ARTICLE FOR MONKSTOWN VOICE FROM MONKSTOWN QUAKER MEETING – Feb 2023

A Trip to the Holy Land

In October I spent a week in Israel and Palestine. My German friend and I were staying near Jaffa Street,

an unmistakeably Jewish area, many people there orthodox or ultra-orthodox. Fourteen minutes away was

the Damascus Gate, in its language, dress, and signage as conspicuously Arab and Muslim as Jaffa Street

was Jewish, though in a city as multicultural as Jerusalem, neither area is entirely homogenous. The Old

City, by contrast, was hard to stand out in, as it draws pilgrims from all over the world. The crowds in the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre illustrate of the wonderful diversity of Christianity, which, along with the

pilgrims’ faith and excitement, and the religious significance of the site, left me more emotional than I

was expecting.

On our second day we got the bus to Bethlehem, in the West Bank. After visiting the Church of

the Nativity we wandered the town. We had coffee and sat a while in the Alexander Hotel, overlooking

the hills, where the owner and his friends, told us that they loved the Irish, and used to get loads of Irish

tourists, but not anymore, and that Covid’s effects on tourism had been hard for Bethlehem. Bethlehem is

full of culture and energy, but the political situation is never far from view: flags, Yasser Arafat pictures,

and the infamous wall. Some streets were surprisingly picturesque, others nearby heavily littered.

This dualism characterised the whole trip, forcing to hold multiple conflicting thoughts at once.

My feelings on the area have developed considerably over the years, thanks largely to my studying

German. Unlike in Ireland, Germany having both a large Arab population, and a sense that history makes

Israel’s security a German Saturation, means that the complexity of the area must be treated with

sensitivity. On mainland Europe, with memorials to the victims of Nazism abundant, and synagogues still

often needing to be guarded by police with assault rifles, you cannot ignore why Zionism exists. It was

hard not to be moved by the delight of a woman, I guessed a Diaspora Jew, standing beside me at the

Western Wall, watching men on the other side sing a chant. She beckoned to me to sing along with her,

which I did, knowing the lyrics:

Am Yisrael Chai (The Jewish people live)

Od Avinu Chai (Our Father yet lives)

Both things I consider worth celebrating. Judaism in the diaspora, again facing rises in antisemitism, is

sadly often forced to try to be inconspicuous, seeing so much proud and conspicuous Judaism in Israel

was, if initially a culture shock, something triumphant and inspirational. I could see why this woman was

so delighted with it.

Yet Israel is so obviously flawed. The situation of the Palestinians, and their diaspora, is blatantly

tragic and unjust, and with Israel’s new far-right government, things are likely to get worse before they

get better. To say it is complicated is a cliché, but some clichés are clichés for a reason. I have no grand

new pronouncements to make, doubting I can say anything better not already said by one of the countless

commentators on this area, including great writers like Amos Oz and Mahmoud Darwish. On this

polarising and often over-simplified topic, perhaps there is some wisdom for outside Christian observers

in the advice of St James to be “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19). Listening to

Palestinians and Israelis, you hear fascinating things about the area, to which I fear nothing I say can do

justice.

So I bring no real conclusions back with me, only impressions. Climbing down from the Herodian

fort of Masada, with views of the Dead Sea and the desert so amazing it was hard to believe it was real,

and I was there, I was passed by an exulted American deciding to take the steep path down at a run. He

asked my age, and I said twenty-two. He replied: “Twenty-two! What a beautiful age to be doing this!

Jesus has blessed you, sister!” I was caught off guard, being unused to such religious frankness in South

Dublin, but I believe he was, in his way, right. While I may have no greater certainty about the region’s

politics, I have brought back memories for life. I feel immensely lucky to have been there.

Aoibh Ní Chroimín

ARTICLE FOR MONKSTOWN VOICE FROM MONKSTOWN QUAKER MEETING – Jan 2023

Visit to Maison Quaker

When my Quaker Friend in Devon suggested an Art Retreat in Maison Quaker in the South of France, I had no hesitation as I was looking for new opportunities due to my upcoming retirement. When it comes to art, I am a complete novice, but the prospect of visiting Maison Quaker was a strong motivation and I found its history fascinating. 

