Religious Society of Friends (Belgium and Luxemburg) Religieus Genootschap der Vrienden (België en Luxemburg) Société Religieuse des Amis (Belgique et Luxembourg) Religiöse Gesellschaft der Freunde (Belgien und Luxemburg)
______Quakers BELGIUM and LUXEMBURG YEARLY MEETING BLYM Newsletter July - August 2019 Our diversity invites us, both to speak what we know to be true in our lives and to learn from others. Introduction to Advices & Queries 1.01, Britain Yearly Meeting Quaker Faith & Practice Dear friends, lieve vrienden, chers amis, liebe Freunde, queridos amigos, cari amici, greetings. Listen When I ask you to listen to me and you start giving advice, you have not done what I asked. When I ask you to listen to me and you begin to tell me why I shouldn’t feel that way, you are trampling on my feelings. When I ask you to listen to me and you feel that you have to do something to solve my problem, you have failed me, strange as that may seem. Listen ! All I asked was that you listen. Not to talk or do – just hear me. Author unknown. Appeared in the 2010 Newsletter of the Quaker Tapestry and subsequently published in Stepping into the Light, Irish Quakers, 2011 and 2013.
BLYM Residential Meeting 2019 15 – 17 November at Drongen Abbey near Ghent in Flanders. Trusting the Light in your daily Life 1 Faire confiance à la Lumière dans mon quotidien Vertrouwen op het Licht in ons dagelijks leven The programme includes related themes around “Discernment in Daily Life.” But we certainly will not spend all of the time looking inwards. To spice up our lives and the programme, we are taking inspiration from the last French yearly Meeting and plan to include quite a few Quaker SPICEs, maybe even all of them! We’re looking for opportunities for some singing as well, and we hope that the Friends who have practiced at the sessions before Meeting for Worship will be able to support this.
The words of our invited speaker speak for themselves. He wrote: “I’m Paul Parker, the Recording Clerk of Quakers in Britain. That means I am the head of the paid staff at Friends House, the secretary to Yearly Meeting, Meeting for Sufferings and Britain Yearly Meeting Trustees – responsible for delivering on what those bodies have discerned that they want done on their behalf. I see it very much as a service role – I am the servant of the Yearly Meeting. Inspired to offer service by the sense that Quaker in Britain in the 21st century are ready to go whoosh! We are becoming more confident again about who we are and what we have to say to the world.” We are very pleased to welcome Paul especially because he is “grateful for the opportunity to speak about strengthening Meetings, which is something which has been concerning me for some time” he wrote. His speeches have inspired many, and we look forward to having him with us for the weekend. The costs per person will be in line with the previous years, and this is in part thanks to the generosity of Friends at British Yearly Meeting, and a small pot of funds left over after last years Residential. We look forward to welcoming several Friends from Meetings outside Belgium, as we have enjoyed their contributions and experiences in the past. We close this by including a piece of writing that we used for inspiration while preparing our residential Yearly Meeting.
Paul Parker blogpost “2019 challenges” Let's face it, 2019 is probably going to be a challenging year. Continued political uncertainty, the relentless advance of climate change and rising inequality are just a few of the external factors we'll be wrestling with. Within our Quaker community we'll need to support small and often struggling meetings, examine our diversityand privilege, welcome newcomers, reconcile differences over gender issues, manage our 345 meeting houses and find willing Friends to populate our sometimes over- complex governance structures. And each of us will face personal challenges too – not just whatever life throws at us in all its joys and sorrows, but the constant challenge of