‎22.13

Quaker faith & practice.

‎22.13

No doubt from the earliest days of Christianity there have been men and women for whom the sexual relationship was illumined and deepened by the Christian message of love, for whom it expressed a true equality, an equal-sided valuation and respect, for whom coitus was an expression of tenderness and unity, not merely the gratification of animal urges. But it is one of the great tragedies of history that not until recent times has this implication of Christianity found public expression...

Sexual activity is essentially neither good nor evil; it is a normal biological activity which, like most other human activities, can be indulged in destructively or creatively. Further, if we take impulses and experiences that are potentially wholesome and in a large measure unavoidable and characterise these as sinful, we create a great volume of unnecessary guilt and an explosive tension within the personality. When, as so often happens, the impulse breaks through the restriction, it does so with a ruthlessness and destructive energy that might not otherwise have been there. A distorted Christianity must bear some of the blame for the sexual disorders of society.

Towards a Quaker view of sex, 1963

Community, Environment

Community.

* Compassion
* Solidarity
* Peace
* Equality

It's about being aware. To See people, whether close to you and your home or on the other side of the world and a stranger.
It's about responsibility - for home, family and the Earth... Doing your part of making a difference. It doesn't have to be something grand! Even a small act of goodness can make a world of difference - bigger isn't better.

The opposite of Community is Indifference.

Environment.

It's where we are, where we live and breathe and bring up the Future. There are no other options but take responsibility, show consideration.

The opposite of Environment is... The End!

"We do not own the world, and its riches are not ours to dispose of at will. Show a loving consideration for all creatures, and seek to maintain the beauty and variety of the world. Work to ensure that our increasing power over nature is used responsibly, with reverence for life. Rejoice in the splendour of God's continuing creation."

(Advices&Queries no.42)

Peace

Peace.

 
* Tolerance
* Equality
* Solidarity
* Love
* Forgivness

The opposite of Peace is Hate, Darkness, Fear...

"A good end cannot sanctify evil means; nor must we ever do evil, that good may come of it... It is as great presumption to send our passions upon God's errands, as it is to palliate them with God's name... We are too ready to retaliate, rather than forgive, or gain by love and information. And yet we could hurt no man that we believe loves us. Let us then try what Love will do: for if men did once see we love them, we should soon find they would not harm us. Force may subdue, but Love gains: and he that forgives first, wins the laurel."

- William Penn, 1693 (24.03)

"...That way of peace is not to be found in any policy of 'unconditional surrender' by whomsoever demanded. It requires that men and nations should recognise their common brotherhood, using the weapons of integrity, reason, patience and love, never acquiescing in the ways of the oppressor, always ready to suffer with the oppressed. In every country there is a longing for freedom from domination and war which men are striving to express. Now is the time to issue an open invitation to co-operate in creative peacemaking, to declare our willingness to make sacrifices of national prestige, wealth and standards of living for the common good of men."

(24.09)

Equality, Honesty, Integrity

Equality.

* Inclusion rather than exclusion.
* Seeing 'that of God in everyone'.
* Solidarity

I wish I had more to say about this, but, it is such an obvious Truth to me that I'm stuggling to find the words to explain how and why I feel the way I do.

We're unique, individual, creatures with the same worth, value and rights as each other. Period.

The opposite of Equality is Discrimination.

Honesty and Integrity.

* Tell the truth.
* Be true to who you are.

The opposite of Honesty and Integrity is Deceit.

"...it has always been a simple truth that a life led honestly, without deviousness or deceit is always a life which is simpler to lead than a life in which one must keep careful track of any dishonest dealings lest one is caught out."

Simplicity

Soooo....here are my thoughts on each one the testimonies. Beginning with:

Simplicity.

* Moderation
* Finding balance, a healthy pace in life.
* Gratitude, for what you already have.
* Awareness of how my choices effect myself, other people and the Earth.

The opposite of Simplicity is Greed.

 

"Friends, whatever ye are addicted to, the tempter will come in that thing; and when he can trouble you, then he gets advantage over you, and then you are gone. Stand still in that which is pure, after ye see yourselves; and then mercy comes in. After thou seest thy thoughts, and the temptations, do not think, but submit; and then power comes. Stand still in that which shows and discovers; and then doth strength immediately come. And stand still in the Light, and submit to it, and the other will be hushed and gone; and then content comes."

