York Area Quakers: www.yorkquakers.org.uk Acomb-Friargate-Harrogate-New Earswick-Thirsk Quakevine News, Views, Venues, Dates for Quakers around York Issue 125 October 2014 New ceiling for Friends House Large Meeting. Next came stripping the room back to brickwork, inserting new steel work & floor. Now all the wooden panels and seats are being restored. Contents A New Study Venture Reality of the Numinous Why do I wear a silver Q? Quaker phrases clarified by…Backbencher Quaker faith & practice: extract of the month Area Meeting Miscellany The Swap – a story Friargate miscellany Meetings for Worship in York Area Meeting Quakevine contact information October 2014 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 7 8 8 5 1 York Area Quakers: www.yorkquakers.org.uk Acomb-Friargate-Harrogate-New Earswick-Thirsk A New Study Venture from York Quaker Quest team I nstead of the usual editorial, here is an offer from all of us on the York Quaker Quest team for evening workshops in 2015. We know distance is a problem, but please tell us, Harrogate & Thirsk, if you would like to join in. Here goes: At our April Quaker Quest Day we offered three workshops on different themes. Following on from this, we should like to see what interest there is in our developing a themed programme for all in our Meetings. The idea is as follows: We want to offer six themed monthly evening workshops lasting about 2 - 2.5 hours each, beginning in the New Year, rotating between the three Meeting Houses at Friargate, Acomb and New Earswick. Themes and facilitators for particular workshops are completely open. Subjects suggested so far include: The Desert Fathers, Quaker Women, Shamanism, God and Prayer, Julian of Norwich, Taizé singing, Quaker Songbook singing, Meister Eckhart, Quakers and Slavery, Favourite Biblical Passages, Introduction to the Qu’ran, Spirituality and Creativity, Quaker Testimonies, Favourite passages from Quaker Faith and Practice. As you can see, a theme could be anything about which any of us would like to offer some teaching/discussion or of which we would like to learn more. There is a wealth of information and interest in our local meetings - we can all benefit from sharing and tapping into it. If you are interested in any of these subjects, would like to offer something on one of them or suggest topics not listed, please do get in touch with a member of the Quest team. We will then put a programme together. If successful, we could continue beyond the initial six sessions. We envisage an eclectic mix of presentational styles and an interactive approach. Do get in touch. John Batchelor, Sally Bourton, Edith Jayne, Joan Patton, Barbara Webb, Barbara Windle ‘Reality of the Numinous’ ‘Jung and the Quaker Way’ by Jack Wallis – a review Even for me, knowing little about Jung’s thought, this was an extremely helpful and clear exposition. Though not an easy read, it was well worth the effort. Jung rejected what he considered the duality of traditional Christian teaching (God/Devil: opposites/foes). Instead he taught that ‘God’ incorporates all (darkness & light), communicating with us through what Jung termed the collective unconscious and imagination. For me the truly hopeful thing to emerge from this is that we need not be afraid of our shadow side, dreams, the uncomfortable which emerges from our subconscious – in fact we need these things in order to grow, to become self-aware and empathetic towards others. Jung’s striking insight is that opposites are complementary, equally valid, and not - as we tend to view them - alternatives. True growth and harmony (not sameness) come from their creative interaction. This union leads to unconditional acceptance and makes for wholeness and a ‘reasonable faith’. (As a mother described her son to the magistrate: ‘he’s a good boy, bar what he does’!) Lest semantics hinder our search for wholeness, Jung said: ‘The living spirit grows and even outgrows its earlier forms of expression...Measured against it, the names and forms which [we] have given it mean little enough’. As the author of this powerful book concludes, whether we use phrases like ‘living spirit’ or ‘presence of God’, “none of these and similar names denies the experience of transcendence and the power of myth and symbol or the reality of the numinous and the awesome effect of its presence.” Nicky Metcalfe [Harrogate] October 2014 2 York Area Quakers: www.yorkquakers.org.uk Acomb-Friargate-Harrogate-New Earswick-Thirsk Why do I wear a silver Q? Has anyone noticed the silver Q I’ve been wearing recently, on a chain together with a (copy of) a fifth century silver Byzantine cross? When at Yearly Meeting Gathering in Bath I spotted something similar being worn and it was a good talking point; the wearer said it was an opener to many interesting conversations with Quakers and strangers alike about belief and practice. This got me thinking. Although Quakers don’t, on the whole, wear religious symbols, the recent badge, ‘I’m a