麻豆社

Good morning.

Over the May bank holiday weekend, around 2,000 Quakers in Britain will gather for our Yearly Meeting. It鈥檚 our opportunity to spend time together as a community, in worship.

This year, we will be asking how we allow the Spirit to guide us to peaceful resolutions when conflicts arise. Hundreds of friends will sit together, in faith and courage, speaking openly about their experiences 鈥� including painful ones. This process is really important to Quakers. Our commitment to peace is active, not passive: it doesn鈥檛 mean ignoring or avoiding conflict, but acknowledging and working through it, within our communities in the first instance.

We will also bring the challenges currently facing the world into the light of discernment, considering our role as a faith community amidst national and international crises.

It鈥檚 easy to feel powerless, even hopeless 鈥� those who have the power to make decisions often seem far removed from the consequences of those decisions. What part do we play in building peace beyond our immediate circles? Duncan Wood served as a Quaker representative at the UN, working alongside people in positions of authority. He noticed that 鈥渢heir liberty of action is often circumscribed by the nature of their office: the powerful are not necessarily free鈥�. Those of us who are not in positions of power may actually be 鈥渇reer 鈥� to follow what we believe to be the will of God鈥�, and from this position to 鈥渟tand beside鈥� those with political power 鈥渁s they seek for light on the road to peace鈥�.

May I find the courage to 鈥渟tand beside鈥� those who work for peace, in my local communities and in the wider world.

Thank you, friends.