W is for Wilfrid and Waldemar

Not many words begin with w in the Swedish alphabet, because this letter is often replaced by v. However, as the only children in our Worship Group are called Wilfrid and Waldemar it seems appropriate to write about them in this Quaker-related space.

Waldemar is now six and his brother Wilfrid four.  They come to our once-a-month Meeting for Worship with their parents and are an integral part of our group. Both boys stay in Meeting for as long as they feel able. During that time they draw or crayon in their sketch books or read one of the books from their reading bags. When they come to Meeting they are always well equipped with materials and each boy has his own bag of books from which to choose. When they get restless one of their parents takes them to another room in the house for other activities, while the other remains in Meeting.

This has also posed a challenge to the rest of us in the group. Do we always expect their parents to take care of them and keep them occupied, or can another of us take responsibility for them? In Advices and Queries we are encouraged to “Rejoice in the presence of children and young people in your meeting and recognise the gifts they bring. Remember that the meeting as a whole shares a responsibility for every child in its care. Seek for them as for yourself a full development of God’s gifts and the abundant life Jesus tells us can be ours. How do you share your deepest beliefs with them, while leaving them free to develop as the spirit of God may lead them? Do you invite them to share their insights with you? Are you ready both to learn from them and to accept your responsibilities towards them?”(Advice 19, Britain Yearly Meeting)

Despite attempts to address the issue, it has proved difficult to come to any real solution, given that the group only meets once a month for Meeting, in our homes, and regards it as a precious opportunity to worship together. No-one has really been keen to leave the Meeting for Worship and do something with the children, although one or two have tried to set an example.

A more fertile discussion ground may be prepared when we meet in December, because this autumn we have included a ‘study’ session – in worship-sharing mode – before our Meeting for Worship in order to address topics that concern us. In December we will meet at the home of the children and the ‘study session’ will revolve around them. Might this be the beginning of a more inclusive taking of responsibility? I hope so.

V is for Vänner

Vänner – Friends – are what Quakers call each other. In John, chapter 15 verses 14-15, we read: “You are my friends if you will do all that I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master does, but I have called you my friends, because all that I have heard from my Father, I have taught you” (from the Aramaic Bible in plain English).

In England, those who attend Quaker meetings but are not members are called Attenders. In Sweden we call them Vänners vänner, friends of Friends. 

U is for Utvecklingsland

The English translation of utvecklingsland, or U-land, is developing country (also referred to as a less-developed country), and is defined by Wikipedia as “a nation with a lower living standard, underdeveloped industrial base, and low Human Development Index relative to other countries”. The term has been criticised for its implied inferiority and assumption that every country should develop according to Western economic development patterns.

In this Alphabet blog post the focus is on Bangladesh, regarded by many as an ‘utvecklingsland’ and certainly one of the world’s poorest countries. My concern here is not with the country’s economic development, but with how an NGO (non-governmental organisation) is working to improve the conditions for the ultra-poor, and especially women, adolescents and the disabled, in the north-eastern part of Bangladesh. Here, Quaker Service Sweden (Kväkarhjälpen) supports Sabalamby Unnayan Samity (SUS) in its work to deconstruct patriarchal ideas and traditions and help people claim their human rights.

Quaker Service Sweden has been supporting the various activities of Sabalamby Unnayan Samity (Self-reliance Development Group) since 1994. SUS was founded in 1985 by a local teacher, Begun Rokeya, who, together with ten other like-minded people, was determined to create a better future for the country’s women and children. SUS is based in north-east Bangladesh, in the Netrakona district, a rural area with some 2.4 million inhabitants. To date SUS been able to establish self-help projects in about half its working area.

