Thriving in Trying Times

At the local Quaker Meeting in Bromley, the topic of how to deal with the all the challenges we are facing in the world today, injustice, conflict, climate catastrophe, etc. had been percolating in several meetings and at some point I volunteered to facilitate a discussion group on the topic.  The session was rescheduled, and, on reflection, I recall an Egyptian saying that my father had introduced me to, “with every delay there is a blessing.” 

In this case, the delay gave me the opportunity to ask more questions about the topic at a Becoming Quaker class that I was attending in Walthamstow, where I learned about the Ocean of Darkness.  Then, at the Quaker Yearly Meeting at Friends House in Euston, during the opening All Ages Worship, we were prompted to draw something inspired by the song/hymn Building Bridges.  Later, I encountered the insights of Stuart Matthews given at his Swarthmore Lecture based on his book, Tangled Roots: Navigating the Complex Legacy of Early Quakers.  The morning of the discussion group, I was also given another blessing from the delay, dwelling on the oceans of light and darkness in the garden, I was given the poem, The Arc of the Sun.

While I cannot reproduce the dynamic discussion that emerged, nor all the insights everyone shared, I can provide the below notes covering the broad strokes that set that frame for the dialogue that emerged.  If you were there and you recall a salient point that I have not captured, please let me know and I’ll see if I can weave it in. 

Advices & Queries 5: 

“Take time to learn about other people’s experiences of the Light.  Remember the importance of the Bible, the writings of Friends and all writings which reveal the ways of God.  As you learn from others, can you in turn give freely from what you have gained?  While respecting the experiences and opinions of others, do not be afraid to say what you have found and what you value.  Appreciate that doubt and questioning can also lead to spiritual growth and to a greater awareness of the Light that is in us all.”

Oceans of Light & Darkness

Quaker Faith & Practice 19.03: Fifth edition:

  “I was under great temptations sometimes, and my inward sufferings were heavy; but I could find none to open my condition to but the Lord alone, unto whom I cried night and day. And I went back into Nottinghamshire, and there the Lord shewed me that the natures of those things which were hurtful without, were within in the hearts and minds of wicked men… And I cried to the Lord, saying, ‘Why should I be thus, seeing I was never addicted to commit those evils?’ And the Lord answered that it was needful I should have a sense of all conditions, how else should I speak to all conditions; and in this I saw the infinite love of God. I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness. And in that also I saw the infinite love of God; and I had great openings.”

Poem

The Arc of the Sun poem was recited describing the response of flowers, those in shadow had the flower petals held tight in buds, those in the arc of the sun, in full bloom, petals open, drinking in the light.

The arc of the Sun
On rising, seen,
In the wave of flowers
Opening their arms
To receive the bounty.
…others,
In shadow of the arc
Closed still.

The arc of the Sun,
On setting, dusking,
Is seen, in the wave
Of flowers, closing,
As the Sun’s arc

Settles, on the other side
The flowers,
Tucking in petals,
Settling in,
For the night.

The arc of the Sun
Is seen in the wave
Of breathing flowers
Opening and closing
As the rays trace
Their ways
Across the days.

Building Bridges

Sharing the Building Bridges sketch drawn at the Quaker Yearly Meeting – All Ages Worship – note that it moves from darkness to light and that each brick on the bridge has the letter “u” on it.  We are all building the bridge together and have a part to play to build on the work done by others in the past, and our brick, our contribution, may be setting the space for a future brick to be laid as we build the bridge together.

Tangled Roots

Swarthmore Lecture – Stuart Masters at Yearly Meeting 2026 (London Sat 2 May)

“Tangled Roots: Navigating the Complex Legacy of Early Quakers” (YouTube)

Lecture explores “creative tensions” between extremes across 4 areas aligned with chapter headings from the eponymous book:

1. Inward Experience and Received Tradition
2. Communal Order and Individual Freedom
3. Quietist and Charismatic
4. New Creation and the World

From the Introduction to the book:

“Quakers have found that the practice of stopping and paying attention to inward guidance (doing nothing) often prompts a concern or leading that motivates practical action in the world (physically active).  A potentially troublesome tension is transformed into a creative opportunity.”

With Love, not Hate

Quaker Faith & Practice 19.04: Fifth edition:

“Now the Lord God hath opened to me by his invisible power how that every man was enlightened by the divine light of Christ; and I saw it shine through all, and that they that believed in it came out of condemnation and came to the light of life and became the children of it, but they that hated it, and did not believe in it, were condemned by it, though they made a profession of Christ. This I saw in the pure openings of the Light without the help of any man, neither did I then know where to find it in the Scriptures; though afterwards, searching the Scriptures, I found it.”

Note: parallels with Pentecost, “every man enlightened..shine through all”

Advices & Queries 1

“Take heed, dear Friends, to the promptings of love and truth in your hearts.  Trust them as the leadings of God whose Light shows us our darkness and brings us to new life.”

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