Ploughing up the Fallow Ground

 
'Bring all into the worship of God. Plough up the fallow ground. Thresh and get out the corn; that the seed, the wheat, may be gathered into the barn... None are ploughed up but he who comes to the principle of God in him, that he hath transgressed. Then he doth service to God; then is the planting, watering, and increase from God.'
(George Fox, Journal 1694)

Fallow ground is land that has been left uncultivated for a year or more. Letting land lie fallow is a traditional farming practice - allowing the soil to regain fertility between years of cropping and harvesting that would otherwise leave it depleted of nutrients. The point of Fox's metaphor, though, is that the fallow ground has been left uncultivated so long that it has become unproductive. As every gardener knows, neglected land quickly becomes colonized by weeds. 

It is my impression that Britain Yearly Meeting has been left fallow for far too long, drifting in the organizational equivalent of ecological succession, by which a vital and living movement becomes increasingly inward-looking, focussing on its own institutional structures and routines, and the needs of its own members. But it seems to me that British Quakers as a whole may be going through a process of 'ploughing up the fallow ground' right now.

Quaker Quest, Experiment with Light, The Kindlers, and the recent 'Whoosh' conference are some of the renewal initiatives that are starting to break up the settled Quaker culture of 'hidden-ness'. Friends all over the country are starting to speak openly and confidently about their faith and to seek out deeper and more disciplined expressions of spiritual practice. Participants at the 'Whoosh' conference this year called for a new emphasis on spiritual leadership, preparation for membership, and a confident teaching ministry. The Kindlers project is working with Meetings around the country 'to rekindle the power of Quaker worship by renewing and deepening our spiritual practices'.

In farming, ploughing incorporates the stored fertility in the leaves and roots of vegetation into the soil, to make it available for the following productive crops. British Quakers too have a huge amount of fertility stored up in our experiences and traditions. The quietly committed lives of Friends throughout many generations have created a rich store of wisdom, discernment and example to nourish the new growth of our movement. We now need a vigorous, nutrient-demanding crop of new Quaker prophets, teachers, accompaniers and ministers capable of drawing on this fertility before it drains away below the topsoil. If we genuinely want and intend to know the 'planting, watering, and increase from God' we need this generation of British Friends, of all ages, to put their hands to the plough.

This is an edited version of an original post on my blog, Transition Quaker.

Sustainability and Spirituality – the challenge for Sheffield Quakers

Britain Yearly Meeting in Canterbury last year was a historic event for British Quakers. At that Meeting, Friends from throughout the country made a commitment to become a 'low-carbon, sustainable community'. This was largely inspired by the vision of Pam Lunn, who delivered the annual Swarthmore Lecture to Yearly Meeting with the title 'Costing not Less than Everything - Sustainability and Spirituality in challenging times'.

Over three Thursday evenings recently, Friends from Sheffield have been watching a DVD of Pam's lecture, and discussing the themes it raises, so that we can find ways of continuing to deepen our Meeting's commitment to becoming a sustainable community.

In the lecture, and the book that expands on it, Pam Lunn explores images of the Earth as our 'one home', and of humanity and ultimately all life as 'one family'. The lecture looks at different forms of community life, and what they can teach us about building communities that are resilient in the face of hardship. Pam also asks us to consider how we can begin to prepare ourselves for a future of growing financial, energy, and resource crises, as the effects of climate change and energy shortages have an increasing impact on all of us.

In our discussions after the film screenings, there was a sense of possibility about engaging the whole Quaker Meeting and the wider community in practical ways to deepen our relationships and extend our practical skills. A further meeting is planned for Monday 19^th November, to develop some of these ideas into practical proposals for the Meeting as a whole, and all are warmly invited to take part in this discussion.