One of Quaker Service Sweden’s first initiatives was to help SUS establish a Model Farm to provide local training in organic fruit and vegetable cultivation, compost-making etc. A heritage seed bank has also been created for the collection of hardy rice varieties and other crops for demonstration and distribution purposes. The project has now been expanded to include training in aquaculture (a combination of rice and fish farming). Quaker Service Sweden has also supported the expansion of SUS work in the different villages around Netrakona. This work takes the form of an integrated approach that includes the provision of basic education, micro-finance and micro-enterprise opportunities, training courses designed to prevent violence against women and to create better relations between the sexes, health-related education such as pre-natal and post-natal care, informing about diseases like HIV/AIDS etc., and human rights groups. SUS has also built a hospital so that poor people have better access to health care. At present we are supporting SUS development work in the slum areas of the largest city in the area, Mymensingh, and a rural programme in the villages of Kendua. SUS is also active in helping local people to form Stop Violence Against Women groups. Domestic violence is common in Bangladesh, and acid-throwing extremely prevalent.

Apart from donations from individuals, Quaker Service Sweden also receives development aid funding from the Swedish Government (via Sida) for the projects in Bangladesh, which is an enormous help for the people involved – Bangladeshi people at grassroots level who are trying to improve their living and working conditions and live meaningful lives.

Members of the Quaker Service Committee take it in turns to visit SUS and see the projects on the ground. As a recipient of government aid funds, QSS is obliged to do this, and receives a special administrative grant from Sida for this very purpose. I have been to Netrakona twice and am booked to go again later this year. This time, two members of the umbrella organisation that processes our finding application will also be accompanying us to conduct a Learning Review on Gender Equality and Religion with SUS staff.

You can read more about SUS and its work at http://sabalamby.org/

An interview with Begum Rokeya, the founder, can be accessed on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIAiOynmt9A

T is for Tillsammans (Together)

My sister-in-law visited us the other week and during a walk with standard poodle Irma we talked about Quakers and politics. She is not a Quaker, but her mother was and her brother is. I was talking about collective witness, and she said that she had always understood Quakers as a bunch of individuals all doing their own thing, and not as a collective. I was somewhat taken aback, but when I thought more about it, was not all that surprised by her words. We do come across as a bunch of individuals and this is something that we need to address.

After her visit I listened to Ben Pink Dandelion’s Swarthmore lecture on the Woodbrooke website: https://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/pages/swarthmore-2014.html

In the Lecture, delivered during the Britain YM Gathering in Bath, Ben talks about Quakerism as a Do-It-Together religion, rather than a Do-It-Yourself one.  His message is that we are not individuals in our individual meetings and yearly meetings, but a collective body of Friends worldwide that is gathered and caught, as in a net (as Francis Howgill said way back in 1663).

Ben highlights 4 insights into what it means to be a Quaker, which he regards as inherently collective:

• We have a direct encounter with the divine
• We have developed ways of interpreting this experience – discernment
• We have developed forms of worship that nurture the direct encounter with the divine
• We feel called to live a particular kind of life due to this encounter.

He goes on to say that we can’t encounter the divine without being changed – transformed. This transformation makes us see and feel the world in a new way. This can be uncomfortable, but leads us into a more spiritually authentic place. Our lives are transformed both individually and collectively in order to become agents of transformation in the world. That is what it means to be a Quaker.

In his lecture Ben points to areas where we have become fuzzy, more individualistic, more secular and much more permissive – and have been affected by wider societal trends. Our sense of belonging to our Meetings has changed. He suggests that we are no longer accountable to the group as we were earlier, that we can decide what is and is not Quaker and that we have a huge amount of freedom and permissiveness in terms of faith. We present ourselves as an option in the option of faith – attendance at Meetings for Worship is optional, service is optional (we are now more likely to say no to nominations committee) and supporting  the Meeting financially is optional. We thus have an optional sense of belonging, which leads to a diffuse, rather than gathered, community.

According to Ben, in developing our own individual versions of Quakerism we have lost our Collective Voice.

What can we do? What Ben suggests is not new. He encourages us to resist the individual, resist the secular and reclaim the spiritual and the joy and passion that go with this. He thinks that we need to inhabit the Quaker tradition, be bold, think radically and live adventurously. And we need to do this together. Tillsammans.

