We learnt much about Norwegian Quakers in our all too brief stay. There are only about 140 registered Quakers in Norway. Everyone has to register their religious affiliation and the advantage for Norwegian Quakers is that this results in significant grants for Quaker work. This helps Norwegian Quakers sustain twenty-two nurseries for young children in Gaza – impressive for such a small Quaker community.
Norway is a large country – some 1,000 miles from north to south. There are meetings in oslo, Kristiansand and stavanger with a couple of small meetings, including Bergen. How do others interested in Quakerism in Norway find a way forward? For many it is by subscribing to the quarterly Quaker newsletter Tidssriftet Kvekeren. There are six hundred subscribers, which demonstrates the deep interest in Quakerism in Norway.
We were pleased to discover that a Norwegian Quaker faith & practice is being drafted. We hope we can share it in the same way as the book This we can say, from australia, has been an inspiration to some of us.
We learnt more about ourselves on this trip. We came from a range of Quaker meetings throughout England and Wales, with different challenges, dynamics and health. We shared our experiences in many ways. This is probably the significant dimension of the Equipping for ministry course. There is deep mutual trust and understanding in the group that
grows each time we spend time together.We had good joint sessions on identifying the seeds
of war that are contained in the way we lead our lives, and on sustainability. Together we watched the 2011 swarthmore lecture by Pam Lunn, which deepened the intention of some of us to look to live more sustainably.
We were also briefed on the Norwegian concept of ‘deep ecology’. This is an attempt to define long term sustainability through returning to a simple lifestyle and a smaller population and is the lifetime work of arne Næss.
Norway has vast reserves of renewable energy, mainly hydro as well as oil and gas. The hydro resources make Norway an important partner in European energy generation as water can be pumped back up the mountains with electricity from Denmark when the wind produces a surplus there. This is called pump storage and is needed for a sustainable future.
We held meetings for Worship in the youth hostel. These were gathered meetings with real power to refresh us.
We felt that our visit to Norway was sowing seeds. some will fall on stony ground, others on fertile ground. We produced a closing minute and sent this to Norway yearly meeting. Two of our members stayed on in Norway and attended meeting for Worship in oslo the following sunday where the minute was read.
Bergen meeting is small, typically only five or six people. so is Dudley meeting, where one of our Equip-ping for ministry colleagues is a member. Hopefully, the two meetings will be twinned in the future.
as we started our journey home, we considered that we are fortunate to have strengthened ourselves as a Quaker community and that this, happily, includes our Quaker Friends in Norway. We thank Norwegian Friends for their hospitality and welcome.
Anthony is a member of Bournemouth Coastal AM.
Report
Worship in Norway
Friends being refreshed in beautiful Norway.The author is on the left.
Anthony Woolhouse admires Norwegian Quakerism
the Friend, 10 August 2012 15
Reflection
Here’s the situation: we have an eleven-month-old baby, amelia, and she has still not learned to sleep through the night without being
picked up, fed and rocked to sleep at regular intervals. For the last four weeks amelia has been sharing the bed with my wife Bettina while i have been sleeping on a futon in the back bedroom – the one with her cot, her mobile and her teddy bears in it. We have reached crisis point, and i get three books out of the library. after dipping into all three we conclude that one is a little harsher than we are comfortable with and one is only for babies and cannot be adapted to children of amelia’s advanced years. The third, The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg, seems slightly more compassionate and workable and, in any case, these were the only three books relating to baby bedtime in the library. We commit to starting a new regime over the bank holiday weekend. Chapter six, ‘a severe Case of accidental Parenting’, is our homework (even though ‘accidental parenting’ means something quite different in my opinion).
Day two, sunday. We are both a bit frazzled. i have been to evening meeting for Worship and slept through most of it. i try not to feel too guilty about it. so, day two. i spend most of the night in our lovely king-size bed: amelia is in her cot in her room, Bettina on the futon. at 5:30am Bettina comes in to me and says amelia is just waking up and i should go and encourage her to go back to sleep. We change rooms and it is my turn to implement the ‘Pick Up/Put Down’ technique.
i do what the book says: pick her up when she cries,
put her down when she stops crying and give her encouraging messages. after five or six times i am feeling desperate. i decide to take her back to mummy because i think she needs a feed. it turns out that was the wrong thing to do. i am told straight away to go back to amelia’s room and try again. i put her down. i sit down on the edge of the futon, the duvet wrapped around me to keep warm. she starts to cry and i get up again. i pick her up, put her down and sit back down again, trying to stay patient and in control of the situation. i keep my eyes almost closed because eye-contact in this context is not recommended by the Baby Whisperer. after another three or four pick ups/put downs something quite unexpected happens. amelia has crawled to the bars of her cot and is sitting down to face me. she is quiet and her eyelids are falling. For the next five minutes i experience a blissful silence and a feeling of mutual love and ‘letting go’ similar to the one i often feel in meeting for Worship. she seems to be mirroring my posture out of curiosity, perhaps unable to move due to sheer exhaustion.