Quaker – ask me why’ has been a good starting point for engagement and chat. I dug out my cross and approached the maker of the silver Q, Mary Stone, a Quaker who lives in Grange over Sands, to ask her to make me one, too. She makes various silver items, including different Q designs, which she sells at cost. Any profit goes to The Double Joy Farm, a school and orphanage in Kenya, run by a friend of hers. Mary aims to raise a regular monthly sum for this project through her silver jewellerymaking. Mary would be pleased to be approached by anyone wanting one of her designs. Her telephone number is 015395 34443 Teresa Rose Quaker phrases clarified by… The Peace testimony Backbencher One of our most widely familiar core values, our Peace Testimony is sometimes regarded as simply a refusal to bear arms in times of war. But the testimony goes far beyond that. We believe it should inform our lives and witness at all times. George Fox expressed it as an outcome of being "in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars". Each month, a small number of York Quakers faithfully bear public witness to our testimony in a silent vigil in front of St Michael le Belfrey. It's seen as a vigil for both justice and peace, which we see as inextricably linked. Historically, this duality has informed our corporate actions as a religious society, and can seem puzzling to some. It means that Quakers can be involved both in a Kindertransport in the 1930s and today endorse a boycott of goods from the occupied territories of the West Bank in support of Palestinian human rights. Both decisions are motivated by the same witness to justice and peace. Our peace testimony is an expression of that hope we share with the Old Testament prophet Amos: "let justice flow down like waters and righteousness like an everflowing stream." Quaker faith & practice: extract of the month Does punctuality matter? It is not merely a question of disturbing the peace and quiet of those already assembled... What is on my mind is more than that. If we were coming together to worship individually, each to enter into his or her own private meditation, then it wouldn’t much matter whether all arrived by the appointed time. In private meditation the worshippers could each ‘settle’ separately, training themselves not to be disturbed by latecomers. But if our goal is to achieve a group mystical experience, deepening and enriching our individual experience, then, it seems to me, we need to start the process at the same time. A ‘gathered’ Quaker meeting is something more than a number of individuals sitting down together but meditating individually. So long as each sits in meditation in the way one does when worshipping alone, the worship will seldom reach that greater depth which a Quaker meeting at its best achieves. The goal of a truly ‘gathered’ meeting is to become fused into something bigger than the sum of the parts... Thomas Bodine 1980 [Qf&p part of section 2.47] October 2014 3 York Area Quakers: www.yorkquakers.org.uk Acomb-Friargate-Harrogate-New Earswick-Thirsk Area Meeting Miscellany Quaker Quest open event for newcomers & attenders On the first day of National Quaker Week, Saturday 4th October, Quaker Quest will host a morning at Friargate entitled ‘What it means to be a Quaker today.’ It will be an interactive opportunity to learn about and to discuss Quaker testimony, worship and experience. Speakers Mary Meeks (Harrogate) and Stephen Pittam (New Earswick) will share something of their own thoughts and experience and there will be many opportunities to question them and other members of the Quaker Quest team. The event will conclude with lunch and information about how participants can follow up their interest at any of our Local Meetings. Statistics indicate that word of mouth is by far the most effective advertising tool that Quakers possess. Please tell your friends about this event and encourage them to come along. We look forward to introducing them to Quaker thinking and witness. Talking of Peace 2014 York Quaker Peace Talks are at Friargate on alternate Thursdays in October and November with an exciting programme. Please come along with a friend or two. 2/10 “Love the soldier, hate the war? Exploring the militarisation of society” David Gee of ForcesWatch & ex-Director of the Alternatives to Violence Project 16/10 “Human Rights: help or hindrance to peace and peacemaking?” Paul Gready, Prof. & founding Director, Centre of Applied Human Rights, York 30/10 “Ending the Business of War: the roles of corporations in violent conflict” Rafeef Ziadah, Campaigns Officer-War on Want; human rights activist, performance poet 13/11 “Sustaining Activism: Never Easy!” Lindis Percy, Peace Activist since 1980 & co-founder of the CAAB An Appeal from Friargate’s WW1 Exhibition Group We were very moved and impressed by Thirsk’s summer exhibition and events and have been fortunate enough to borrow some Thirsk material for this York exhibition. You will already