Crynwyr yng Nghymru CALON No. 19. May/Mai 2015 Quakers in Wales

Spring 2015

Sustainability as Testimony "How can meetings be places where individuals are both supported and challenged as they wrestle with the complex issues that face us?" (Part of the 'Questions for consideration' in preparation for Yearly Meeting 2015)

The Guardian's Saturday magazine has a regular column called What I'm really thinking. Recently it featured 'the eco-warrior's mum'. She had already come a long way from fretting about her son's safety and his future, to embracing his concerns and accepting his chosen lifestyle. But there her journey seems to have ended, at least so far. She writes:

"It's been an eye-opener being the mother of my son. I wished I shared his idealism, but at my age I'm more realistic about the hopelessness of it all. I feel angry sometimes, but mostly I feel helpless. Someone needs to do something, but could I live off-grid with no bathroom, or join a camp of squatters trying to prevent yet another development? No."

By contrast, many Quakers - not least in Wales - seem to have shaken off this kind of paralysis and be looking to plan and to work ever more

effectively, with others, to bring about a better future. We have understood that is not actually realism to let a sense of hopelessness and helplessness be our guide, no matter how intensely we may feel it. Perhaps this is because we are working on God's time and not expecting instant results. Or perhaps, as Gerald Hewitson told us last year, it is because Friends have centuries of experience of 'powerful powerlessness' - we follow a Spirit that leads us into love, compassion, caring and respect. We don't need to ask whether by doing so we will cause these values to prevail in the world - it is enough to do it, for then we make those values real. As Laurie Michaelis heard one Friend say, 'It's part of our DNA now.'* I was very disappointed not to be able to take part in the Meeting of Friends in Wales residential weekend on Sustainability - the next steps. Reading the comments, I can see that although it was at times very hard going for participants, and there were some criticisms, most came away with ideas, inspirations and specific commitments for their own next steps. I'm certain it was a significant event in the life of the community of Quakers in Wales. It truly demonstrated what one Friend described as 'the importance of shared testing within our meetings, and of meeting communities upholding Friends' actions and witness....' I well remember the first residential weekend that Meeting of Friends in Wales organised on this crucial subject; and the Meeting has steadfastly continued to engage with it ever since. Perhaps more than any other Quaker body I know, MFW repeatedly gives us the opportunity of being a community in which we uphold each other and are upheld as we seek through our various leadings to build the 'Kingdom of Heaven' on earth.

SLK *See Laurie Michaelis' review of 'A Sustainable Life' by Douglas Gwyn (The Friend, 17 April 2015)

Pictures in this edition from the Residential Weekend were taken as part of the children’s sessions.

.... yn llawn daioni!

Newsletter of Meeting of Friends in Wales Cylchlythyr Cyfarfod y Cyfeillion yng Nghymru

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Sustainability - the next steps

Hilary Beynon (Y Fenni/Abergavenny LM) was at the Machynlleth weekend: I was surprised that we were 40+ participants from all parts of Wales, even from N Ireland and England! We had been invited to bring a contribution to share before epilogue and were thus entertained with a variety of songs and poems mostly on the theme of sustainability - a fun way to get to know each other and to start the weekend.

SESSION 1: Spirituality and Sustainability - our spiritual witness to sustainability. It was put forward that evolution has not prepared us to face the threat of climate change, that our instinct is to ignore a threat that is not immediate. Working in pairs, we discussed how we might face the challenge of talking about climate change. We agreed that emphasis should be placed on the need to move forward together particularly in the light of the 2011 Canterbury Quaker Commitment *YM 2011 Minute 36+ “Action flows from our spiritual growth”. One positive step forward is the commitment to divestment from fossil fuels, a major way in which Quakers have influenced other faith groups. Then followed a short meditation on uniqueness. In pairs we held a partner’s hand and considered the uniqueness of that hand, its history and its potential. Gwen Prince continued to relate our Quaker Testimonies to sustainability, showing how it is integral to all the testimonies, not just an add on or even a new testimony. It is a moral, spiritual issue

where we are well placed among faith groups to move ahead. Helping one another up with a tender hand - supporting each other in our community approach to sustainability.

