When George Fox met Oliver Cromwell

Cromwell and Fox had several face-to-face meetings and overcame a deal of mutural distrust as a result.
The Commonwealth had grown suspicious of monarchist plots, and fearful that the large group travelling with George Fox aimed to overthrow the government – by this time, his meetings were regularly attracting crowds of thousands. In 1653 Fox was arrested and taken to London for a meeting with the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. After affirming that he had no intention of taking up arms, Fox was able to speak with Cromwell for some time about the differences between Friends and members of the traditional denominations, and advised him to listen to God's voice and obey it.

The following passage by Fox tells something of the understanding  between them.


"As I was turning, he caught me by the hand, and with tears in his eyes said, “Come again to my house; for if thou and I were but an hour of a day together, we should be nearer one to the other”; adding that he wished me no more ill than he did to his own soul. I told him if he did he wronged his own soul; and admonished him to hearken to God’s voice, that he might stand in his counsel, and obey it; and if he did so, that would keep him from hardness of heart; but if he did not hear God’s voice, his heart would be hardened. He said it was true."

More at   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Fox#Encounters_with_Oliver_Cromwell

Hanukkah ~ Jonathan Sacks

"Which brings me to Hanukkah, the eight day Jewish festival of lights.... It recalls the moment when, two centuries before the birth of Christianity, the Jews of Israel fought for their religious freedom. Antiochus IV, the ruler of the Seleucid branch of the Alexandrian empire, had desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem by erecting a statue of Zeus and offering pagan sacrifices on the altar. A group of Jews known as the Maccabees rebelled and won, reconquering Jerusalem, rededicating the Temple, and lighting the menorah, the candelabrum that stood near the altar. It was one of the most remarkable military victories in Jewish history. And ever since, we too light a menorah in our homes.

But there’s a beautiful law in Judaism, and it applies to a day like today, Friday. On the Friday of Hanukkah we light two kinds of lights, for the festival and for the Sabbath, both of which begin at nightfall. What if we only have one candle? What do we light it as: a Hanukkah light or a Sabbath light? It can’t be both.

The answer is: we light it as a Sabbath light, because the Sabbath light symbolizes peace in the home. And in Judaism, even the smallest fragment of peace takes precedence over even the greatest victory in war. Like Alfred Nobel, Jews preferred to be remembered for peace."

More at  http://www.chiefrabbi.org/ReadArtical1581.aspx

War is Terrorism ~ Howard Zinn

"We need to rethink our position in the world. We need to stop sending weapons to countries that oppress other people. We need to decide that we will not go to war, whatever reason is conjured up by the politicians or the media, because war in our time is always indiscriminate, a war against innocents, a war against children. War is terrorism, magnified a hundred times." 

More at   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn

Too Bright ~ Alyce Barry

"A few months ago, during silent worship, I visualized myself standing in a very bright shower of light coming down from above, from a source I couldn't see because the light was too bright. The light was moving and flowing over me, as the water in a shower does, with a very soft kind of rushing sound.
The experience was an emotional one that touched me....... The rushing shower also seemed to overcome some of my resistance to receiving the unconditional Divine love I believe it symbolized.
For that hour, I bathed in the light shower as much as I could, though my thoughts strayed from time to time."

More at   http://www.shadowwork.com/quakerthoughts.html

Love and Truth ~ Janet Scott

"Quakerism is a religion of roots and fruits.We are all familiar with the story of the enquirer attending meeting for worship for the first time, who asked a neighbour ” When does the service begin? ” and received the answer ” When meeting ends. ” This is true but only a half truth. For service is already there in the worship. The service has to be Gods service. In our worship, we place God at the centre so we that we can see people and events through Gods eyes and can act as Gods hands. Only the knowledge of God enables us to act with love and truth."

More at   http://bewdleyquakers.org.uk/blog/2010/11/24/thats-me-thoughts/

It Flows from Itself ~ Thomas Traherne

"In all love there is a love begetting, a love begotten, and a love proceeding. Which though they are one in essence, subsist nevertheless in three several manners. For love is benevolent affection to another; which is of itself and by itself relates to its object. It flows from itself and rests in its object."


Thomas Traherne 1637-1674

More at   http://thomastraherneassociation.org/default.aspx

Not on the Battlefields ~ Walt Whitman

"I was in the midst of it all - saw war where war is worst - not on the battlefields, no - in the hospitals … there I mixed with it: and now I say God damn the wars - all wars: God damn every war: God damn 'em! God damn 'em!

- Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman was born in Long Island, New York, the son of a Quaker carpenter. He was not, as an adult, a member of any Quaker meeting but, many have commented on Whitman's Quaker-gray clothing, his Quaker friends, and the Quaker values and speech patterns embodied in his poems.

Whitman denied he ever lived inside the "fence" of Quakerism, yet Quaker references are throughout his poetry and prose, and he stated "I am a good deal of a Quaker." He may have been involved with a little known Quaker group, called the "Friends of Human Progress."

More at   http://leavesofgrass.org/u1698t43/