have seen our loose-leaf insert in this Quakevine asking for your help in the occasional stewarding of the exhibition which we are preparing and which will be displayed in the Castle Museum York from November 4th to January 3rd. We [Friargate WW1 planning/ organising group] would really appreciate your support for the forthcoming venture, both emotional and practical, in the following areas stewarding; stewards will greatly enhance the value of exhibits by offering explanations and encouraging children to feel involved, or by introducing the York Friends featured in the little film being played in the room. Please fill in the loose-leaf form if you could help. Visiting the exhibition with your friends, and telling people about it. There will be a flyer, available soon at Friargate, for you to distribute, for example during Quaker Week, at the October Peace lectures and at all Local Meetings. Contributions of letters, photos and other memorabilia for a locked display case (if one is provided) or to photocopy for displays. Anna Baldwin, Ros Batchelor, Brenda Tyler, Roger Pierce October 2014 4 York Area Quakers: www.yorkquakers.org.uk The Swap Acomb-Friargate-Harrogate-New Earswick-Thirsk a story What happened that summer day at Alan Chandler’s house? And does it matter that all these years later I alternate between thinking that nothing much happened whilst also thinking that more happened than I could ever explain? I was there to swap stamps. He was living with his mother in a semi-detached council house in Pinner Hill a short distance from our house at Pinner Green. It was 1964 and we were both 14. We had been at the same primary school where I knew him as a lad who sometimes joined our gang. Despite our moving to different secondary schools, our friendship continued especially at weekends and holidays. Unlike me Alan was not very athletic. Despite being tall he was often one of the last picked for playground games. This was not a problem I had as I was nearly always doing the picking. Alan suffered bad health and seemed to have a perennially runny red nose: but he was very kindly and likeable. I felt he was spoilt by his mother, who always had tangy orange drinks and Wagon Wheels chocolate biscuits in the larder. As an only child he did not have that brother and sister rivalry over food that we had in our family. The fact that there were biscuits and orangeade galore at his house was not the primary reason I befriended him. But at my house it was impossible for us to meet. I can hear my mum saying: ‘If all you kids were to bring someone home we would not be able to move.’ So it was always his place, especially while his mother was at work. Alan had no father. This topic was never broached: not a single word was ever said about it. I remember thinking (even when I was in the dog-house at home) that I did have a dad and he was not available for swaps. So I was there that day for the purpose of ‘swapsies.’ Alan and I were both collectors: stamps, cigarette cards (and in my case) football pictures. His mum bought him loads of stuff and the Reynolds News each Sunday with its photograph and feature on a top team of the day. So it was always worth a trip to his house to barter. Summer holidays, bad weather days and days when there was no-one to play football or cricket with were great days to head to Alan’s. This particular day I took some First Day Covers. My father and mother had been in South East Asia Command and the war against the Japanese. We still had Chinese and Malay friends who sent letters and stamps and presents to us children from Singapore. So, just like all the other days, Alan and I got into preliminary pleasantries. He had his usual runny nose but, more importantly, a spare set of the Russian space stamps that he knew I wanted. I had an absolutely beautiful first day cover of the Malaysian wild orchid stamp issue that I was keen to put on the table. Despite such pressing thngs to consider Alan went upstairs for a while then came down – dressed as his mother. Nothing was said about this. He sat down and we carried on looking at stamps and First Day Covers. But my mind was racing: I was thinking: ‘Oh my god when’s his mother back?’ but was saying ‘These Yuri Gagarin stamps are out of this world.’ I was thinking: ‘What will she say?’ but was saying ‘Wow, I had no idea there had been a Russian space probe to Venus.’ I was thinking: ‘They fit him – there’s no way my mum’s would fit me!’ but was saying ‘I like the one with the rocket going around the globe.’ I was also thinking that I would never have had time or opportunity to do this sort of thing at home. Yes I admit that once I dressed as a girl for a cub gang show - I seem to remember Alan and his mum in the front row. But so were Ian and his mum and Les the Park Keeper. Did Alan think that I had some previous? A thought flashed through my mind: ‘Concentrate on the stamps: this could be a cover to flummox me and get a better deal on his part’. It all felt so, so, so…. I didn’t know what… until later my grammar school October 2014 5 York Area Quakers: www.yorkquakers.org.uk Acomb-Friargate-Harrogate-New Earswick-Thirsk teacher used the word – transgressive – to explain cross-dressing in Shakespeare. ‘It was different in Elizabethan days’ Miss Williams said, ‘Women were not permitted on the stage; transgressive revelry was a safety valve to permit criticism of the Body Politic before order inevitably returned. The audience would enjoy seeing young boys dressed up and acting the part of women’. Crikey! And I had merely thought it was because we had no girls in the Cub Scouts and my voice had not yet broken. Seeing Alan dressed like this was a bolt from the blue. I had seen nothing in his room remotely like the nonsense my sister had in hers. I could not help glancing at photos on the mantelpiece. All showed him in trousers proudly with his mum. After a neverending hour in which the ticking of the clock seemed to have the same thump thump beat as my heart, Alan went back upstairs and returned as the boy I knew. Phew! I was so relieved that his mother was not yet home. Alan said, ‘Mum’s back about four. Would you like orangeade and a chocolate biscuit before we call it a day?’ Nothing, not even Alan dressed as the Queen Mother would have prevented me from grabbing a chance to supplement the meagre rations (split six growing ways) that were served at home. So we had our snack… but the whole time I was consumed with the nagging thought that my mother could spot a single breadcrumb out of place in our house. I desperately wanted to ask if Alan had ensured all was back exactly as before and why had he switched into his mother’s clothes and where his father was. Instead we got into the cut and thrust of our own switching. He eventually agreed to exchange the stamps I wanted and to throw in a picture of Hartlepool United. Just before four, the clock still beating in unison with my heart, Mrs Chandler came up the path with her customary welcoming smile. As I looked at her, I swear that in my mind’s eye she was momentarily transformed into Alan grown-up and in a man’s suit. ‘Did you enjoy your swaps, boys?’ she asked, a lilt in her voice. Polite replies of ‘Yes, mum’ and ‘Yes, Mrs Chandler’ broke out together. Back home, mum asked me the same question. And I gave her the same short and polite answer that Alan had given to his mum. I continued to visit Alan occasionally for the remainder of that summer. But somehow my heart was no longer in stamps, cigarette cards, boy scouts or pictures of football teams. I felt drawn towards the exciting sounds of The Kinks, The Mojos and The Pretty Things, towards pop-music gigs at the Mecca rather than gang shows at the Church Hall. I even felt drawn towards my sister’s school-friends who suddenly began to look worth getting to know after all. So it was that over the years I completely lost touch with Alan and my boyhood world. Many years later I found Alan on Friends Reunited, still living near my mum, but there was no information to shed light on the whereabouts of his mum or the mystery of his absent father. I wanted to write to tell him that I still remembered every second of that extraordinary day when we swapped stamps as he sat in his mother’s clothes. I wanted to tell him that my adult-self dated that very moment as the moment that I grew away from being a child. I wanted to tell him that I had never written down that story until now. Alan, if you are reading this now, will you consider a straightforward swap of your version of what happened that day with this version? If it is not too painful, could I ask you whether your mum found out and was cross about you dressing up? You can contact me (via my elderly mum) at the same address as on the Malayan wild orchid envelope. I also wanted to let you know that in my mind our 14 year old selves are still friends (even if we are not reunited 60 year old friends on the internet). I also wanted you to know that I no longer have any collecting interests (although we do have a couple of stamp albums abandoned by the kids when they left home). And I wanted to tell you that I can still hear your front room clock ticking. Terry Kay October 2014 6 York Area Quakers: www.yorkquakers.org.uk Acomb-Friargate-Harrogate-New Earswick-Thirsk Friargate Miscellany Friargate Local Meeting for Business in October This will include news from Resources Committee about building matters and plans for 2015. We shall hear about the next Friargate Spiritual Review and introduce preliminary thinking concerning the forthcoming Framework for Action. Margaret Bryan & Elspeth Nicholson New Study Group: Finding out about Friends These open discussion sessions will take place monthly after meeting on the second Sunday of the month. They are for anyone who wants to know more about Quakerism, whether new to Meeting or very familiar with it. We shall use material in ‘Becoming Friends’ to focus our discussions. This