SESSION 2: What’s Wrong with our Economic System? We were asked to stand in a line positioning ourselves as to how optimistic we felt about our economic system. An interesting discussion ensued! Gill Westcott’s presentation focused on our unequal prosperity and the fact that by choosing efficiency, we have lost resilience, become unsustainable and unhappy. She spoke of our concern as Quakers about Britain’s changing economic values with the emphasis currently on wealth creation rather than on morality. Our economic system therefore conflicts with each of our testimonies. [YM 2011 - Minute 23] there is a growing need to embed our Quaker values in our economic structure and goals.

In the discussion which followed Friends spoke of the danger of the market controlling our democracy.

SESSION 3: Intro to Action and Campaigning: sharing what we are doing and what can be done. Maya Williams from Friends’ House outlined work for Sustainability currently being undertaken by QPSW. Project areas include: 1] Your Faith your Finance: a workshop on ethical investment 2] Quaker Equality Week 3] Fuel Poverty 4] Divestment from fossil fuels An animated discussion followed about potential Quaker inspired investment and action for a better society e.g. Co-housing.

After tea we divided into three workshops. I attended workshop A: A Spiritual Strand: Disarming the Inner Critic. This activity led by Lisa Mundle was an exercise in non-violent communication. We worked in pairs to analyse and resolve a situation we had encountered in real life in which we had dealt with conflict and feelings of guilt and regret.

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SESSION 4: What is our Vision? We were asked to share our fantasies of how we as Quakers could realise a vision for the future. Great concern was expressed within the group about the ethics of finance. Statements and questions were presented to the group, such as: Should Quakers use Triodus Bank, Ethex or Credit Unions to counteract the power of big banks? Should we set up a Quaker bank? [inspired by 19th century entrepreneurs] Should we be investing as individuals in hydro and wind schemes? Gill Westcott put forward the concept of prophecy not as a tool for predicting the future but rather as a way to present a positive vision of a future economy. We should be helping to quash myths such as that of the need for austerity affecting only a minority in society. [ref: Myth busters] Reform was Gill’s second stimulus to enable our discussion of the way in which Quakers can push for economic change. Friends referred to cooperation with other faith groups e.g. Cytûn where we will be working with like-minded people. Others spoke of the gift economy and time banks as different kinds of economy. All agreed that we should support a global divestment movement from fossil fuels. SUNDAY I joined Workshop B - Next Steps on Economics: How can we get there? This workshop was led by Gill Westcott. We worked with Friends from our own Area Meetings to develop what was initially a whimsical idea for change in our AM, LM or within our own lives. As the activity developed, the concepts began to appear quite real. In Abergavenny for example, the idea that we could set up an independent bakery, taking orders and delivering our own bread took on a momentum of its own. A project to promote greater participation among young voters in Abergavenny similarly caught our imagination. Before the final Meeting for Worship we were treated to a very amusing, articulate presentation

by two young Friends, aged 9 and 12. Throughout the weekend they had been photographing and recording their activities and ours. They too had clearly spent a very worthwhile few days at CAT. What I Liked! Very, very tasty vegetarian / vegan cuisine

Warm, comfortable accommodation

Conversation with new and old friends

A good mixture of workshop and presentation

with emphasis on talking to each other

The idea of looking at Quaker values inherent in

our rich heritage and applying them in some

part to the present and future economy. [eg;

The Cadbury and Gurney models which paid

fair wages and built affordable housing]

Learning about new initiatives such as time

banks and the gift economy

Thank you, Meeting of Friends in Wales, for a super weekend!

Some feedback from participants at the Next Step weekend

Will try more talking and linking with people in other groups.

Been reinforced in decision to start a veg garden and an ecumenical/Quaker Mythbusters discussion/study/action group in Harlech.

I feel more equipped to talk about the politics & economics of sustainability as the election approaches.

Think again & discuss at Hereford meeting sustainability group.

Go on learning, finding out and asking questions.

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I will make much more effort to be politically active.

Continue with what I am already doing!

Will take some inspiration from CAT for things to do at our Meeting House and much inspiration from Friends for activities in our Sustainability group.

Inspiration to help in practical Meeting projects. Distribute materials to local Friends.

Will talk more of economic sustainability to my meeting - will listen more!

