10 January 2014 £1.70 the DISCOVER THE CONTEMPORARYFriend QUAKER WAY Seeds of inspiration the Friend INDEPENDENT QUAKER JOURNALISM SINCE 1843 CONTENTS VOL 172 NO 2 3 Thought for the Week: A philosopher looks at science Reg Naulty 4-5 News I ask for daily bread, but not for wealth, 6 Prayer and presence lest I forget the poor. I ask for strength, but not for power, Lesley Morris lest I despise the meek. 7 The power of Quaker values I ask for wisdom, but not for learning, Mark Frankel lest I scorn the simple. I ask for a clean name, but not for fame, 8-9 Letters lest I contemn the lowly. 10-11 Seeds of inspiration I ask for peace of mind, but not for idle hours, lest I fail to hearken to the call of duty. Tim Firth 12-13 A Quaker of the people Inazo Nitobe, 1909 Graham Taylor Quaker faith & practice 20.01 14 Quakers and healing Hugh Maw 16 q-eye: a look at the Quaker world 17 Friends & Meetings Cover image: View from the garden at Caux. Photo courtesy of Tim Firth See pages 10-11. 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Quite a bit, actually. Scientists have replaced philosophers as gatekeepers of the real and, as a result, philosophers study science and scientists with the punctilious chagrin of the unemployed Wwatching other people doing their job. Scientists, for their part, are usually unaware that philosophers exist, and when they are, they are surprised, a response which turns into fierce indignation when they discover that philosophers compete with them for research grants. Do their paths ever cross? They do, when scientists step out of their field to make a statement such as ‘only science provides reliable information about the world’, since that is a version of positivism, the ideology that grows out of science. That statement, as philosophers point out with some satisfaction, is false. No thanks to science, we know that the battle of Hastings took place in 1066, that Henry VIII died in 1547, that world war one started in 1914, that Japan formally surrendered on the 15 August 1945, and so on ad infinitum. There is an important sub-class of historical information, viz. legal precedent, which is taken very seriously indeed. It is useful to reflect on these facts. Being human means that we live in few places for a relatively short time. To find out what happened in other places at other times we have no option but to rely on the reports of witnesses. Scientists have to rely on witnesses for their data, and to ascertain whether their experiments are corroborated by other scientists. As a result, we gain skills in assessing witnesses. How credible are they? How careful are they? Do they seem duplicitous? If they pass these tests we give them more or less credibility. As it happens, some who pass these tests well report that there are experiences of a nonsensory nature which open a window onto another reality. George Fox, for example, said: ‘When I came into the jail where those prisoners were, a great power of darkness struck at me, and I sat still having my spirit gathered into the love of G o d .’ John Woolman said: ‘The true felicity of man in this life, and in that which is to come, is in being inwardly united to the fountain of universal love and bliss.’ There are plenty of witnesses who corroborate these experiences in the Orthodox tradition, the Islamic tradition and the Hindu tradition. What is more, they are well spread over time. Shouldn’t the question now become: ‘Is there something we can do to prepare ourselves for experiences such as these?’ Reg Naulty Canberra Meeting, Australia the Friend, 10 January 2014 3 News New £2 coin under fire A NEW £2 coin launched by the asking what we can learn from this Royal Mint to commemorate the futile war.’ hundredth anniversary of the start The coin, he pointed out, does of the first world war has provoked nothing to commemorate the criticism from leading peace groups millions of people who died in the and individuals. war, or the millions more who were The coin depicts Horatio wounded, traumatised, displaced, Kitchener and his slogan ‘Your impoverished, imprisoned or country needs you’. Kitchener was bereaved. He added: ‘Just over ‘In this, our centenary year, secretary of state for war in 1914 2,500 people have so far signed that need is as pressing as ever, and responsible for recruitment. the petition, including a number and we want to challenge the The Fellowship of Reconciliation of Quakers. Signatories include many world war one centenary (FoR), one of Britain’s oldest Andrew Feinstein, a former MP in commemorations which appear to peace-making groups, has called South Africa. It is available at glorify the “great war”.’ on the public to make ‘Coins bit.ly/KitchenerCoin.’ The Royal Mint said, in into Ploughshares’ by turning the Millius Palayiwa, director correspondence with the Friend, new coins into an investment in of the FoR, said: ‘We are very that it had produced coins for over a peaceful future. They suggest concerned that the launch of the 1,000 years that have recorded the donating them to one of the many new £2 coin design is in danger of passing of history, documenting organisations working to build a glorifying war and drawing public changes of monarchs, customs and just and peaceful world. attention away from the horrors national themes. A petition has also been of the trenches and the continuing It stressed that the coin is part launched urging the Royal Mint to need for peace, healing and of a five-year commemoration of withdraw the design and produce reconciliation in the world.’ ‘the emotive wartime journey from a coin that truly commemorates Richard Bickle, chair of the outbreak to armistice’. the dead. Symon Hill, who initiated FoR, added: ‘The Fellowship of There will be additional non- the petition in a personal capacity, Reconciliation began, literally, circulating coin designs ‘which explained: ‘I have nothing against on the eve of the first world war portray events and themes of the a coin to mark this important with a group of Christians from first world war.’ Every coin goes anniversary. Indeed, I think it’s across Europe meeting to explore through a ‘rigorous planning and appropriate that we mark it. Like alternatives to armed conflict, and design selection process by an many others, I will be mourning to assert their belief in Jesus’ call to independent panel known as The the millions of lives wasted and build a world order based on love. Royal Mint Advisory Committee’. Salter statues campaign THE SaltER StatUES Campaign has now broken The new statue of Ada Salter, when completed and in the £35,000 barrier in a fundraising campaign aimed at place, will make it one of only fifteen public (open-air) raising £50,000. statues of women in London (three are of monarchs). In November 2011 the bronze statue of Alfred Salter It will be the only public statue of an elected female was stolen from its location just east of Tower Bridge in politician in London and the only public statue of a London. A campaign was immediately started to raise Quaker woman. A private (indoor) statue of Margaret £50,000 to replace it. Thatcher is in the Guildhall. A new art work, created by artist Diane Gorvin, Graham Taylor, of Westminister Meeting, is involved will celebrate the enormous personal contributions in the campaign. He said: ‘We are delighted that Judi made by Alfred and Ada Salter in the early part of the Dench has donated £1,000 to the campaign. We also twentieth century to alleviate poverty and deprivation received a contribution of £500 from the Quaker in Bermondsey. The proposed artwork replaces the Socialist Society. It is great to have got to £35,000. stolen statue of Alfred Salter and adds a new statue of Quakers have contributed about £2,000 so far. Ada. It will re-install the statue of their daughter Joyce, ‘Donations can be made through the campaign who died of scarlet fever, with cat, and include security website at www.salterstatues.co.uk.’ features so that the statue is never stolen again.