As I talk with Friends from all over the world, I’ve asked them to reflect on how they see Quakerism advancing in the years ahead. “One thing I think we would do well to hold onto going into this century is to be a community searching together,” says Paula Christophersen, a Friend in northern Germany. “Questioning together, listening deeply to what is ours to do and what love requires of us.”
“We have to hold on to the truth, and not be afraid to do the testimony in public… to be bolder in pronouncements,” Kins Aparace, a program coordinator at Friends Peace Teams in the Philippines, says. To do so, she adds, Friends must take the time to learn what’s happening with our neighbors near and far—we cannot confront injustice if we have turned a blind eye to it.
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Transcript:
Paula:
One thing I think we would do well to hold onto going into this century is to be a community searching together, questioning together, listening deeply to what is ours to do and what love requires of us.
Kins:
At the moment. We have to hold them to the truth and not be afraid to do the testimony in public. To be bold. To be bolder in pronouncement.
Daquanna:
Our work in our communities and our meeting house, the work we are doing for justice, the work we are doing faithfully, should not be done silently. Our minutes that talk about where we stand on important social issues, important issues of justice, should be in the forefront of our websites. We need to better tell the world what we’re doing. The only way we can be the example is by showing we are an example. I hope in the future we’re able to more proudly stand in the great work that we are doing — so that people who have been harmed in other religions, people who want a place of love and care, can tell that that’s where we are and that’s who we are. And why they should be among us, why we are worthy. And so the best way to do that is to do the work and then show that you’re doing the work.
Kins:
Because of the political oppression that really happened here — not just in Asia, but in other parts of the world — so there is this fear that’s happening. Quakers must take the time to know what’s happening with their neighbors and what’s happening to friends all over the world. When privilege strikes, the connection with what is happening, with what’s going on is very lose.
Joseph:
One of the fundamental understandings or beliefs of friends is in continuing revelation, which means we have to pay attention to what’s going on in the world and how best we can respond to it in a way that’s loving and compassionate. We’ve certainly changed a lot from the old way the Quakers operated. Clothing doesn’t matter. The type of speech that we use, you know, thee and thou pronouns and so forth. We’re going to change. But I think what’s foundational is that belief that the divine dwells within each of us. Every human being. As FCNL says, “Love thy neighbor. No exceptions”. And who is my neighbor? Everyone is my neighbor — regardless of their nationality, regardless of their gender, their sexual orientation, their race. It doesn’t matter. They are an emanation of the divine presence in the universe.
Rashid:
Quakers should hold on to the silence and let go of anything else that is standing in the way of relationships with newcomers, with people of color, with women, with non-binary folks. Anything that stands in the way between the Quaker faith and marginalized communities, it can go. Because at the center of it all is not Quaker practice. It is the belief in love, most importantly. And if whatever you practice is not exemplifying the love that God has for us and the love that we should have for God, it can go. Bye.
Windy:
As Quakerism moves further into the 21st century — I am an unlikely person, probably, to ask us to remember the 17th century. I think we fetishize our history, we misunderstand our history. But there is something about our history that I’d like us to think about, and that actually comes in the form of this rock. It’s a piece of Firbank Fell, which is also called George Foxes Pulpit. It’s in northern England. It’s in the middle of a sheep field. In 1652 George Fox, who is largely credited with the formation of of Quakers, he spoke to this gathering of thousands of seekers. They weren’t there seeking George Fox or Quakers. We didn’t exist. Nobody really knew who he was. He was a guy that got beaten up a lot, but he spoke to them and they spoke to each other. From this comes us,
and from this place comes this rock. But I didn’t peel this rock away. This this rock was peeled away by erosion. Firbank fell is falling into that sheep field right now. Things fall apart. Firbank Fell is eroding — and that’s okay.
Paula:
Being radically open to the spirit leads us asks us to be constantly ready to leave behind what we thought to be true that isn’t. It’s not about letting go of any sense of certainty. I think it’s important to carry forward a willingness to think it possible that we might be mistaken and the willingness to leave behind what we find no longer to be true.
Discussion Question:
- What can you—as an individual Friend, or as part of a meeting—do to help Quaker faith and practice flourish?
- Have you already begun that work? If not, what’s a first step you can take?
The views expressed in this video are of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Friends Journal or its collaborators.
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