It has given me more confidence in offering NVC workshops so am more likely to do so again.

Will try and be more green. Will try and take part in election.

Will consider/hope to work on climate change lobby

Will continue the struggle, reconsider what we can do next and engage with local Q Friends in my new meeting.

Individually but possibly not as a Meeting.

Will feed into study sessions and inform personal decisions and political debate.

Other comments

Children’s involvement was great.

Everyone was inclusive & kind & supportive.

In Wales the language should surely be given more prominence. English is adopted far too readily as the sole means of communication.

Gender....A male speaker?

Met some wonderful people; good, constructive conversations.

The task is only started.

It is good practice to provide support for people who may be upset following the therapy session and/or time to be allowed for that.

Good to ask if people would be willing to help plan one in the future in the feedback – I would!

Very pleased with the session on Faith → Action, just what I was hoping for and more.

Have had horizons widened. Only drawback usual one – Quakers make a lot of noise.

Don't even think about it: Why our brains are wired to ignore climate change

Gwen Prince (Llanidloes) reviews a book by George

Marshall (Bloomsbury 2014) Climate change can be a taboo subject generally, and even amongst Quakers, as I have personally experienced. George Marshall explores the reasons in a very readable book full of humorous anecdotes, personal encounters and perceptive social commentary. He seeks to understand, not condemn, even gun-toting US Tea Party climate denialists. Based in my small town in Mid Wales, George Marshall went on a journey of exploration to understand the climate denial movement: The book explores our evolutionary history and personal psychology to explain why we are so passively moving headlong towards the destruction of our own life support system. We are wired to be alert to dangers that are concrete, immediate and certain, that present an identifiable enemy with ill intent we can mobilise against. The disinvestment campaign against the fossil fuel industry is doing that with some success, and it is important and well supported by Quakers, but we must beware of projecting the enemy solely 'out there'. Climate change is not just the elephant in the room, the problem is that we are all inside the elephant. We are more concerned about terrorism than climate change, though the latter is far more likely to affect us.

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Our rational brain recognises the threat, but our emotional brain does not recognise it enough to galvanise us into action. We need to be able to talk about climate change together in a safe space: We must express our feelings of fear and anxiety, of grief, loss and ambivalence, and support each other to act. "It is a long way" says the Patriarch of Constantinople, "from the head to the heart, and an even longer way from the heart to the hands." But this is a hopeful book, and one I think Quakers should take heart from. George Marshall sees faith communities as the part of society most able to move the issue of climate change from the head to the heart and thence to inspire action - he has a chapter entitled 'What the Green Team can learn from the God Squad'! We need to change the perception of it from an environmental issue to a human rights issue, an equality issue, a peace and justice issue, above all a moral and spiritual issue which engages our sacred core values. Human beings are also wired to work together for common aims, and we have always been willing to make sacrifices if we are inspired to work with others for a great cause, as in the two world wars. Our Canterbury Commitment was a bold step. This book helps to explain why we have found it difficult to implement, but it also helps us to celebrate how far we have come and to appreciate the resources we can draw on to make a real difference in the world. I recommend it as a lively read, and as a help in moving forward. The book was published by Bloomsbury in America, and they seem reluctant to reprint it. Do order it from your local bookshop to encourage them do so, as I feel the book deserves the widest possible readership.

from R M Rilke's The Book of Hours

Part of an extract which was read at the Machynlleth weekend:

A pauper's house is like a child's hand: It does not choose the things that grown-ups like; only some beetle with elaborate pincers, a round pebble that was rolling in the stream, sand that trickled, mussel-shells that clattered. It is like a suspended pair of scales: it responds to even the lightest weight with its pans trembling gradually to a standstill. A pauper's house is like a child's hand. And the house of a pauper is like the earth - that splinter from a crystal yet to be, now light, now dark, in the flutter of its falling; poor as the warm poverty of a cowshed - and yet there are evenings when it is the universe and all the stars rise up out of it. But the cities want only their own good and drag everything with them headlong in their rush. They smash the animals to bits like hollow wood and use up many nations in their feverishness.... It's as if they were fooled every day by the same delusion; they no longer know how to be themselves; the money grows and swallows all their energies and is as huge as the east wind, while they are small and hollowed out, and wait for wine and every poison squeezed from beast or human to stimulate them to some brief activity....