The decision of Yearly Meeting at Canterbury, which is now known in Quaker jargon as 'the Canterbury commitment' (or even more obscurely 'Minute 36') could mark a turning point for British Quakers, with a potentially far-reaching influence on our wider society. The model of a 'low-carbon community' is not something new, it is being used by many neighbourhood groups to support each other in making sustained and progressive reductions in their energy usage and carbon emissions. The idea is to work together to keep making year-on-year progress towards a level of carbon emissions that is potentially sustainable for everyone on Earth. Although many small groups have been using this approach for several years, so far as I know Britain Yearly Meeting in 2011 was the first time anywhere in the world that a whole religious society has made a collective commitment to become a national 'low-carbon community'.

That decision was based on the discernment of Friends from all over the country (every British Friend being entitled to take part) in the Quaker manner of vote-less decision-making. It is not a 'top-down' or centrally-imposed agenda, and the decision will not be translated into action without the willing, creative participation of local Meetings throughout the country. Nevertheless, many Friends (and many Meetings) have significant reservations about the idea of a collective commitment to 'sustainability', a word which is well on the way to becoming a meaningless jargon term with little spiritual or imaginative resonance.

For me, the 'Canterbury Commitment' is a challenge to Friends to move together towards living in a right relationship with the Earth our home, and the family of living beings. Perhaps this is the challenge of our times for the generation who are alive now, in an era of continuing ecological crisis.

As Friends we are proud of the collective action we have sometimes undertaken in the past, most famously our contribution to the abolition of slavery. Friends such as John Woolman laboured for decades with their fellow Quakers, many of them slave-holders, to develop a shared sense of concern for establishing a right relationship with the African Americans who had been sold or born into slavery. Once the Religious Society of Friends was finally rid of the corrupting influence of slave-holding within its own community, it was freed to become a powerful influence for the abolition of slavery throughout the world.

Yearly Meeting in 2011 challenged our generation to a similar deep examination of our relationship to the 'community of all beings', at a time of existential crisis for our industrial civilization and our own, and very many other, species. If Quakers can find ways of living together that move us away from destructive exploitation of natural systems, and towards a right relationship with the Earth our home, perhaps we will also become a 'leaven' that can eventually influence nations and governments.

If Friends at Canterbury discerned rightly, and this is genuinely a calling that is laid on us as Quakers in this generation, then we have a privileged opportunity to respond, not out of a sense of guilt or duty, but joyfully with the guidance and power of the Spirit that is leading us.

Both the book and DVD of Pam Lunn's Swarthmore Lecture are available to borrow from the Sheffield Central Meeting House Library. Pam also writes a regular blog here.

Advance notice - Sheffield Quakers will be hosting an afternoon with the work of Quaker poet UA Fanthorpe in February. This event is open to the public and we are pleased that UA Fanthorpe's partner Rosie Bailey, a Quaker who offers courses at Woodbrooke on UAF's life and work, is visiting us to talk about the poet. U A Fanthorpe's poems express the spiritual honesty, humility and humour of a Quaker outlook on life. There will soon be a copy of her Selected Poems in Central Meeting House library.

Saturday February 2nd 2013

2 - 4.30pm

‘CASUAL HOLINESS’

An afternoon with the work of Quaker poet

U A Fanthorpe

  

·       Speakers: Rosie Bailey –    biographer and partner

                           Elizabeth Sandie -author of a critical study of her poems 

·       Discussion and questions

Requested donation of £3 (coffee/tea included)

Quaker Meeting House

10 St James Street, Sheffield S1 2EW

0114 2757390

(disabled access and hearing loop available)

Bookings (advance notice of group bookings appreciated)

Pay at door, or contact: Roger Ellis roger@appleinter.net or 0114-2499378

On being a Quaker and Quakerism

'Quakerism' in the normal sense of such words ending in '-ism', is an ideology – a way of thinking about the world and ourselves in it. It is something that can be read about in books, and taught in classrooms. But how do you go about teaching silence, no creeds and no dogmas? This is maybe why liberal Quakers get stuck saying that 'Quakerism' can only be 'caught not taught'.

It seems to me that most Quakers, like most white liberal westerners, are idealists first and Quakers second. In the same way that 19th century Quakers swallowed the prevailing religious ideology of evangelicalism and began to put scriptures ahead of personal revelation, so 20th century Quakers have swallowed prevailing secular idealism and put thinking ahead of action.