During the 17th century in France, Protestants were in the minority and for Louis XIV to become king, he had to convert to Catholicism. He became under the influence of some unscrupulous priests who convinced him that if he removed all Protestants from France, God would forgive him, and he would get into heaven. So, in October 1685 he declared Protestantism illegal with the Edict of Fontainebleau and this resulted in intense persecution of Protestants.

Protestants made up most of the population in the region of the Vaunage, the sunny and fertile valley between Nimes and Montpellier. There was one community within this area known locally as "les Couflaïres" (the inspired ones) who lived in Congénies and the villages nearby. 

By 1710 Protestants began to fight back against this persecution. The Couflaïres in Congénies were a pacifist community and they refused to fight. 

Meanwhile during the 18th Century, the British government encouraged British ships to seize French ships, as France was supporting the colonists in America. A British Quaker, Joseph Fox (no relation to George Fox) mistakenly obtained permission to gainfully engage in attacking and raiding French ships on the Atlantic. Fox was appalled and offered to compensate all ships and cargo which had been seized. He posted a notice to this effect in the Gazette de France.  When the Gazette was published, added to his wording was an introductory paragraph detailing the faith and practice of the Quakers and categorically stating that Quakers did not indulge in piracy.

This was read in Congénies, and five of the "couflaïres" wrote to Joseph Fox explaining that they were impressed by Quaker ideas, which they fully shared, and requested to meet him. They visited Quakers in London and in 1788 founded the first Quaker Meeting in France.

The Meeting House was built in 1822 with the help of funds from American and English Quakers. The Meeting, which through the 19th century numbered some 200 large families, died out following the emigration of the pacifist young men to avoid compulsory military service. 

The last Meeting for Worship was held in 1905 and the Meeting house was sold in 1907. It served a wide variety of purposes during the early 20th century before it was renamed Villa Quaker and converted into a private residence by Quakers who retired from the British Consulate in Marseille. It was bought by France Yearly Meeting in 2003. The Maison Quaker reopened in 2004 for Meetings for Worship, retreats, workshops, and discussion groups.

I returned from my time there spiritually refreshed and nourished, but I can’t say my artistic abilities have much improved!

Sue Saunders

 

ARTICLE FOR MONKSTOWN VOICE FROM MONKSTOWN QUAKER MEETING – Nov 2022

Hope – the thoughts of Vaclav Havel

One thing that seems to be in short supply is hope. Young people in particular seem to be struggling to find a reason to hope for a better future.

Seamus Heaney, quoting Vaclav Havel, said ‘Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well. But something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for.’

In Ireland perhaps we are more familiar with Vaclav Havel as the charismatic President of the Czech Republic.  But there was much more to Havel than being a politician. His first calling was to be a poet and playwright. He was incarcerated by the pro Soviet Government in Prague and spent many years in prison.  He became the conscience and the spiritual beacon for his people. 

The following extracts are from the book called Disturbing the Peace which contain his conversations with a Czech journalist and which deal with hope.

‘The kind of hope I often think about (especially in situations that are particularly hopeless, such as prison) I understand above all as a state of mind, not a state of the world. Either we have hope within us, or we don’t. . . . 

Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart. It transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons. . . . 

I feel that its deepest roots are in the transcendental, just as the roots of human responsibility are, though of course I can’t – unlike Christians, for instance — say anything about the transcendental. . . .

Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. 

The more unpromising the situation in which we demonstrate hope, the deeper that hope is. Hope is not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. 

In short, I think that the deepest and most important form of hope, the only one that can keep us above water and urge us to good works, and the only true source of the breath-taking dimension of the human spirit and its efforts, is something we get, as it were, from ‘elsewhere.’ It is also this hope, above all, that gives us the strength to live and continually to try new things, even in conditions that seem as hopeless as ours do, here and now.”