-George Fox, 1652 (20.42)

Quaker Testimonies

Ah, those...! :)
...or perhaps your thinking which ones?!
'So, who are these Quakers anyway?' provide a good explaination to them here. :)

A while ago I suggested to Cora that she would post about her views on the Quaker testimonies. She and I have talked, a lot, about most things Quaker so I sorta know where she stands on things - I am (on most occasions) right there beside her. :) :) :)
But...her words are not mine and neither are her thoughts (I wish I was as that brilliant!) sooo I'm going to try (with references to the British Faith&Practice and 'So, who are these Quakers anyway?') to sort out the jumble of thoughts that are floating about in the Space that is my head. ;p

First things first, when it comes to the testimonies...at least as I have understood it - there are no set, set of testimonies! ;D They can differ some from Quaker to Quaker but also between countries and continents... In the Swedish Faith&Practice they're not at all as clearly 'stated' as they are in the British one, for instance.

I strongly believe in cause and effect - that what we say and/or do (or don't!) has a ripple effect that we can't even begin to imagine. This envelopes all things...from a 'small' thing - like smiling at a stranger to the bigger things like what kind of car we choose to (or not! ;)) to drive...

Good begets good. The not-so-good begets more not-so-good.

All things, everyone, would benefit from figuring this 'balance thing' out... and, in my opinion, the testimonies are a good Guide to getting there.

Love&Light,

Faith&Practice

This was so awesome I just had to share! :)

26.37
"Religion is living with God. There is no other kind of religion. Living with a Book, living with or by a Rule, being awfully high-principled are not in themselves religion, although many people think they are and that that is all there is to it. Religion has got a bad name through being identified with an outward orderliness. But an outward orderliness can be death, dullness and masochism. Doing your duty may be admirable stoicism; it isn't religion.

To find religion itself you must look inside people and inside yourself. And there, if you find even the tiniest grain of true love, you may be on the right scent. Millions of people have it and don't know what it is that they have. God is their guest, but they haven't the faintest idea that he is in the house. So you mustn't only look where God is confessed and acknowledged. You must look everywhere, to find the real religion. Nor must you look, in others or in yourself, for great spooky visions and revelations. Such visions and revelations come to many, a great deal oftener than we think; and to those to whom they come they are sun, moon and stars. But in most people who know God, and in all such people most of the time, living with God is not an apparition but a wordless and endless sureness. Like the silence of two friends together. Like the silence of lovers.

God is waiting to live like that in every single person in the world."
- Bernard Canter, 1962


I hope your Holy Day(s) have been filled with love, light and joy! Mine's been just that...! :) + work ;p 'cause that's just the way things are. :) Finding gifts is sooo much easier if department stores are opened! ;p

Days have also been 'spiced up' with little E and my littlest niece A getting chicken pox it just in time for Santa's visit on Saturday (yes! that's right, he comes here on xmas eve! how else would he have the time to go round the world? ;)) and hopefully we've seen the worst of it now (and it's been worse than it was for big brother) and that our 'babies' can welcome the New Year pox free! :) *fingers crossed!*

I'm starting to get a little bit nervous about going back to uni, about 2012 in general actually...! I feel miracles bubbling away over the horison...

Love&Light,

Svartbäcken, part V

Photo sharing time. These are my photos, taken by me with my crappy ol' mobile phone camera. :) If you, for any reason, would want to use my photos, feel free to do so but be kind and link back. ♥

The Meeting room, a newish add on the original buildning.

Lost of windows all around, where you can see the lake in the distance and the woods nearby.

The Meeting room and dining room + f/Friends. :) Folding doors seperate the two rooms if/when needed.

Svartbäcksgården.

Meeting room, diningroom & kitchen to the left. Sleeping quarters to the right. There's also a library/reading room at the back of the buildning.

Back yard. Window to 'my' room furthest one to the left. Doors on the right lead into the library. :)

'My' room. :) Like most (all?) rooms it contains a single bed and a bunk bed. Small wardrobe, desk and chair.

I don't have anything else to say, right now. I'm tired. I'm trying to hold on to the Peace of just last weekend...! Has it not been longer...?