‘Letting go’ is a considerable skill. in meeting for Worship we need to let go of our expectations and let whatever happens happen. as a father of three grown-up children, a three-year-old, and a nearly one-year-old, i am aware of many times when it might have been more loving to let go. The ‘gathered stillness’ amelia and i experienced at six in the morning was a brief and wonderful letting go for both of us. if it happened as a result of ‘accidental parenting’, then i am proud to be an accidental parent.
Tim is a member of Taunton Meeting.
Letting go
Tim Hather is proud to be an ‘accidental parent’
Success!
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the Friend, 10 August 2012
a look at the Quaker world
sTEvEN BUrKEmaN, of Friargate meeting, has been inspired to challenge Friends’ knowledge of Quakers in literature. He writes: ‘a newspaper not unknown to many readers of this organ carries a weekly feature in which it lists the ten best instances in fiction of some phenomenon or other – for example, these have included cathedrals, fat men and chases.
‘it occurs to me that it would be interesting to identify a similar list of Quaker meetings in fiction. To start it off, may i propose the final chapters of Jeffrey Eugenides’ recent novel, The Marriage Plot, which include a remarkably insightful and ‘true’ description of a small meeting, which he calls ‘Prettybrook’, in New Jersey? While Prettybrook is a real place, it does not appear to host (i was going to write ‘boast’ but that seemed somehow unQuakerly) a Friends’ meeting, whereas stony Brook, also in New Jersey, does. maybe that’s what he’s based it on? are there more examples out there? i suppose we could also identify the ten worst instances…’
yoU NEvEr KNoW what questions you’ll get when you advertise in the Friend.
Bed and breakfast advertisers always hope for a good number of bookings as a result of their advertisements in the Friend, but Eye hears of one such advertiser who also gets regular enquiries
about nearby Quaker meetings.recently, the most surprising,
however, was a phone call from a Friend asking them if they could recommend a good hotel! obviously, they offered their own fine facilities.
Do other advertisers have similar tales?
A literary challenge
Unexpected blessings
Surprising enquiries
a moviNG rEPorT recently reached Eye from Helen Porter, of montgomery meeting. she writes: ‘Just reading owen Hardwicke’s In Pursuit of Alternatives to War, which is a chronicle of all the peace activities in the Wrexham area in the eighties, and there is a lovely bit about the power of silence by Janet Tyrrell. she was one of the original Greenham marchers and this is from her report about a vigil outside the gates of Greenham on Hiroshima Day 1984:
From 11:30 to midnight we all stood silently facing the gate holding candles. Silence is stronger than almost anything else I know. One lone RAF guard stood facing us, and after a time he wrote something on his notepad and stuck it in the gate. It read ‘God bless you all. May you get through God what you want.’FriENDs arE To BE FoUND
throughout the olympic Games. in the opening ceremony ruth Charles, a member of staff from Friends House, participated and anya and arjun ramamurthy and Nikita scott performed as part of the The Kaos signing Choir for Deaf and Hearing Children.
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roD HarPEr, a London Friend, offers:
right ordering: Correct delivery from Waitrose, I mean Tesco, I mean local grocer
Alternatives
‘FiErCE FEaTHErs’, an incident at saratoga (Easton), New york was mentioned here last week. The date 1775 was given in error; in fact, the incident occurred in 1777. This is recorded in the archives of New york yearly meeting and in the published journal of rufus Hall (1840). it has been written up by a modern researcher in an article ‘Feathers of Peace’ in the Us Friends’ periodical Quaker History.
Feathery correction
the Friend, 10 August 2012 17
Friends&MeetingsChanges of address
Memorial meetings
For details of placing anotice on this page, pleasesee page 19.
Deaths
Diary
Bettina HEADLEY MemorialMeeting to give thanks for Bettina’slife at 2pm Saturday 18 August,Welwyn Garden City QMH,109 Handside Lane, AL8 6SP.Refreshments afterwards.All welcome. Enquiries: [email protected] (corrected email).
