Just back yesterday evening from a very interesting and varied week based at
Stirling University for the Quaker summer gathering.
The theme, Faith into Action, was explored in a linear fashion as the week progressed, beginning with sessions on waiting and discernment, through preparation and planning to action and then nurturing and sustaining our witness.
There were gems in many of the contributions from the platform, but also in the numerous conversations and encounters with people in the course of the week.
Recordings and transcripts of the presentations are being made available on the gathering's website here.
In the middle of the week I joined two coach loads of Quakers to Faslane, where we had a Quaker Meeting for Worship, met with a group of visiting Japanese peace activists
- some being survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs – and then witnessed a tremendously moving act of nonviolent action by some of them at the gates of the nuclear weapons base.
Origami paper cranes being tied to the fence at Faslane...
... and laid in the entrance to the accompaniment of Japanese singing
Meanwhile, back in the wider world, I’ve been deeply disappointed to learn of the decision by Defence Secretary Des Browne to allow the US to use Menwith Hill for its Missile Defence system. I had understood that the government was at least intending to consult Parliament about this. Can it be a coincidence that the announcement came just as parliament went into its long summer recess (back in early October)? The earlier decision about Fylingdales came just around a Christmas recess – there seems to be a pattern emerging. There has been some rejoicing about the planned closure of DESO, the Defence Export Services Agency, though the cynic in me is inclined to think that this may be more about public relations than a real change in policy and practice. I’ve not had a chance to read much about this yet, so perhaps I will have the pleasure of being proved wrong on this one.
The NFPB display during the 'fair' at the gathering
And what about the weather…!? In Stirling, the marquee we used for our sessions kept us protected from some very heavy showers and strong wind. News from elsewhere in England was worrying, with flooding widespread. Many assume that this is a clear evidence of climate change. Whether or not that’s right, the theme of treading lightly on the world (in terms of size of ecological footprints) was woven through the gathering, as was that of community. I am reminded of the wording on some of our NFPB resources … “We must re-learn the ability to live together in harmony in this fragile and endangered world.”
In the middle of the week I joined two coach loads of Quakers to Faslane, where we had a Quaker Meeting for Worship, met with a group of visiting Japanese peace activists - some being survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs – and then witnessed a tremendously moving act of nonviolent action by some of them at the gates of the nuclear weapons base.