Translation by Stevie Krayer (Salzburg University, 1995)

"Sustainability is not just one concern

among many, but the framework in which

Friends today must contemplate, even

rethink, every aspect of our Quaker faith and

practice."

~ A Sustainable Life by Douglas Gwyn

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Open for transformation The residential weekend was not the only meeting we've had since the last number of Calon! Rhian Parry (Bala/Pwllheli) reports on the Meeting of Friends in Wales held on 21 February.

52 Friends from distant parts of Wales met at Brithdir, near Dolgellau with Ros Morley and Christine Trevette as our co- clerks. Our speaker was Ben Pink Dandelion, the Swarthmore lecturer in 2014.

I heard Ben’s lecture at the Yearly Meeting Gathering and have subsequently read the extended, printed version, Open for Transformation:Being Quaker. It reaffirms for me why I am a Quaker.

His reflections on the Swarthmore lecture, his book and the unexpected reactions of some, were, for me, a means for moving forward on my spiritual journey. Some had found his use of the words ‘secular’ and ‘God language’ unsettling. Since I share his views, I got a strong and loud message that it’s ok to say God and a later remark from Bryn, that in Welsh we frequently refer to ‘Y Bod Mawr’ (‘The Great Being’), reminded me that having more than one name for God has its advantages. Perhaps this is the reason why we don’t have such a problem about language and definitions. For me, it confirmed that while we all have different words to describe our understanding of the divine, it is the divine which is core to our Quaker lives, not the definitions. For those who find difficulties with the language used by Ben, how about substituting Y Bod Mawr for every ‘sensitive’ word and then really read his messages.

This was a thoughtful reflection, condensed and reduced in time but so full of flavours to be enjoyed and reflected upon. I mention a few. ‘Being Quaker, not Quakers, means nurturing and doing’. Ben suggested there were many obstacles which make this a possible but difficult journey. We can do things alone, but discerning together gives added strength and depth to our efforts and efficiency. He spoke about the importance of effective communication and particularly how we choose to express our beliefs. We no longer have dress or speech which distinguish us from others, ‘we have no hedge between us and the world’.

This, together with the fact that 87% of us are ‘late entries’ can lead to many optional views and beliefs within Quakers. We are a very broad church and may be in danger of becoming too accommodating. We should all use our own spiritual language, ‘love all but be clear what being Quaker means’. Ben stressed the importance of being open for transformation as a key to understanding being Quaker.

We then heard reports of progress in our work with other partners and within our own local and national meetings. Clear messages were heard of the need for Friends to build bridges for countering Islamophobia; finding ways to promote tax justice and of promoting and improving active communications to and from Local and Area meetings about on-going concerns.

Friends are encouraged to sign the petition to have a Conscientious Objectors Day for Wales; to volunteer to assist at the Royal Welsh Show at Llanelwedd and at the National Eisteddfod at Meifod.

Liz Butler brought to our attention a new online educational resource, ‘Being Friends Together’, which she encouraged Friends to use and, in due course, to consider possibilities for a Welsh dimension.

Friends of Monze Update Report by Deana Owen (Bridgend/Pen-y--Bont ar Ogwr)

Some of you may remember hearing me speak at South Wales Area Meeting December 2013 about visiting Monze in Southern Zambia. In my three-month stay I was impressed by the people's friendliness, warmth and determination to help others as well as themselves. I was also shocked and upset by their poverty. In particular I was moved seeing children, many of them AIDS

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orphans, walk many miles to their school, which was no better than a dilapidated cow-shed. The school is called “Lushomo” meaning ”Faith”.

I was asked by the people of Monze to help - how could I say no?

At a Meeting for Clearness, Friends in Bridgend agreed to make the people in Monze a Concern of the Meeting. We constituted a registered charity called Friends of Monze.

Working closely with partners in Monze, a borehole next to the school was drilled last September to enable building work to begin. We are delighted to tell you that Lushomo School is near to completion, the roof is on and the window frames are in place. The walls are being plastered and painted. This three-classroom building has been completed just in time - the original building has now fallen down, and for a while these 400 orphans and vulnerable children had lessons in a large UNICEF tent. A permaculture model garden growing indigenous vegetables and fruit is being established in the school grounds. Many local people have already been trained in the benefits of permaculture. Friends of Monze are now applying for funding for compost toilets and handwashing facilities.