This can be seen in different approaches to the peace testimony. In the mind of the idealist, the peace testimony becomes pacifism, an ideal of Quakerism, but in the hands of the practitioner, the peace testimony is about enabling positive relationships in a complex and difficult world.

Being a Quaker is actually about possessing a set of skills to enable practical action in the world, especially in working out relationships in the world. Skills, unlike ideas, cannot be taught in classrooms. Consider a practical skill such as joinery. There is no such thing as 'Joinerism' that you might be able to get an MA in. Instead you serve an apprenticeship and are recognised by your peers and master joiners as being a 'Journeyman' – able to go from place to place practising your skills and commanding a day's wages for them.

Skills though, are not 'caught' – but they are taught in different ways, as the demands of a proper apprenticeship make manifestly clear. Richard Sennett in his book 'The Craftsman' suggests ways of teaching that avoid the rigidity of fixed rules and working practices – for us creeds and dogmas. He says that instruction must be expressive – 'show, don't tell'. Possible teaching tools, he suggests, are sympathetic illustration, narrative description and use of metaphor.

All demand an active relationship over an extended period. It is not enough to hand out a pamphlet or suggest a reading list – in fact these approaches can send the newcomer down entirely the wrong path, perhaps illustrated by confusion over trying to discover what Quakers believe, when what is needed is to discover how Quakers live – by practising it.

Perhaps this distinction between ideals and skills is most starkly seen in learning how Quakers make decisions – what we call discernment.  In Leonard Joy's submission, from Pacific Yearly Meeting, to the Co-Intelligence Institute (http://www.co-intelligence.org/P-QuakerCI.html), he enumerates 19 practices essential to Quaker decision making. If we think in terms of the 'Quaker Business Method', then these 19 principles have to be learnt in the manner of a catechism, and we have become no different from other religions with their catechisms and prayer books.

Quaker discernment should be viewed as a set of skills, and Joy's 19 practices can then be seen as a 'tool-box', and we need to develop the skills to use the tools effectively. However, Richard Sennett makes the point that tools are not rigid devices only 'fit for purpose', but rather, for the craftsperson, a tool is a dynamic extension of their hands and bodies to enable effective work in varied and demanding situations.

If Quakers are to succeed in the 21st century, and not fall into another idealistic trap to follow Quietism, Evangelicalism and Liberalism, we must first realise that our way is about practice, about living and relating well in the world. Let your lives speak.

Whoosh!

I have just got back from a weekend 'threshing event' at the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, discussing the prospects for a renewal of British Quakerism for the 21st Century. Many see this process of growing our spiritual vitality and reaching out to newcomers as already underway, and perhaps signalling a 'transition moment' when the Quaker Way finds a new resonance with the needs of the wider society.

I have written a fuller discussion of the themes of the weekend on Nayler.org here (Nayler is a free online magazine for British Quakers to share their experience along the Quaker way with each other and with newcomers).

The full text of the epistle from the 'Whoosh' event is below:

To all Friends in Britain,

We are 57 Quakers who have gathered at Woodbrooke for the Quaker Life threshing event ‘Whoosh!’  – united by our determination to energise the Religious Society of Friends in Britain, and to help it build on the vitality of the past and present to create fresh fizz and purpose for the future.
We discern a growing confidence within the Religious Society of Friends that our experience-based religion is increasingly what many people are looking for.

Growing numbers of people have rejected all claims to absolute truth, but are hungry for a path of personal and social transformation. This could be a ‘transition moment’ for British Quakers, as we discover a new radicalism in response to turbulent times.

We have been reminded that at the end of the 17th Century Quakers made up 1% of the British population – the equivalent of 600,000 members today. We are convinced that the UK would be a better place with 600,000 Quakers in it.

Our Meetings are facing many challenges from a changing world and the pressure of Quaker business. We need to give ourselves permission to think positively, so that we can recognise our gifts and potential, and be open to transformation.

We have been asked to consider which parts of our lives bring us closer to God. We share a desire to build joyful communities, places that help us live faithfully, and recognise that vibrant Meetings are a channel for God’s love. Should we be more rigorous in testing what we gain from our Quaker roles, being ready to spring-clean our structures when they are not helping us?