Padraic Murray

POEM FOR MONKSTOWN VOICE FROM MONKSTOWN QUAKER MEETING – Nov 2022

A QUAKER MEETING FOR WORSHIP BY SUZANNE HAYES

Silence, our essence

Gathered together

Open to the spirit

Listening for that still small voice

That will answer to our condition

An oasis of quiet

Granting respite from a busy world

We open our hearts

Banish thoughts that overwhelm us 

Hushed and subdued they'll no longer hold sway

The silence enfolds us

Restores and recharges our inner self

And lightens our way

ARTICLE FOR MONKSTOWN VOICE FROM MONKSTOWN QUAKER MEETING – Oct 2022

The story of Adam and Eve always fascinated me, being cast out of Paradise for eating the fruit of good and evil sparked an awareness, that has gone beyond what we were taught in Sunday school.  In the account from the Bible, before they ate the forbidden fruit, they had been in Paradise.

So, is the cause of our problems, simply the knowledge of what is good or bad?

Each person believes that the way they think is the right way, and anyone who opposes that is considered to be wrong. Such is the power of our thoughts, determining right and wrong without realising how our conditioning, traditions, and belief systems colour our perspective.

Whole nations rise up to fight one another, believing they are doing it for God or their country. For millennia, we have honoured those who fight for what is 'right'. Could our belief in right and wrong be the reason we do not experience paradise? Can we let go of being right, and trust in God?

 Within each of us exists a contemplative state, which recognises that opposites are an essential part of a greater whole. One cannot exist without the other. It is all a part of our learning curve. We would not know big without small, or dark without light.

I have noticed that the greatest struggles in my life brought profound understandings, that perhaps could not be so easily understood without experiencing the seemingly negative situations that came my way.  More often than not, I was too identified with the situation to value the experience, yet later with perspective and hindsight, I have come to appreciate them for the gifts they are, helping me be more understanding of others, and grateful for what I have.

To have a healthier mind, we must abandon our obsession with being right, choosing thoughts that nourish ourselves and others. Through mindful meditation practices, we can become aware of these thoughts as they arise, beyond simple awareness lies compassion.

Paradise may already exist around us, obscured by a haze of pointed fingers and blame, it is only our expectations of others that upset us, while we remain blissfully unaware of their expectations. To seek real joy is the path less travelled, if we developed an awareness that conflict is an opportunity to recognise the unity of opposites, we could rise above the limitations of right or wrong.

Whatever situation presents itself, is exactly necessary for our growth. Our anger towards others is a feeling place that stimulates us to recognise our thoughts, and that feeling place is a gift to help us pivot from anger. With awareness, we can place our mind's focus and energy into finding joy all around us, regardless of the situation or our habitual response patterns.

We are advised to judge not, that we be not judged. Yet our civilisation is highly judgemental, ideas taken to an extreme become their own opposite. Can we create paradise, simply by letting go of right and wrong?

Gerda Archer

ARTICLE FOR MONKSTOWN VOICE FROM MONKSTOWN QUAKER MEETING – Sept 2022

SUNDAY SCHOOL 1950’s

I attended Sunday School at Monkstown Meeting House from the age of about four as we lived nearby in Stradbrook. I travelled there in good time for Meeting for Worship each Sunday morning at 11.00 am. Perched on a little saddle attached to the cross bar of my father’s bike. We did miss occasionally when Dad would say he was going to mitch! Perhaps there was a particularly good tide at the 40ft. that morning. We seemed to go on the bike in all weathers. My mother would wrap me up warmly, pinning a large woollen scarf across my chest under my coat. My Dad often had to ask for help from an obliging Friend to unravel me.

The Meeting House consisted of a large Meeting Room and off this the School Room, where Sunday School was held. There was also a small rather dark kitchen and Ladies and Gents toilets. 

We entered the Meeting House through a small porch where umbrellas could be left in a stand. At this end of the Meeting Room there was a balcony with stairs going up on one side. This was rarely used though I do remember as a child hiding up there behind old wooden benches and dusty hassocks. At the far end of the Meeting room was the Minister’s Gallery where raised benches faced the rest of the room. We don’t have any Ministers though there are branches of The Religious Society of Friends in other parts of the world who do. The balcony and Minister’s Gallery are long gone but, in those days, weighty Friends known as Elders who are concerned with the spiritual wellbeing of the meeting sat there and shook hands at the end of the hour so concluding the Meeting. 

