Aspiring To Be Kind

At the end of Wish Rd- an unprepossessing back street where the gentry who originally inhabited Eastbourne kept their horses and servants- is a sign pointing in the general direction of the Meeting House- which says- simply- FRIENDS. Most passers-by who bother to read it are  mystified. If it said QUAKERS they might get the drift- not that most people have any idea what Quakers are beyond having something to do with oats.....

But Quakers is a nickname. One of those nicknames- like Queer- that the stigmatised picked up and wore as a badge of pride. It says nothing about us worth knowing. We don't quake- unless it's from infirmity- and our proper name- our official name- is The Society of Friends. 

And we do aspire to be friendly, kind, empathetic. Our "worship"- which mostly consists of sitting silently in a room- is about setting aside the pettiness and snippiness of everyday existence- and going deep into a shared experience of Love.  All our "testmonies"- our in-house name for commitment to simplicity, peace, integrity, community and equality- arise out of this. We go to the wellspring and bring back water to share with one another and the world. 

When you reduce Quakerism to its essentials it's simply this- a group of friends aspiring to be kind who seek the strength to be so in Silence.