Chaos is... but so it Light and Love and Kindness... ♥

Shattered-pooped,

Svartbäcken, part IV

Saturday continued:
After having our dinner, in silence, we gathered again at 7 to discuss the Quaker way of making decisions (i.e. Meeting for Business (I think!)) and the discussion was very interesting. Lots of questions answered... more questions beginning to grow forth and a huge interest in wanting to learn more...! :)

It was probably around 9ish when we wrapped things up again for the evening, but with thoughts racing in my head it took a while to settle and I guess I was asleep about 11ish.

Sunday:
Breakfast 8 - 9, in silence. :) Afterwards we had some time to get our things packed and room organised.

9.30ish we again gathered for Worship Sharing to round up our experience of the last few days.
What had we come to realise/gained from the Days for Learning?
What, if anything, would/could we leave behind?

My thoughts were (and still are) that I feel that I'm on the Right Path (for me!), whatever that Path might end up being... Quaker or not! :) And, I feel that I'm more...secure, in me, I will (hopefully) trust myself more from now on. I feel I've left (some of all my) Doubt behind and that I've gained Trust...

This is were we 'should' have finished for the weekend, well, after Meeting and lunch that is... :) but we were honoured with the visit of 3 more very experienced Friends so before Meeting we got to quiz them too with whatever questions we might still have unanswered...or...wanted yet another 3 points of view on! ;) :)

Meeting was...good. Words more abundant than perhaps 'usual' but it was still goosebump worthy ministry.

Then, lunch with lots of talking and a feeling of not wanting it all to end...! Yet, I started missing my little folk and it was Time to go, to head home. :) We, same group we were when we came, got into the car and headed south again just after 2 and I was Home at 8...! The journey home always feels longer doesn't it? It was not as chatty as on Friday, yet it was far from silent...more snoring ;) going on maybe but it was a gooood journey home. :)

My head, and yours too probably (!) *blushing*, is sort of spinning from trying to write it all down, reliving and remembering the awsomeness that this weekend was...! :D I feel like I might have missed essential stuff, I had a lovely walk with L.B. and really rewarding chat with J.R. and...probably lots more...!! :)

I'm going to let things chill a little, perhaps air some thoughts with my soul sister... and then I'll be back with some more reflections and photos of this beautiful, somewhat distant, place - now so very close to my heart.

Love&Light,

Svartbäcken, part II

Kids got picked up by my little sister on Thursday afternoon, so my 'retreat' began when I came home Thursay night. Packing, sorting, tidying. Smiling... so excited!

Friday:
Woke way too early to make sure I had packed what I needed...I'd stopped packing the previous night as I realised I might have stuff to last me at least a week! :) Cleared it down to the bare minimum (and I could have managed with even less! ;)).

In the midst of packing sorting out cats and house for me going away I decided to colour my hair?! :D :D :D Well, it needed doing but perhaps not right then and there...! :)

At 10:45 I met up with L.B, A and J (who was a surprise appearance, a happy one!) and we got ourselves and our stuff into L.B.'s car and on we went. We talked a lot on the way up, sharing, asking questions, getting new perspective on things - a good journey!

We stopped for lunch at Brahehus and then stopped at Draknyckeln in Järna for a cup of tea before the last long stretch through the horrific afternoon traffic in Stockholm. At about 6ish we finally arrived at the Swedish Quaker retreatcenter, Svartbäcken.

(image: from kvakare.se)

We were warmly greeted by J.R. and her lovely green pea soup and sandwiches. :)

Afterwards we sat in the Meeting room talking about what we wanted to learn and know more about during Saturday. We had LOTS of questions! :D I was very excited to find out we'd get to meet more Friends, some of whom I've been in touch with via e-mail. :) We wrapped things up about 9ish and I had a good talk with J.R. afterwards in the kitchen and I also got to have a nice chat with Alice (Swedens newest Friend, who arrived at Svartbäcken just before 10 and was our cook for the weekend).
Some time after 10 I went to bed with William Penn (Emilia Fogelklou's book on him). ;)

Saturday:
I had offered to help out with prepping breakfast so I was in the kitchen quite early. We'd been informed that to get a bit of a 'retreat-feeling' we'd have some meals (for example breakfast) in silence. It was... lovely to have that stillness at the beginning of the day... No chattering, just soft music in the background and peace. To have time for a beautiful and a breakfast that lacked nothing was... fantastic.