Changes to meeting
QUAKER SERVICE MEMORIAL The inauguration of the Quakerservice memorial in the NationalMemorial Arboretum, scheduled for15 September, has been postponed.Our site is waterlogged and con-struction is not currently possible.Will the clerks and treasurers ofthose meetings whose donations wehave acknowledged quoting thisdate please inform their members.All donors will be circulated withthe new date, likely to be in Spring2013. Further information:[email protected] or10 Beacon Mews, Lichfield WS13 7AH
FRIENDS SOUTHERN SUMMERSCHOOL 18-25 August. Great funfor 11-14 year olds from AreaMeetings in Central and SouthernEngland and Wales. Venue: FriendsSchool, Saffron Walden. Theme:Quakers Around the World.£305 full-board. Bursaries available.Final few bookings now being taken,please contact [email protected] assoon as possible. Further detailsavailable at: www.fsse.org.uk
Births
Ben Alexander ASEERVATHAM26 June. A brother for Anna and ason for Victoria and Chris.Amended and corrected notice.
CHILTERNS QUAKER PROG-RAMME Retreat Days at Jordans‘Deepening our Spiritual Roots’ withThomas Swain. 10am-4pm, Friday17 August. All welcome. Advancebooking required. £35 (concessionsavailable). Contact: 01494 876594or [email protected]
QUAKER AFRICA INTERESTGROUP 10.30am-4.30pm, Saturday29 September at The Priory Rooms,Bull Street, Birmingham B4 6AF. Allwelcome. RSVP, book lunch (£2.25)and ask directions: Marieke [email protected] ortelephone 01865 557807.
Brian Rowntree FINCKEN 28 JulyPeacefully at home. Member ofHereford Meeting, formerly Winch-more Hill. Aged 91. Funeral Friday10 August, details: 01432 820382.No flowers please, donations MarieCurie or Macmillan Cancer Care.Corrected notice.
DOLOBRAN LATE SUMMERGATHERING Sunday 2 September.Bring picnic lunch. MfW at 2.30pmfollowed by tea provided by localFriends. Access details: John andFelicity 01938 500147 or Simon andSophie 01938 500746. All welcome.
MANCHESTER PRIDE Join Man-chester and Warrington Friends in aprogramme of Quaker events as partof Manchester Pride celebrations ofgay, lesbian and bisexual culture.Quaker events - from exuberant toreflective - celebrate our solidaritywith the gay community andcommitment to equality. Friday17 August: Ceilidh at Mount StreetFMH, 7-10pm. Saturday 18 AugustOutdoor Meeting for Worship,Sackville Gardens 12 noon. Saturday25 August Pride Parade 1pm. Allevents free, please book [email protected]
MONKSEATON LM Trial fromSunday 10 June until 2 September,children’s group will be held eachSunday 11-11.45am at MonkseatonFMH, 23 Front Street, Monkseaton,Tyne & Wear NE25 8AQ. Visitorswarmly welcomed at our coastalMfW. Enquiries 0191 289 3944.
Cherry GOULD 14 July after along illness with MS. Member ofNewbury Meeting. Aged 59.Memorial meeting 11.30amSaturday 15 September at NewburyFMH, 1 Highfield Avenue, NewburyRG14 5DS. Enquiries 01635 47550.
Kenneth McLEAN 2 August inVancouver, Canada after a shortillness. Aged 91. Enquiries to [email protected]
Ann FOX of Chorleywood Meetingis moving from St. Peters Way,Chorleywood to: 28 Peelers Court,St Andrews Road, Bridport, DorsetDT6 3HB on 17 August. New tele-phone number 01308 422805, emailunchanged: [email protected]
Diamond weddings
Ted WARWICK and Jean BLACK-SHAW were married at St. Anne’sChurch, South Tottenham on2 August 1952. Now in ChilternsArea Meeting.
Changes of clerk
BOURNEMOUTH COASTAL AMActing clerk until 31 December 2012:Anna Clements, 20 Palmerston Road,Parkstone, Poole BH14 9HH.Telephone 01202 733158,Email [email protected]
STREATHAM LQM has changed itsname to Streatham & Brixton LQM.Meeting for Worship and Children’sMeeting Sundays 10.30am atFriends Meeting House, RedlandsWay, Roupell Park Estate, LondonSW2 3LU. Enquiries 020 8674 9144.