wide ranging and very flexible way into Quakers (it is not a membership course) is welcoming to everyone. We shall finish just before 1 pm. Do let me know if you’d like more information and/or you’d like to come on October 9th for a taster. Barbara Windle 01904 481977 bwindle@waitrose.com Bring a friend to worship – 19th October While we welcome newcomers to meeting every Sunday, elders are asking everyone at Friargate to make an effort to persuade a personal friend, acquaintance or colleague to come with them to meeting on October 19 th. The ‘official’ Quaker Week takes place at the start of October, but all meetings are encouraged to choose dates that work for them. Elders felt they would prefer to choose a Sunday that did not clash with Local Meeting for Business, or with the start of the new Sunday study group. Hence our choice of the third Sunday in the month. Do try to bring someone. We all know how often people ‘find’ us and express amazement and regret that they have not done so years sooner. By a simple invitation and welcome, you could be helping someone to avoid those regrets. Experiment with Light – try it out We're offering a meeting to introduce the Experiment with Light approach to Friargate and other F/friends on Monday 6 October at 7pm in the main Meeting Room at Friargate. This is a group approach to silent reflection based on early Quaker practice and the work of Rex Ambler. Please let Alison Forrester (alison.forrester@york.nhs.uk) know if you would like to come. North Carolina YM speaks out on Simplicity The testimony of outward simplicity began as a protest against the extravagance and snobbery which marked English society in the 1600s. In whatever forms this protest is maintained today, it must still be seen as a testimony against involvement with things which tend to dilute our energies and scatter our thoughts, reducing us to lives of triviality and mediocrity. Simplicity does not mean drabness or narrowness but is essentially positive, being the capacity for selectivity in one who holds attention on the goal. Thus simplicity is an appreciation of all that is helpful towards living as children of the Living God. North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative), 1983 October 2014 7 York Area Quakers: www.yorkquakers.org.uk Acomb-Friargate-Harrogate-New Earswick-Thirsk Friargate October Diary 1 2 3 Wed Thu Fri 4 Sat 5 12 14 15 Sun Sun Tue Thu Retired Friends Coffee1st Wed of month Friargate York Quaker Peace Talks see p 4 Friargate Bishophill Group: ch. 5 ‘The Quakers’ Hartrigg Oaks (Ecumenism) Ben P Dandelion Centre Open invitation to newcomers & Friargate attenders to half day event & lunch See page 4 Local Meeting at all meetings After worship ‘Becoming Friends’ part 1 see p 7 Friargate Friargate Poetry Group: Yeats (Anna Baldwin) Knavesmire Group: Andrew Jones talks about an aspect of archaeology 13 Belle Vue Terrace (Julia & Humphrey T) 10.30 am 7.30 pm Lunch together in the Centre 9.30 hot drinks 10 am start 12 – 12.55 7.30 for 7.45 start 7.30 pm York Quaker Peace Talks see p 4 Friargate 7.30 pm Quakers in Yorkshire The Mount School 10.30 – 4 pm ‘Bring a friend to meeting’ see p 7 Friargate 10.30 worship Friargate Soup and rolls 12 noon Justice & Peace Vigil St Michael le B 11 - 12 noon Attenders Group Friargate 12 – 12.45 York Quaker Peace Talks see p 4 Friargate 7.30 pm st 10.30 Notices: LM clerks will give notices on the 1 Sunday of each month. Send items to Elspeth Nicholson 703349 nicholson_elspeth@yahoo.co.uk & Margaret Bryan 481977 mgtbryan@gmail.com 16 18 19 19 25 26 30 Thu Sat Sun Sun Sat Sun Thu Remaining Sundays: send notices to Ann Christie ann@christiepb.fsnet.co.uk 01904 422564 Breakfast Meeting Notices to: David & Margaret Laverick 01904 798 050 or hobgate39@gmail.com Collections: 5, 12 Prison Phoenix Trust: 19, 26 Quaker Voluntary Action Sunday Worship in York Area Meeting Time 10.30-11.30 9.15 - 10 10.30-11 11-11.30 10.30-11.30 8 pm Location Acomb, Friargate, Harrogate, New Earswick, Thirsk Friargate worship is preceded by breakfast at 8.30 Lamel Beeches The Oaks Knaresborough Eastern Villages: Frequency Weekly 2nd & 4th Sunday 3rd Sunday Weekly 2nd Sunday monthly 3rd Sunday Weekday Worship in York Area Meeting Tues Wed Wed Thu Thu 11.45 12 noon 1.15 9.30 11.30 Hartrigg Oaks Quiet Place, Heslington West all York Friends welcome Friargate preceded by lunch at 12.45 (bring your own) The Retreat Acomb Contact details for all Local Meetings Acomb The Green, Acomb Friargate Friargate, York Harrogate 12a Queen Parade, Harrogate New Earswick Top of Folk Hall car park Thirsk Kirkgate, Thirsk Weekly Termtime only Weekly Weekly Weekly www.yorkquakers.org.uk 01904 795595 01904 624065 01423 563391 01904 763248 01845 523491 Deadline for November’s Quakevine – Sunday 19 October Send to: Barbara Windle (bwindle@waitrose.com 01904 481977. Eagle Cottage, 13a York Street, Dunnington, York YO19 5PN October 2014 8
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