Just after 9 we gathered in the Meeting room, which is just next to the 'dinning room' (I will post pictures later) and we got right down to business! :D J.R. started with the 'easy' stuff, stuff that has an actual and one answer. For example, how the Religious Society of Friends is organised in Sweden and the world. LOTS of acronyms! :) ;) :)
FWCC: SoA, AS, AWP & EMES and QCEA.
...and lets not to forget FCNL, AFSC and QUNO...! ;)
*lol* I'm sure I've forgotten a few of the acronyms and the Committees and Executive Secretaries and General Secretaries mentioned but I feel that I got a good grasp of how the organisation works, which was one of the main things I was interested in finding out more about.

Before lunch another Friend had arrived, making the total 4 so J.R. took advantage of the situation and did a 'interview a Friend'-game. :D We were divided into pairs and we had 10 minutes/Friend to whatever question we were eager to find an (or four!) answers too and the result was cool! :) :) :) There are very few set answers in Quakerism. :)

After lunch there was more talking, learning, sharing. In the midst of all of this there was short, silent, breaks and I love the Worship Sharing we did as well as a way of letting things settle...and to hear what and how things had settled with others. :)

After our afternoon fika-break we got to experience Experiment with Light, which was...beyond words, yet, I'll try and explain my experience of it in my next post. :)

Love&Light,

Svartbäcken, part I

Home again from Days for Learning, or Meeting for Learning, as I think it is called in (Quaker) English. ;) Our little gang (4 peeps) arrived late afternoon on Friday and we headed back home again after lunch on Sunday. An amazing few days, packed with Light, Learning and Friendliness. ;) :D In (as far as what I've gathered to be...) a 'typcial' Quaker manner we were from all over, with roots reaching even futher away, of different ages and experiences... Awesome. :) We were 11 participants all in all, one was Finnish Friend. The Meetings were lead by J.R., a Friend with experience going back through the ages...! ;) :D :) We were also visited by a handful of Friends throughout the days, which was good to get different points of views on our questions. :)

I've got a lot to share and I will in the next few posts. :)

To begin with you can see our approximate travel route below. We had company who came from Gothenburg, i.e. further away than starting point, and we made a few stops along the way up to the retreat (which is slightly off the end destination on the map). :)

Stay tuned for more, photos and my experience of Experiment with Light...! :)

Love&Light,

Becoming Quaker?

Today after Meeting, at the home of two Friends, we introduced ourselves to the group and a woman who's been a Friend for a year said: ...I've been a Member for about a year but when people ask me how long I've been a Quaker I answer - All my life.

It gave me goose-bumps! :)

I couldn't just let it pass so later in the conversation turned I again to the woman and said to her how beautiful I had found her words to be... :) L.B. then said that it's not uncommon that feeling - that one doesn't become a Quaker, you are one.

More goose-bumps! :)

At this Meeting there were also two young children (not yet 2 and 3½ years old) present and it was sooo amazing to see how they too managed to be still and silent:ish ;) for the whole hour!? :) :) :) Amazing. :) Their presence added another...dimension to Meeting, to have the sound of little people there - who are truly in the Present in the Here and Now and therefore a fantastic help (at least to me) to do/be the same.

I still feel like I'm figuring out my 'way to worship', and feeling satisfied as long as I manage to turn of the every-day-life-chattering in my head. The whole 'listening within'-thing isn't really (but possibly?) happening just yet... Taking my time... :)

Other things/news Quaker...! :D I'm going to participate in Days for learning (is what I think it might be called in English) in November. Three(:ish) days of learning about Quaker faith and practice - I'm so excited! :) It's at a Quaker retreat up north, about a 6 hour drive (or for me ride!) away. We (L.B, A. and I) are heading there on Friday morning and we'll be back home again on Sunday evening... Very much looking forward to it! :)

Love&Light,

Article from The Guardian.

I just read this on The Guardian on Facebook and I thought it interesting...and share-worthy. Your thoughts?


The Quakers: a religion Richard Dawkins could sign up to
Anne Karpf · 28/09/2011 · guardian.co.uk

In party conference season, I'm too long in the tooth to expect fresh thinking from political leaders or political gurus, but maybe we're looking in the wrong place.