Ad pages 10 August 7/8/12 10:51 Page 3
Classified advertisements
the Friend, 10 August 201218
where to stayCOTTAGES & SELF-CATERING
for sale & to let
jobs Classified ads Standard linage 53p a word, semi-display 81p a word. Rates incl. vatat 20%. Min. 12 words. Series dis-counts: 5% on 5 insertions, 10%on 10 or more. Cheques payableThe Friend.Ad Dept, 54a Main StreetCononley, Keighley BD20 8LLTel: 01535 630230Email: [email protected]
54a Main St, Cononley Keighley BD20 8LL. T&F: 01535 630230. E: [email protected]
OVERSEAS HOLIDAYS
NORTH WALSHAM SUMMER VACANCIES.Static caravan, quiet site, 3 miles beach,sleeps four. Mod cons. Details: 07866241460 or [email protected]
RESIDENT WARDEN WANTEDBradford on Avon (Wiltshire) Quaker
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with accommodation off-setexpenses & Council tax paid
With upstairs one-bedroom flat andpleasant courtyard garden.
Are you in accord with Quaker values?Are you outgoing, self-reliant,
efficient and fit?Would you like to help our Meeting flourish?
For application forms contactAngela Le Grice: 01225 834028 [email protected]
Application deadline 31 August 2012.Interviews in September.
CROYDONTwo bedroom house to let.New bathroom and kitchen.
Unfurnished, own garden frontand rear, £950 per month.
Contact:[email protected]
RESIDENT ASSISTANT MANAGERSought for d Central
Quaker Meeting House.The premises, in addition to their primaryfunction, are used as for meetings, trainingpurposes, conferences and classes and as
Venue 40 during the festival fringe.Responsibilites include maintenance tasks,
administrative and financial duties anddeputising for the Meeting House Managers
in their absence. Knowledge of Friendsbeliefs and good personal skills essential.27 hour week (variable) spread over 3 or
4 days. Salary £13,280 pro rata from1 October 2012 plus free accommodation.Application forms and further information:
e-mail [email protected] phone 0131 225 4825.
HOLLOWAY/ISLINGTON, NORTH LONDONRoom to let in large, quiet shared house.Good facilities; large garden. Close toNorthern and Piccadilly tubes. Rentc.£320pcm inclusive. Tel: 07891 982626or 07986 174443.
CLAVERHAM, NORTH SOMERSETCottage adjoining historic Meeting housein rural area. Ideal for short breaks orfamily holidays. Sleeps six in cottage.Web-site: www.claverhamtrust.org.ukEnquiries: Tom Leimdorfer, telephone01934 834663. [email protected]
FAUGÉRES, LANGUEDOC, SW FRANCE.Well equipped, unpretentious village house.Ideal for walks, wine, historic towns.€310pw, sleeps 4/6. 15 miles northBeziers. Montpellier 1 hour, sea 40 mins.Details: www.faugeres.co.uk, 0113 2576232, email: [email protected]
COTSWOLDS. Spacious barn conversionin Charlbury near Woodstock. Sleeps 2+.Wood burner. Lovely walking. 01608811558. [email protected]
EDGE OF SNOWDONIA. Tywyn, Gwynedd.Comfortable holiday flat. Sleeps 3. CH.Beautiful beaches. Mountains, TalyllynRailway. Centre for AlternativeTechnology 14 miles. Kate Barker 01654782209. Email [email protected]
GIGGLESWICK, TO LET. 3 bedroombungalow with garage. £650 pcm.Ten minute walk to Settle Meeting.Details, Helen: 01729 825417.
PERIOD THATCHED COTTAGE, villagenear Cambridge. Three bedrooms.Extensive garden. Smaller cottage andgardening work also available.01223 861507; [email protected]
VIENNA, WORLD’S BEST CITY. Culture,cafés, outdoor delights. Comfortablegarden apartment. Great location. Sleeps 4.Short breaks or longer. 01904 416840.anne.reynolds@uwclub.netwww.holidayapartmentinvienna.co.uk
the FriendsQuarterly
Issue Three 2012Out now!
Geoffrey Durham “we mustlearn to join the dots, to discoverand embrace the worshippingcommunity we are and discernthe Religious Society of Friendswe may become”
Peggy Heeks “Quakerism wasinfluenced by the Victorianevangelical fervour but wasslower to respond to new insightsand perceptions”
David Ian Hamilton “Quakersmay feel obliged to abstain fromcombat; yet they are not boundtogether in a Society of Pacifists”
Tim Howarth “we would not behuman if we did not give thoughtto what may happen after weand those we love pass on”
Dorothy Searle “the modernobsession with ‘focus’ and itscompanion ‘busyness’ areeroding our ability to live ourlives in harmony”
Plus David Boulton on entryism.
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the Friend, 10 August 2012 19
personal
accommodationWANTED
miscellaneous
CENTRAL CANTERBURY. Fellow Flat/House Sharer sought by post-grad femaleYoung Friend. If interested please [email protected] 746705.
