Imperishable Peace

I went to Ludlow today. The last memorable time I visited Ludlow was nearly a year ago with my brother, Mark. We had a great time.

I travelled to Ludlow today for a job interview.
It went well, I think ... fingers crossed.

Afterwards I looked around the town, and then walked to St. Laurence's Church. I paused by the grave of the poet A. E. Housman, whose stone plaque is laid into an outside wall of the Church. I then went inside for some quiet time.

A. E. Housman's plaque includes the inscription:

Goodnight Ensured Release
Imperishable Peace
Have These For Yours

A Pencil Poised Over A Blank Sheet Of Paper

I recently wrote a rather spontaneous and terse blog post, and later regretted it in case I gave the wrong impression that I was being dismissive. But behind it I was trying to articulate a very personal and important issue. I know this is just a blog, and I can write whatever I want to, but I have found it increasingly difficult to share my thoughts and feelings about Quakerism. I have countless pages of notes and unfinished blog posts, but I haven’t been able to find the confidence to share them. I have left many things unsaid, that are now unsayable. I realise I need to try to work through my spiritual struggles, try find the inner strength to expose my vulnerability, and begin to quietly speak out of this deafening silence. This is because after over two and a half years of attending Meeting my honeymoon period with Quakerism is well and truly over. I feel I have come to a number of stumbling blocks that I need to work through if I am able to feel at ease with Quakerism, and continue on my journey to convincement. I realise that I have quite a skewed perspective on the Religious Society of Friends, and I have many assumptions and presumptions that I need to challenge and reassess. I hope to share these clumsy thoughts and feelings here, on ‘under the green hill’. I would truly welcome any thoughts, help, advice or counsel anyone might have. Thank you.

Peace and Light,

Si

Akany Avoko

Akany Avoko, a centre for destitute young women and children in Madagascar, was adopted as the 2005/ 2006 appeal for Young Friends General Meeting, and the appeal will be laid down at the end of February 2007. The centre started as a remand home over 40 years ago when 2 Swiss missionaries discovered that girls as young as 8 were being sent to adult prisons. It now houses over 160 children, from newborn babies to women of 21. Some of the young women are on remand but others have been abandoned, have been living on the streets, were orphaned, are victims of abuse and/ or were suffering from destitute poverty. The centre no longer receives any state funding and so relies on the generosity of others. The young women receive education and life skills, and the centre provides them with a safe, secure and stable environment in which to learn, play and grow.


Currently, over £15,000 has been raised by YFGM, including the selling of gifts made by the young women from the Akany Avoko Centre, and the selling of Akany Avoko tea towels and a folk CD recorded by Young Friend, Majk Stokes. Another Young Friend, Maud Grainger, who has spent alot of time assisting in the centre in Madagascar, and went out there this Christmas, said: "The centre is full of laughter, dance lessons and lots of music and sport." Telford Preparative Meeting are donating their special collection for December/ January to Akany Avoko.



For more information check out the following links:

Akany Avoko Website

Money for Madagascar

Online Faith & Practices

I've just found this great site which is making available online various Faith & Practices from different Yearly Meetings from across the world.

Check it out here: Online Faith & Practice

Complementing the wonderful potential for learning about the various expressions of Quakerism through the Quaker blogosphere, this is such an accessible way to explore the sources of inspiration that nourish the worldwide Quaker tradition. It is so much in the spirit of Britain Yearly Meeting's Advices & Queries 16, which I am trying to seriously engage with:

"Do you welcome the diversity of culture, language and expression of faith in our yearly meeting and in the world community of Friends? Seek to increase your understanding and to gain from this rich heritage and wide range of spiritual insights. Uphold your own and other yearly meetings in your prayers."