Newspaper ads and posters over the next 10 days will feature attractive people involved in conflict-resolution, nuclear disarmament and campaigns against the arms trade. Though they look like activists from some radical pressure group, they are actually all members of a religion – the Quakers: a religion singularly unafraid to take up radical political positions.

Indeed, Quakerism is more like a political movement or even party – a kind of wish-the-Labour-party-were-like-this party. Quakers played a prominent role in the abolition of slavery; were instrumental in setting up Amnesty, Greenpeace and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; and for the past two years have campaigned for same-sex marriage.

They train people in non-violent direct action and have been particularly active in the Middle East; earlier this year Quakers voted to boycott goods from Israeli settlements on the West Bank. They also co-ordinate in the UK the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, training volunteers to monitor checkpoints and to accompany Palestinians to school and work. At a time when most politicians and political parties seem to have one eye permanently trained on the Daily Mail, it is astounding to find such an unapologetic embrace of so many different progressive ideas in one body.

It's hard to imagine another religion having (or wanting) to promote itself through an activist advertising campaign – to run during Quaker Week, which begins on Saturday and ends on 9 October. One reason for doing so is to challenge the taint of the past that clings so tenaciously to Quakers: painting them as old-fashioned puritans wearing broad-brimmed hats who have something to do with porridge. Or – since they don't (supposedly) smoke, drink or swear – as a kind of Amish also good at selling chocolate.

While Quakerism would make for an unusual political party, it's also (pretty much for the same reasons) an odd religion – one without priests, hierarchy, creed, sacraments, catechism, scripture, liturgy or dogma. Though it's based on a personal relationship with God, many Quakers are reluctant to even utter the G-word without qualifying it. Christian by roots, nowadays they can accommodate pantheists, and even non-theists too.

Indeed a Quaker would sooner not believe in God than in pacificism. Why, this is a religion that surely even Richard Dawkins could sign up to. Especially since even "birthright" Quakers have to decide, at 16 or thereabouts, whether to become "Quakers by convincement" (Quakers are fond of their archaisms) – hence none of the indoctrination that so irks Dawkins. If Quakers had a church (they emphatically don't) then it would certainly be a broad one.

Yet probably the main reason that Quakerism, though essentially a small movement (around 23,000 members in the UK), remains such an interesting phenomenon is its holistic scope. It's rare to find a movement prepared to point out, for instance, that economic structures contribute to personal problems like self-harm and domestic abuse; or to critique consumerism without blaming the consumer; or to see ethics and economics inhabiting the same moral universe ("Quakernomics").

I'm not a Quaker, but I was taken to a Quaker meeting house by a family friend as a child, and what a religious innovation that turned out to be – especially the communal silence. In a noisy world the "gathered stillness" is powerful indeed – and is itself a form of collective worship, according to Tony Stoller, editor of The Friends Quarterly.

Today, sitting alongside cynicism about religion and politics, there is an almost palpable yearning for a space where ethics and politics, environmentalism and spirituality, come together. Quakerism, with its active social engagement, and its injunctions (or 'testimonies') to "try to live simply" and "step lightly on the earth", seems to provide one such example.

My first Meeting for Worship

Quakers aren't a very big group in Sweden, roughly a 100ish members. Getting to meetings is somewhat of a 'project' (and I still fairly close to one). The group closest to me only meet for worship once a month (not weekly, which I've gathered to be the norm), first Sunday of the month,  and they also have a break over the summer. Yesterday was the first Meeting for Worship after the summer break and I had decided that this one would be my first. Wasn't going to miss it for anything and, I didn't! :)

On Thursday I got an email from a Friend I've been in contact with where he mentioned that the meeting was up and running again and that L.B. from my town usually makes the trip to the next city for worship and that a lift could probably be organised if I got in touch with him. I did that, mostly to get some company for the journey as I was a little bit nervous and I thought a chat before the meeting would ease my nerves a bit.

L.B. picked me up and we had a good chat on our way, where we also picked up Friend E. and then helped her set the meeting up. :)

We set up chairs in a circle and prepped the little 'fika' afterwards.