How can we use our premises to renew our sense of purpose and reach out to the people who live and work around us?

Do we have the courage to speak with passion and conviction about our spiritual lives? Can we acquire the confidence to find our own words to express the ways in which we understand the divine? Can we encourage others as they reach for the language that is right for them?

How can we share our collective experience and wisdom with and between Meetings? How can we become learning communities, which recognise and foster each others’ gifts?
This conference has been characterised by a clear affirmation of the need for growth, vibrancy and the enrichment of faithful lives. We acknowledge our need for experimentation and openness to change.

We have been inspired by the observation that ‘Quakers are ready to take off’, and by the insight that we do not do this only in our own strength. We ask all Friends to consider how we are led to respond to this challenge to participate in realising God’s purposes for our Society in these times, when a confident Quaker voice is needed more than ever.

Signed in an on behalf of the Whoosh! conference

Paul Parker & Helen Rowlands

New Kids on the Block

My father was born the seventh of eight children. This meant that when he was eight and still a little boy, some of his elder brothers and sisters were twenty-one and more. He said he remembered believing that at that age, they knew it all, and thinking that when he got to twenty-one, he too would know it all. When he reached twenty-one, clearly he found that he didn’t know it all, not by any means. So he had to revise his thinking. His first revision was, ‘They didn’t know it all at all. I have been deceived. They pretended to know it all, and I fell for it.’ (I note that he did not make the mistake of thinking, ‘They did know it all, and the reason I don’t is because I am Inferior.’) Then he revised his thinking again. His second revision, the one that lasted, was, ‘They didn’t know it all, and they didn’t pretend to know it all. I believed they knew it all, because I was only eight. Maybe I needed to believe they knew it all.’ When you have just joined a group for the first time, when you are the new kid on the block, it is very easy to think three things: ‘They are all the same,’ ‘They all know all about it,’ and ‘I know nothing.’ As you get further into the group and get to know its members better, you start to see that they are not all the same (you start to see them as individuals) and you realise that each individual struggles in his own unique way, too. Some people can make a lot of money by persuading us that we can have it all sorted, if only we will buy their latest, improved product. ‘You will have no more bad-hair days if you use [Insert product name here]. You will have no more embarrassing moments if you use [X] deodorant, no more skin problems if you use [Y] cream. You will no longer be what you are afraid you are, a squirming, self-conscious, pathetic adolescent, if you buy our product and no other. You want it, we got it, you can get it only through us, up to and including Salvation. Roll up, roll up.’ Now, we are human beings. Humans don’t do perfect. Maybe God does perfect, but we human beings certainly don’t. We are fallible. No one has it made. No one has it all sorted. This is axiomatic. You can have all the 0 – 60 acceleration, all the RAM, all the gadgets and all the apps in the world, and still you will struggle – as indeed you must, if you take life as it actually is. There is no easy way to be a human being. We humans are not perfect and (I would say) not perfectible on this earth, no matter what the advertisers and cosmetic surgeons will tell you. On the other hand, nor are we irredeemable sinners beyond hope, as the fundamentalists will try to persuade you. The truth is, we are somewhere in the middle. Things and people can be made better, through love and diligence in proper balance. Praise be.

The Good Economy

The latest post on Transition Quaker is a reflection on the theme of 'The Good Economy', that was discussed at Britain Yearly Meeting in May.

Many Friends who ministered at the Yearly Meeting sessions on 'economic justice and sustainability' seemed to be anticipating the flourishing of a 'new economy' based on co-operation, fairness, and equality. By contrast, I think we should be preparing for a future of very long-term economic contraction with its inevitable hardships and inequalities, rather than looking to a utopian transformation of society.

Could Quaker communities play an important role in supporting each other through difficult economic times? The current discussions in Sheffield Meeting about our financial future offer an opportunity to deal practically with economic issues in ways that embody our commitments to local resilience and sustainability. I am very much looking forward to seeing what emerges from the process.