Another important project we are keen to set up is a small business making sanitary protection for girls, who are currently having to miss up to 5 days a month during menstruation. Other small businesses, including the purchase of a peanut butter machine, are already in action and more are planned.

Grateful thanks all Quakers in Wales for their generosity and encouragement, and thanks to local Quakers who have help raise funds and given their time and support to make these schemes happen.

Deana is willing to give a presentation about the work to any groups.

Anyone interested in finding out more, interested in joining Deana on her next visit to Monze in June 2015, inviting Deana to give a presentation to any organisation, or helping in any way, please do contact her on 07807 660543, deana.owen@friendsofmonze.org More info available on:

www.friendsofmonze.org

'This life-destroying insanity'

Efa Wulle (Bae Colwyn Bay) makes an impassioned plea for Quakers to join the campaign against nuclear power.

11 March 2015 was the fourth anniversary of the meltdown of the nuclear power station at Fukushima, Japan. Shortly before that, in February, Japan’s Prime Minister of the time, Mr Naoto Kan, visited Wales and made an urgent appeal to members of the Welsh Assembly, and to people responsible for the development of a new, huge nuclear site at the North coast of Anglesey, Wylfa-B, not to go ahead with it, under no circumstances. He himself has gone through the hell of experiencing the catastrophic consequences of the disaster. Since 2011 the plant has been leaking daily tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean; and people who lived near the city of Fukushima are now giving up hope they will ever be able to return to their homes.

The nuclear lobby immediately countered Mr Kan’s appeal by saying that the situation in Britain is different; tsunamis would not happen and we are benefitting from the many jobs that the industry brings. But even superficial scrutiny shows that there are fault lines through Anglesey, which makes earthquakes possible, and that jobs can be created through renewable energy as well. It is now becoming apparent that not even profit is to be made by this damaging technology; still our government is pushing ahead, attracting Chinese and Japanese firms by subsidising them with tax money.

Radiation causes mutations in our DNA not only in people who are exposed to it, but in generations to come, as these are transferred to their children, who will then transfer the faulty genes to their offspring. As yet there is no hope of finding a solution to the highly radioactive waste that is produced by every nuclear power station, other than ‘recycle’ the plutonium to build destructive weapons. The ‘temporary solutions’ that are now increasingly forced through against the resistance of local people prove to be unstable, contaminating wild life and ground water. The mining of uranium is causing irreversible damage to nature and health of people in entire regions. The costs of that mining

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and of decommissioning the power stations are enormous and are not even accounted for in the ‘clean, carbon-free energy’, in which the Government is still trying to make us believe.

Since the 1940s Britain has been a ‘nuclear nation’. Power stations were initially introduced to produce the plutonium necessary for weapons such as the Trident ‘defence’, which taxpayers are now asked to replace at a cost of many billions. These weapons are abysmally immoral, killing millions if used and yet completely ineffective in combating possible attacks.

There is still a debate amongst Quakers as to whether nuclear power should be one of our concerns. Some say that climate change necessitates nuclear, not considering the carbon production of mining, transport, the huge infrastructure, concrete, waste management, etc, that far exceeds simpler, renewable energies. For me, living near Wylfa, apart from everything else, the fact that we damage the Earth for at least 150,000 years to come, along with the environmental and genetic health problems we create for our children and grandchildren, is enough to convince me to do what I can to prevent it.

The UK currently has 16 reactors with a total generating capacity of 10 Gigawatts of electricity, a further 9 are closed but still radiating, because there is no solution to the disposal of the radioactive elements. Yet new reactors are planned with an overall capacity of 16 GWs, Hinkley Point C and Wylfa B being the largest ones with 3.3 GWs each. If not even profit is the motive, what is? And certainly Quakers need to be concerned about this life-destroying insanity.

f you would like to express interest in

establishing a Conscientious Objectors’

Day in Wales please contact Jane Harris on

cymdeithasycymod@btinternet.com