Wooldale Friends

World Social Forum - Cindy Sheehan "A New World in Possible"

2006-01-27T07:27:00.000Z

"We need a new world. This one is broken."

This is from an article by Cindy Sheehan on the the occasion of the World Social Forum in Caracas. It is part of a series of articles on the Forum published by the US website "Truthout". Her argument is summed up in the following words:

"A new world is necessary, and it can only be possible if we decrease our dependency on oil and use some of the money that we are pouring into the desert sands and sewers of Iraq to expand research on renewable energy sources and expound and promote the renewable sources we already have, such as bio-diesel."

I was a graduate student in California in 1972 and observed first hand the confluence of two powerful movements - resistance to the war in Vietnam and the African-American struggle for civil rights. It is interesting to observe a parallel confluence of two similar movements 30 years later. One is accelerating resistance to the war in Iraq and the other is the campaign for sustainable development.

Quakers in France

2006-01-26T14:06:00.000Z

I am and always have been a francophile. If I can ever afford to retire I should like to move to France. My favourite spot is the Languedoc and particularly the countryside around Avignon, Montpelier, Nimes and Orange.

That region has a fascinating religious history. It was the stronghold of the Albigensians in the Middle Ages who are commemorated with various signs and exhibitions on the motorway between Toulouse and the Spanish frontier. One set of popes took refuge in Avignon between 1305 and 1415. There were a lot of Hugueonots in the region and they were not completely dislodged by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

Most fascinating from our point of view is that the region gave birth to a home grown Quaker tradition in France. Les Couflaïres” or “Inspirés who lived in a village not far from Nimes called Congénies. A French history of the Congénies meeting and how they made contact with the English Friends has been on the French Quaker website for some time but now I have found an English language website on that meeting thanks to Russell Nelson who runs www.quaker.org (who has also listed us) in the historic meeting houses section of his website (see Maison quaker a Congénies).

The website depicts the village and its meeting house which went out of use for a time but has now been restored to its original function with a lot of help from Friends from around the world. It also contains a lot of interesting information about the history of Quakerism and non-conformity in France.

Salut les amis français. Tous les amis de Wooldale vous souhaitent le bonheur et attendent avec impatience l’occasion de vous accueillir à notre réunion.

Personal Statements

2006-01-25T16:54:00.000Z

As many of you know, Paul is the man who thought of this website and did all the initial work. He had many good ideas and one of his best was the publication of personal statements from Friends, attenders and others.

I am very keen to develop that idea and I suggest that we publish anything that anyone wants to contribute on this blog and link to it from the "Spiritual Resources" section of the main website.

We already have one contribution, namely Dick Stockford and Graham Bretherick's "Are you living Adventurously?" I have also seen some good stuff on the "Quaker Testimonies" page of the Colchester meeting house website. Those Friends have got one of the best meeting house websites that I have seen while I have been looking for links and resources and it gives some idea of what we could do up here.

FOR A' THAT AND A' THAT

2006-01-25T09:24:00.000Z

Today I am launching Wooldale Friends Blog for members and attenders of the Wooldale Meeting at www.wooldalefriends.org.uk.

Today happens to be Burns Night . Who better to launch our new sounding board than Robert Burns himself. I am indebted to Kathy Bell of Beeston Meeting in Nottinghamshire for suggesting the following words:

FOR A' THAT AND A' THAT

Is there, for honest Poverty
That hings his head, and a' that;
The coward-slave, we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, and a' that,
Our toils obscure, and a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The Man's the gowd for a' that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, and a' that.
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A Man's a Man for a' that.
For a' that, and a' that,
Their tinsel show, and a' that;
The honest man, though e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.

Ye see yon birkie ca'd, a lord,
Wha struts, and stares, and a' that,
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that.
For a' that, and a' that,
His ribband, star and a' that,
The man of independant mind,
He looks and laughs at a' that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a' that;
But an honest man's aboon his might,
Gude faith he mauna fa' that!
For a' that, and a' that,
Their dignities, and a' that,
The pith o' Sense, and pride o' Worth,
Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
As come it will for a' that,
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth
Shall bear the gree, and a' that.
For a' that, and a' that,
Its comin yet for a' that,
That Man to Man the warld o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.

(For A' That and A' That - January 1795)