Furly's Lantern

An introduction to Quakerism for our first post! Actual content is in the replies, since there are 5 images.

Black and white photograph of people carrying a banner that says QUAKER, labeled on back “Friends with banner in gay pride parade, up 5th avenue, early 1980s”

Happy Pride Month from this random snapshot (NYC, 1980s) that just fell out of a backlog folder

I have too much respect for Jesus to call myself a Christian. I don’t mean that to offend. As a gay man I have seen first hand how much of Christianity is not of Christ. The life, example and loving message of Jesus will always be there for us even if institutional Christianity tries to exclude us.

‘The nakedness of life’… If I were to summarise Quakerism in one word, it would be ‘immediacy’: the immediacy of truth, the immediacy of love, the immediacy of life, the immediacy of God. Concerns like status, human hierarchies, and a focus on the self stand between us and the light, if we let them.

Gordon Hirabayashi (1918-2012)

#OnThisDay in 1942, Gordon Hirabayashi - UW senior, Quaker, and conscientious objector - challenged Japanese American exclusion orders. historylink.org/File/3358 #AANHPIHeritageMonth

The image includes the text below along with a logo for Australia Yearly Meeting: Can we all, as Australians, work towards living together as equals, with mutual understanding and respect? Advices & Queries 18 – Australia Yearly Meeting

Can we all, as Australians, work towards living together as equals, with mutual understanding and respect?

Advices & Queries 18 – Australia Yearly Meeting

'Love simplicity, love the nakedness of life, stand single in the honesty of the heart...'

I can't help but love the words of Isaac Penington.

I'm offering an online session to the Quaker organisation Woodbrooke - looking forward to it!

However:

'...if there is not a careful Attention to the Gift, Men who have once laboured in the pure Gospel-ministry, growing weary of Suffering, and ashamed of appearing weak, may kindle a Fire, compass themselves about with Sparks...of that Fire which they, going from the Gift, have kindled.'

John Woolman's reflections on the gift of spoken ministry are some of my favourite.

'The Gift is pure; and, while the Eye is single in attending thereto, the Understanding is preserved clear: Self is kept out.'

As someone who loves to think and puzzle through the systems that make things work, I need to remind myself of this regularly. The key to the kingdom doesn’t lie in thought, but in being present with a sincere heart.

'He that will be truly wise, must first become a fool, that he may be wise: that is, he must not strive to learn in the comprehensive way of man's wisdom and prudency the things of Gods Kingdom, but the begettings of life in his heart...'

So wrote Quaker mystic, Isaac Penington, in 1672.

Quakers call for rights to be restored after police raid on Westminster Meeting House The police raid on Westminster Quaker meeting house last Thursday was a massively disproportionate response to the legitimate concerns of UK citizens.

British Quakers have been warning about the loss of the right to protest for the last few years, as more and more legislation has been passed, restricting that right.

www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...

Last week, police raided a London Friends Meeting House, to arrest activists meeting in a hired room.

People have the right to assemble and to speak out, even when their views challenge those in power.

Latest statement from Quakers in Britain: www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...

‘We must have faith that if we purify our hearts, making our motives more compassionate, what we do will strengthen unimaginably the great forces that can save humanity.’

—Adam Curle quoted in Australian Quakers’ book of life, faith and thought ‘This we can say’.

This spoke to my condition today.

Arrests at Westminster Meeting House YouTube video by Quake It Up

Arrests at Westminster Meeting House @quakeitup.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLZd...

Quakers condemn police raid on Westminster Meeting House Police broke into a Quaker Meeting House last night (27 March) and arrested six young people holding a meeting over concerns for the climate and Gaza.

🚨 Outrage as 20 police officers break into Westminster Quaker Meeting House and arrest six. 🚨
This shocking violation of a place of worship is a direct result of crackdowns on protest and dissent - freedom of speech, assembly and democracy are at risk.🕊️
👉 www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...

Not all words are good words: Quakers in Britain and anti-trans ‘debate’ Welcome, support, acknowledgment and affirmation of trans people cannot coexist with continuing ‘debate and dialogue’ on the legitimacy of trans identities. Many cis Quakers have much to discover a…

It's sad that I needed to write this blog post, but Quakers in Britain need to stop tolerating debate on the legitimacy of trans identities. It undermines the authority of our collective discernment, one of our core theological principles. jollyquaker.com/2025/03/27/n... #Quaker #theology

This juxtaposition of signs at a recent Friends World Committee for Consultation meeting (held in a Franciscan conference centre) made me chuckle every time I saw it.

(For friends who aren't Quakers, the joke is that Quakers tend to bypass liturgy, although these were just directional signs)

I sometimes feel guilty, in difficult times, for seeking and sometimes finding inward stillness and peace. But perhaps it's in difficult times that this is most important. I feel the need for the 'clear shining of the light' to raise up the good in myself and others. And clarity needs stillness.

Welcome to our brand new Bluesky account! We are officially moving from Twitter/X. Stay tuned for posts about events, Quaker Tuesdays, and Throwback Thursdays!

Any person can enrich the entire world with their spiritual treasures, if you have the strength to reveal them. You don't have to be a wise or learned person. For there is no way to assess the excessive wealth of your soul, because your soul is the light of God in the world.

Rav. Abraham Issac Kook

If you look on the Internet Archive for 17th century books about Quakers there are far more anti-Quaker books than those by Quakers. And there were anti-Quaker popular songs (some quite sexually explicit) and anti-Quaker plays and dances. It was a major industry.

I guess it reflects the fact that we have no images of meetings (that I’m aware of) by Quakers themselves in the 17th century, sSo on one level I do understand using anti-Quakeriana for the purpose. It just feels kind of odd when you actually look at the images and what they’re saying.

A Quaker meeting painted by Dutch golden age satirical painter Egbert van Heemskerck. In it a Quaker woman stands on an upturned tub wearing a pointed Welsh hat declaiming to a sullen and grimy looking crowd. A small dog urinates in the foreground.

I’m talking about this sort of image, by Egbert van Heemskerck. It’s intended to poke fun at Quakers, and Quaker women particularly. We *can* reclaim these images, but they seem very often to be used naively. And interestingly they are part of the origin of the misogynist ‘witch’s hat’ trope.

I’m curious about why people choose 17th century anti-Quaker propaganda paintings to illustrate stories about Quaker meetings. Something about it feels wrong. It’s not so much that it’s disrespectful, but just untruthful. They’re not illustrations of meetings. They’re usually misogynistic parodies.

"Now, Friends, deal plainly with yourselves, and let the eternal Light search you, and try you, for the good of your souls. For this will deal plainly with you. It will rip you up, and lay you open, and make all manifest which lodges in you..."

Dear Christian leaders of Aotearoa NZ. Where is your condemnation of the hateful bullying & intimidation from Destiny. Your voices speaking out would send a powerful message. Currently your silence is speaking loudly of your hypocrisy. Come on! Stand up for loving our vulnerable communities.

This little insight came to me in (Quaker) meeting for worship today. It was very welcome—I have been very impatient for change lately, and frustrated by not knowing what do do to achieve it.