QUALIFIED LIVE-IN CARER seeks newpost. 10 years experience. Mature femaleof Zimbabwean origin. Driving licence.Good references and current CRB. AnyUK location. Rosemary 07930 [email protected]
NORFOLK-SUFFOLK BORDER. Historic4 bedroom Quaker Cottage with small,secluded garden, next to the Meetinghouse in Beccles town centre, available forrent in the autumn. For details [email protected] or phone01508 489718.
PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY& TAXATION SERVICE
Quaker Accountant offers friendlyservice countrywide.
Self-assessment & small businesses.
Richard Platt, Grainger & PlattChartered Certified Accountants
3 Fisher Street,Carlisle CA3 8RR
Telephone 01228 [email protected]
www.grainger-platt.co.uk
SOUTHAMPTON/ROMSEY. Mike and Iare relocating from Scotland to Romseyto be near family. From September weneed a property to rent on a short termlease. Please email [email protected] or call 01875 320 232.
Quaker Housing Associationproviding low cost housing forpeople of limited means over
50 years of age.
We have 5 flats and a cottagein a historic building.
Close to centre of Kendal.
Roger Paddison01539 731642
The GrandyNook Trust
38-YEAR OLD GERMAN LADY is lookingfor a live-in job in the UK. E-mail:[email protected]
LIVE ADVENTUROUSLY IN 2012. Seekingmature Friend with activist leadings andcommunications talent (film, audio,photography or print) to partner with meon social campaign issues. Share houseand cabin retreat in northern New Mexico,USA. Email Marguerite Kearns [email protected] to explore ideas.
Quaker Councilfor EuropeanAffairs
Improving CriminalJustice acrossEuropeIssues and actionSaturday 8 September10am - 4pmSaffron Walden Meeting House
Speakers and contributorsinclude:Richard Howitt MEPLiz Scurfield, QCEA Rep.Tim Newell, former prisongovernor and SwarthmoreLecturer
What do we dream possibleto help the victims andoffenders of crime?
To register please send nameand contact details (includingemail address) with confer-ence fee of £10 payable toQCEA British Committee to:
Simon Bond, 1 Lynton GreenMaidenhead SL6 6AN
Further information [email protected] 01628 631216.
Organised by Quaker Councilfor European Affairs (QCEA)British CommitteeRegistered Charity 293776.
Notices on page. 17Friends & Meetings notices shouldpreferably be prepaid. Personal entries(births, marriages, deaths, anniver-saries, changes of address, etc.): £18incl. vat. Meeting and charity notices(changes of clerk, new wardens, alter-ations to meeting, diary, etc.) £15 zerorated for vat. Max.35 words. 3 Diaryor Meeting up entries £40 (£33.33zero rated); 6 entries £69 (£57.50).Cheques payable to ‘The Friend’.Entries are accepted at the editor’sdiscretion in a standard house style.Deadline usually Monday.T. 01535 630230 E. [email protected]
HOUSESITTER SOUGHT rural SW France10-12 days starting late September. EmailElizabeth: [email protected]
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EDITORIAL173 Euston RoadLondon NW1 2BJT 020 7663 1010F 020 7663 11-82E [email protected]
Vol 1
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ADVERTISEMENT DEPT54a Main Street
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T & F 01535 630230E [email protected] the Friend
Glenthorne Quaker Centre and Guest HousePlease support our New Space, New Light building project appeal to create:
• Two new guest bedrooms designed for disabled access, including wheelchair use• A new purpose built Meeting Room, with improved facilities for day use
• New, improved guest reception area and staff office space.Please use the form below or give online via www.glenthorne.org Enquiries tel. 015394 35389.
I wish to donate £..…… to the New Space, New Light appeal. Cheque/CAF enclosed payable to Glenthorne Quaker Centre.
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Alex WildwoodCOMING HOME
A spiritual basis tosustainable living
• How do we developcompassion?
• How do we deepen oursense of connection tothe rest of life?
• How do we transformconcern for the world intocreative engagement?
7th–9th September
Claridge HouseLingfield, Surrey
01342 832150See all our courses at
claridgehousequaker.org.uk
Notice is hereby given that theAnnual General Meeting of the
Chaigeley Educational Foundationwill be held on
Tuesday 11 September 2012 at4pm in the School.
Enquiries to Ann Dunn, SecretaryChaigeley Educational Foundation
Lymm Road, Thelwall,Warrington WA4 2TD
Telephone: 01925 756786Registered Charity No. 1060403.
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
A QUAKER BASE INCENTRAL LONDON
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Discount for Sufferings andClub members.
21 Bedford PlaceLondon WC1B 5JJTel. 020 7636 4718
Ad pages 10 August 7/8/12 10:51 Page 6