Our Meeting for Worship is through silence. It would be impossible for a small child to sit in silence for an hour and so we had Sunday School, which I enjoyed very much.

As our parents settled down to worship in the big Meeting Room, the children gathered in the school room. We started with our own few minutes of silence, followed by several hymns and bible stories. There were generally two teachers and we children would be divided into two groups according to our age. One of the teachers would accompany us on an old piano and strains of ‘Jesus bids us shine’ or ‘All things bright and beautiful’ must often have permeated the silence next door but was always welcome as part of the Meeting. 

As well as bible stories we heard about early Friends, such as our founder George Fox, William Penn who founded Pennsylvania and Elizabeth Fry known for Prison Reform. I always had a sixpence ready to put in the little wooden collection box for various Quaker concerns. Most weeks we would produce a drawing depicting the story we had heard and clutching these would troop into meeting for the last quarter of an hour. I am sure this invasion disturbed the tranquillity of a settled and focused meeting. 

At Christmas time most years we put on a nativity play. A makeshift stage was assembled in the school room. I remember the excitement of being cast as the Angel Gabriel, with lines to learn, after several years of being a shepherd. My mother dressed me in a long white gown, probably fashioned from a sheet, a wonderful pair of wings and a head-dress to depict a halo. I rehearsed my lines diligently so that I could address the frightened shepherds. Perhaps the highlight was the year I had the part of Mary and was allowed to bring my favourite dolly to lie in the manger as the baby Jesus. These were happy days that I remember fondly.

Suzanne Hayes

ARTICLE FOR MONKSTOWN VOICE FROM MONKSTOWN QUAKER MEETING – July 2022

Sunday Morning Meeting for Worship 

The journey to Meeting on a Sunday morning is one of anticipation and pleasure as I think of who may be present at Meeting and what our Worship together may bring.  It is good to see familiar faces as Friends return after Covid restrictions.  There’s always the possibility of visitors.  Maybe there will be ministry or maybe it will be a silent Meeting.  Every Sunday is different.  There is no planned service and the shape and depth of the Meeting depends on those present and how the spirit moves them.  

We are encouraged to come to Meeting with Hearts and Minds prepared.  This does not mean that we should prepare something to say or read.  Rather it means that we should be open to whatever the Meeting for Worship may bring.  We meet together at 10.30 am and sit in silence as the spirit comes amongst the gathering.  The Meeting centres down into what is often a deep sense of cohesive energy and the spirit may move someone to give Ministry.  Whilst this is a deeply personal experience, it is also one of sharing.  It may be that the words speak to the condition of others present.  Ministry can be uplifting and helpful as it may offer the listener a different perspective, or comfort or clarity.  Sometimes Ministry can seem obscure but we never know just how it may touch somebody’s life.  This is often confirmed as a Friend may confide that the Ministry was exactly what they needed to hear, that it spoke to their condition or was aligned with their own thoughts.

Meeting for Worship allows a quiet time for personal reflection and meditation.  We are encouraged to find such time every day and Worship is certainly not confined by time or place but the dedicated hour on a Sunday morning facilitates our openness to the spirit.  It helps renew our energy and gives us strength for the week ahead.

Another important aspect to Sunday morning is the social time after Meeting for Worship.  During Covid restrictions we were unable to mingle after Meeting.  We missed enjoying a cup of coffee or tea and chat with our Friends.  When we were able to put the kettles on again, we were still somewhat restricted but were lucky that the weather favoured outdoor refreshments.  Now we are back to our old routine and it is lovely to hear the chat and laughter combined with the clink of the coffee cups.  We can access our small library and can enjoy full use of the Meeting House rooms again.  

And of course there is the feeling of belonging to a community, being part of something more than just ourselves.  Since returning after the Covid restrictions our numbers have dropped and we have not yet reinstated our Junior Meeting.  Our usual attendance is about 25 people.  We miss the Friends we have lost over the years although we feel their presence still.  We miss too those that cannot attend physically on a Sunday morning but are part of our Meeting for Worship as we hold each other in the light.  