The Meeting began with E. reading from the Swedish Faith & Practice:
"Och i stillheten är det som Guds ljus verkar. Då kan man rannsaka sig själv och se var man kommit till korta och vad man bör göra annorlunda. I den stunden är man kanske till en början ensam med sin Gud. Men så småningom vaknar känslan av att runt omkring sitter människor, som på samma sätt bär fram sina bördor och medvetandet om gemenskapen gör att det individuella trycket häves och hela mötet liksom axlar bördorna gemensamt. Bönens språk blir inte längre jag ut vi."
- Elin Sigmers, 1949

Rough translation to English:
"And it is in the stillness that God's light is in effect. In it is an opportunity to examine yourself and see where you might have fallen short and what you sould do differently. In that moment, you are perhaps initially alone with you God. But eventually one realises that around you are people, who carry their own burdens in a similar way, and the awareness of community means that the individual pressure is revoked and the entire meeting shoulders the burdens together. The language of prayer is no longer I, but we."
- Elin Sigmers, 1949

I was somewhat apprehensive about sitting in silence for an hour... I mean when I have one hour left at work it feels like foreeeeverrrr before that hour has come to an end, and at work I've still got stuff to keep me busy. :) Here it was just me, in silence, for an hour...! But it went surprisingly fast... Most of the gathered seems to be deep in prayer/inward conversation with their eyes closed, so I closed mine too and the slow breaths of those around me helped to settle me in the silence. It felt more meditative than prayerful but it was good.

E. ended the hour with a mention of the BBC's radio 3 program 'Quakers Don't Sing' (I heard it myself and thought it was a good program, unfortunately it is no longer available to listened to) and about the creativity that is 'hidden' in the silence (which the program also brought forth) and the importance to taking time for silence and stillness, not just at Meeting.

Then the hour ended with us all joining, and pressing our neighbours, hands in the circle.

The following fika was good to, with interesting conversations of visits to India and Hungary and there were guests present too from down south and a Nepalese girl who'd gotten a full scolarship to a 3½ year program at Copenhagen University and she had been helped by funds from 'my' group to come to Europe. :) Very nice to hear and see. :)

14 people came to worship, of which 3 were Friends (they are usually 4). 2 of the 4 Friends are elderly and there was a little talk about the 'lack' of Friends, not only in 'our' group but generally in Sweden. There are plenty friends of Friends but people seeking membership is low and even if there was an great understanding that one can't be a Friend just to keep the organisation going there was still a wish for more to take the step and join...

I will be going back for sure.

Love&Light,

Do-over time

Tomorrow's do-over-day. :)

Love&Light,

Jitterbugs

I hope I didn't totally bum you out with my last post...! Feeling lighter now. I do think a good cry is good...

Now I should be heading to bed. I've got an early:ish start tomorrow morning, even if it is a day off work. I'm going to my very first Meeting tomorrow and I'm a wee bit nervous about it, excited too..but...mostly sort of nervous...but in a good way! :)

I mean, it might all have felt right in my heart 'in theory' - so to speak, but it isn't (surely?) the same as when it is experienced in real life, with real people, in a real context...(?) :) So...I'm feeling just a tad bit jittery about tomorrow Meeting. I'm sure it will be a good experience whether theory and practice are a match, or not. :)

Now I'm off to bed! Sweet dreams.

Love&Light,

Quaker...?

I've never been a person of One Faith. I am a member of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, I'm christened, confirmed and married in the secular way most Swedes are. Because it's what you do kinda thing. I've never had any problems or issues about being a somewhat fake Christian... I don't necessarily disagree with the Christian faith, I just like too much of other faiths to feel that it's right for me to claim to be a Christian. I've never truly felt a part of any religion, because my own personal mismatch faith. I belong nowhere and everywhere...

Husband was raised with Methodist parents and he was quite involved in the churchy stuff growing up but I guess he 'grew out of it' when he had some independence after leaving his mothers home. He went down the Pagan path, where I think he still sort of is...he's just got too much other issues to deal with right now and has therefor, unfortunately in my opinion, let his spirituality 'rest'...

We did however agree when we became parents to let our children freely choose which Path to follow and we decided not to do the 'because it's what you do'-christening that is so often done. We celebrated their arrival with a party but left them free to choose when and into what, if any, faith they're to be baptized into. :)

I'm straying away from my 'post point'...! ;) Back to me and my beliefs... I've always believed in kindness/compassion (lets be friend, lets not fight, kindness begets kindness, how does 'the other' feel/perceive this situation) and equality/solidarity (people are people are people, I'm no better than anyone else and neither are they, we're the same and if we all could see that we'd all be better off.)