S for Solidaritet (Solidarity)

In addition to being a Quaker, I’m a member of the Religious Social Democrats of Sweden. In Swedish the movement is called Socialdemokraterna för tro och solidaritet.  We are radical believers (of all faiths) with a passion for peace, solidarity and justice, a progressive voice for a just, open and responsible society. We are a bit redder and a bit greener than the Social Democratic Party. The movement has its origins in the Labour movement and in the Christian ecumenical movement. For me, being involved helps me to unite prayer with action and to live my faith.

In my English dictionary the word solidarity means unity based on shared interests, objectives and standards. On the Catholic Social Teaching website, solidarity is defined as being “about valuing our fellow human beings and respecting who they are as individuals”. In other sources it is linked with kinship, bonding, standing alongside, drawing attention to injustices, and calling for change.

We can stand in solidarity. W can live in solidarity. We can speak and think about solidarity. We can practise solidarity. Solidarity has also been described as a moral value.

Whatever our expression of it is, it has to be permeated by love. It means caring. It requires time and commitment. It is ongoing.

R is for Retreater

Retreater – Retreats in English – are an important part of Sweden Yearly Meeting’s (YM) inreach and outreach. The YM has its own Retreat Centre called Svartbäcken (Black Beck) in Rimbo, some 60 km to the north of Stockholm and an easy bus ride from Arlanda Airport. Three or four Quaker retreats are held per term (spring and autumn) and are either led by Julia Ryberg or by other Swedish Friends. Sometimes there is a theme to focus reflectively on, and sometimes not. Opportunities for mid-week and private retreats are available for those who want to withdraw and reflect in their own ways. Other churches and groups also use the Centre for their own short courses or retreats. As the Retreat Centre is situated in woods by a lake, the environment is very conducive to reflection in stillness. Day retreats are also held at the Quaker Centre in Stockholm (Kväkargården) on a variety of themes. You can read more about the retreat programmes at Svartbäcken and Kväkargården on the YM’s website: http://www.kvakare.se/  

I have attended retreats at Svartbäcken as a participant, as a co-leader and as a prayer partner (supporting the leader and the participants in a prayerful way). I have also served as an accompanying Elder in online retreats, for example those offered by the Woodbrooke Study Centre in the UK (see https://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/ for their programme of on-site and distance courses).

All these experiences have been rewarding and enriching. Offering people opportunities to step back from their busy, daily lives to sink down into the still small centre within is an important ministry.

Q is for Q-värde

Q is not an easy letter in Swedish and there aren’t many words to choose from. The easiest would have been Quaker – but in Swedish the word Quaker doesn’t begin with a Q, but a K – for Kväkare! I could have chosen a Latin word, but that felt like cheating. So I’ve chosen Q-värde, which in English means Quality factor.

Over the years I have met people who have put more emphasis on the quality of life than the quantity of money or prestige that life can amass. A man I translate for has chosen to work three-quarter time rather than full time, for ‘quality of life’ reasons. The quality factor can mean different things to different people.

As I was born and brought up in Yorkshire I was encouraged to be thrifty. That can mean choosing cheap, rather than quality, although experience has taught me that choosing quality often turns out to be cheaper – and more sustainable – in the end.

In terms of my spiritual life, the quality factor is being able to worship and live out my unique ministry in a way that enhances me, my life, my family, my work, my surroundings and the people and creatures around me. This is not always easy, but for me, being a Quaker enables me to express my faith in a way that is challenging, sustainable, nourishing, enriching and meaningful. In my book this boils down to quality.

In terms of my work, it means being able to run my own business and do work that I enjoy and that helps others to further their ideas and publish their research results to an English-speaking audience. Quality also means eating and living healthily – and having a lovely husband who cooks all my meals! Above all, it means having time to just be.

What does the Quality factor mean for you, I wonder?