Susanna Murdoch

ARTICLE FOR MONKSTOWN VOICE FROM MONKSTOWN QUAKER MEETING – June 2022

One Quakers Take on Courage 

There’s a well-known story in Matthews Gospel about how frightened the disciples became when they saw Jesus walk across the sea. We’re told that Jesus spoke to them, telling them not to be afraid. At this point I like to imagine that Peter’s curiosity got a hold of him because then we’re told that he called out to Jesus: 

Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. (KJB: Matthew 14, 28)

Jesus responded by inviting Peter to get out of the boat but as he did so the wind blew up and he began to sink. It’s no wonder that he became frightened once more and begged Jesus to save him:

And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? (KJB: Matthew 14, 31)

I have to admit I have some sympathy with Peter. It’s never easy to be the one that breaks from the crowd. It takes courage. It’s my belief that being courageous is accepting an invitation to be vulnerable, following a passion not knowing where it might lead and persisting despite one’s doubts.

When I went to my first Quaker Meeting in Monkstown over twenty years ago, I was driven by curiosity, not courage. It was easy to cross the threshold of the Meeting House that first day. Everyone I met there was so welcoming. You could say that I was happy to dip my toe in the water. 

Over the past two decades I’ve had plenty of doubts about that decision to rejoin a religious community, particularly in a world that has become increasingly unequal, violent and secular. And yet, had it not been for our Meeting for Worship in Monkstown I think I would have long since succumbed to my doubts and sunk beneath the waves. 

At Meeting for Worship, I can feel vulnerable and know I won’t be judged, I can seek compassion for others and know I will be listened to and I can be full of doubts and not feel that I’ve to get back into the boat.  

Adam Grennan

ARTICLE FOR MONKSTOWN VOICE FROM MONKSTOWN QUAKER MEETING – MAY 2022

SIMPLICTY – Live simply that others may simply live.

Quakers do not have a dogma or creed but we do have testimonies.  A testimony is an outward expression of an inward leading of the spirit, a guide to try and live by.  Our most well known testimony is the Peace Testimony however there are other testimonies that are also very important to us.  One of these being SIMPLICITY.

SIMPLICITY:  Extract from the Friendly Guide to Quakerism

Friends believe that simplicity should be a way of life.  It allows them to concentrate attention on seeking the Truth and to avoid being distracted by worldly materialism.  They advocate simplicity in language, dress and behaviour.  Early Friends believed that self-indulgence and love of luxury hindered a person’s spiritual life.  They also warned against living beyond your means.  Today Friends would also advocate living a life which respects God’s creation thus having a concern for environmental matters and the responsible use of the world’s resources.  In a society which is becoming increasingly materialistic, Friends are challenged to watch against conformity to commonly accepted worldly standards and to seek to live simply.

Friends try to find ways to meet the challenge of living simply and in moderation. It’s a different experience for all of us as our priorities and concerns may vary greatly. But mostly we have choice when so many do not.  Of course it may not be possible to make the preferred choice because of economics or location.  The simple solution of getting from A to B may be to walk or cycle but the reality is that public transport or personal transport is the only option due to distance or access.  Similarly with buying food and other goods.  The preference may be for locally grown, organic and cruelty free products but these are not always readily available or may be too costly. 

Meeting for Worship is a very simple format as we gather in silence seeking to discover a deeper sense of the Spirit.  Some may be led to speak but whether vocalised or silent the Meeting centres down to a deep unified energy.

Our Quaker Meeting Houses are usually very simple, unadorned buildings.  Monkstown Meeting House is a good example.  A plain building with lovely big windows that allow lots of light in the Meeting Room.  However, it is also graced with a beautiful ceiling.  Headstones in our Burial Grounds conform in size and shape and the wording is standardised.  This is to ensure simplicity and equality.  Flowers are not encouraged on graves.  At Temple Hill Burial Ground in Blackrock trees and flowering shrubs create an oasis of nature in an urban area.

If there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do, let me do it now, let me not deter or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.  Stephen Grellet c 1800

Susanna Murdoch