My 'religion' has seemed more like some kind of political statement than a faith but...to me it's been both. Because, I feel that there is something more, guiding me/us... You know that gut feeling, our conscience...(?) That feeling of right and wrong that we're all born with which certainly can be destroyed by our upbringing and/or other horrible circumstances, but even a small child knows when s/he's done 'wrong'...or is being done wrong by. We all have a bit of the Divine in us and it can't be lost...no matter how lost you feel.

Recently, thanks to Cora, and her (re)searching I was 'introduced' to the Religious Society of Friends also known as Quakers. I knew nothing about them before...I would have just put them together with 'other' Plain Faith Christians of the New World. :) ;) :) But, after just a reasonably quick research of my own, online and 'live' at the library, I was/am somewhat perplexed...these folks made sense to me. Could it be that there are others who, like me, belong nowhere and everywhere? :)

The more I've read and researched the more convinced I've become... The testimonies, the fact that they include rather than exclude, the inner Light ('my' gut feeling/conscience-thingy ;) which I too have referred to as light) as etc and so on. (yeees, I know is not as simple or clean cut as I perhaps make it sound but...!) :) Its just, almost eerily, right. They're not a big group here in lil' ol' Sweden (compared to over the pond at Cora's ;)) and I don't know whether to go or brace myself a little... I'm trying to follow my gut but it's hard when I feel excited and apprehensive at the same time. :)

In Sweden there's a 'saying' which I tend to follow, it's "Skynda långsamt" which means hurry slowly :) but the question remains... How slowly should I hurry or have I hurried slowly enough...?

Love&Light,

Book Review - Strength in Weakness

The 'blurb':

Quaker women in the eighteenth century were carrying on the faith and activity of their seventeenth-century forebears, but as a group their lives and writings have been neglected in modern times by both Quaker and other historians. Gil Skidmore brings together a rich array of letters, spiritual autobiographies, journals, and memoirs to put the lives and concerns of these women into context.

I really liked it. Despite the heavyness of the 'old' English and the 'uneducated' way of writing it was a good read. The bible references are quite frequent so one needs not to be 'disturbed' by that fact if you are to be able to enjoy the book.

I found that the parts where education and raising children were brought up to be especially 'enlightened'. I have now unfortunately forgotten which one of the women made the most poignant points about these topics (towards the end of the book) but if it had been my own book (I borrowed it from the library) I would have underlined her words for sure, those and many of the other inspirational things that were brought to light by these courageous women.

It's not in on the 'top list' of my all time favourite books perhaps but it definitely gave me food for thought. I like that in any book! :) What the Quaker women (and men!) went through back then was, is, some truly amazing stuff...

The Eve of Golden Rule Day.

"Trying to live according to the Golden Rule means trying to empathise with other people, including those who may be very different from us. Empathy is at the root of kindness, compassion, understanding and respect – qualities that we all appreciate being shown, whoever we are, whatever we think and wherever we come from. And although it isn’t possible to know what it really feels like to be a different person or live in different circumstances and have different life experiences, it isn’t difficult for most of us to imagine what would cause us suffering and to try to avoid causing suffering to others." (from thinkhumanism.com)

"..do as you would be done by. And do unto all men as you would have them do unto you..."

- The Quaker Peace Testimony

"What thou avoidest suffering thyself seek not to impose on others." 

- Epictetus

Tomorrow is Golden Rule Day. A day to be mindful of what it means to be compassionate. Perhaps the Day to begin living a more compassionate life, both towards yourself and others?

I truly believe that kindness, compassion, consideration for 'the other' and realisation that I am the other is crucial for a better tomorrow, for all of us.

Strength in Weakness

I picked up a book I'd ordered from the library today. Strength in Weakness: Writings of of Eighteenth-Century Quaker Women by Gil Skidmore.


(see Preview at Goodreads)
The library had to buy it in as it wasn't available in any library in 'all' of Sweden. :) I've only read the first few pages but I'm already deeply intrigued. Hope it'll turn out to be a good read. I'll try to remember to return with a review. :)