And not forgetting, the Online Meeting for Worship is a great way for Friends to come together for worship across time and space:

A Quaker Rose

It was great to read in a December issue of The Friend that a special Quaker Rose was planted recently in the garden and courtyard of Friends House to acknowledge role played by the Friends House Library and the Quaker Historical Society in fostering Quaker research. It is called the 'Abraham Darby' rose – after the well-known Quaker dynasty of Coalbrookdale, in Shropshire. Telford Quakers worship in Dale House, which was built by Abraham Darby I, on the last Sunday of the month from Easter - October.

The Abraham Darby Rose

It's important to name things

This post is titled ... 'Biding for Spring', or 'Passing Afternoon', or 'Bougainvillea Blooms', or 'Our Endless Numbered Days' ... take your pick ...

I have noticed how colour has emptied itself out of everything. In this period of biding for spring, even the dotted stars of winter jasmine and the purity of the first snowdrops appear to be pale, flushed-out, lacking their sparkle, and somehow distant.

But the Bougainvillea is a flowering plant with radiantly coloured blooms. I'd never heard of them before, until they were mentioned in a song that I listened to recently. The song made me cry. It is called "Passing Afternoon" by "Iron & Wine", from the album "Our Endless Numbered Days"

"... There are times that walk from you, like some passing afternoon
Summer warmed the open window of her honeymoon
And she chose a yard to burn, but the ground remembers her
Wooden spoons, her children stir her Bougainvillea blooms

There are things that drift away, like our endless, numbered days
Autumn blew the quilt right off the perfect bed she made
And she's chosen to believe in the hymns her mother sings
Sunday pulls its children from their piles of fallen leaves

There are sailing ships that pass, all our bodies in the grass
Springtime calls her children 'til she lets them go at last
And she's chosen where to be, though she's lost her wedding ring
Somewhere near her misplaced jar of Bougainvillea seeds

There are things we can't recall, blind as night that finds us all
Winter tucks her children in, her fragile china dolls
But my hands remember hers, rolling 'round the shaded ferns
Naked arms, her secrets still like songs I'd never learned

There are names across the sea, only now I do believe
Sometimes, with the window closed, she'll sit and think of me
But she'll mend his tattered clothes, and they'll kiss as if they know
A baby sleeps in all our bones, so scared to be alone ..."

'Passing Afternoon', by 'Iron & Wine',
from 'Our Endless Numbered Days'

Donating Blood

There was a very gathered Meeting for Worship on Thursday. After lunch with Friends, I didn’t go back to work – I had made an appointment to go and donate blood. I had never given blood before, and so I was a little apprehensive. But I found it to be a very spiritual experience. Following the form filling and answering various questions, all I had to do was to lie quietly on a bed while a very attentive nurse sensitively carried out the simple procedure. The nurse told me that only 5% of the UK population donate blood, and that the level of blood stocks in the country would only last for about one week. She also said that within a couple of hours my blood could be being used in transfusions on the hospital wards. I was completely at ease, and I felt happy to be doing just this very small thing (I only donated just under a pint of blood) so that I could help someone else in need. I regretted having never donated blood before. I remember a number of years ago, as a rather self-centred student at university, being asked to donate blood, and I refused. I am very sorry I did that. I honestly believe that if it wasn’t for my time with Quakers I probably wouldn’t have donated blood last Thursday. My time with Quakers has opened my eyes and lifted my head to the gentle call to empathise with others, and to lend the helping hand of Friendship whenever possible. And I’d like to thank Friends for helping me see this and begin to put this into practice. My feelings turn to the spiritual life-blood, a well-spring that provides nourishment and refreshment whenever we need it. It is freely ministered to us all, whenever we turn inwardly to, and wait upon it. It is the free gift of Light, and by allowing the Light to guide, teach, and transform us, in Spirit, Love and Truth, we may be able to feel the gift of Peace that everyone deserves to experience. And this should be cherished and nurtured.

The National Blood Service

Iron In The Soul

... all this weight can take its toll
and leave you iron in the soul
but rise above it all
and stand where others fall ...

Animation to "Iron in the Soul" by Patrick Briscoe


try to fly