Gerry Ryan

I'm watching the Late Late Show.  They've put on a show that is a tribute to Gerry Ryan, who died suddenly earlier today.  It's amazing to discover who was really friendly with him.  Pat Kenny seems to have been particularly close to him, which is a bit surprising.

Ian did it!

This time last week Ian was sure he wouldn't make a deadline for handing in his dissertation for this coming Thursday.  Today he handed it in, two days ahead of schedule.  Brilliant!

I intended to stick to my schedule of cycling to work twice a week, having started up again only last week.  It was zero degrees this morning, though, so I'm afraid I'm not going to make my twice this week as I need the car tomorrow and Thursday.  I chickened out on Monday as I was too tired from my trip to Dublin in the early hours of Sunday morning to catch a ferry.

The poor seeds in the garden and greenhouse are likely to suffer from the cold nights.  If the volcanic ash falls on us maybe it will be warm enough to heat them up again.  Or, maybe not.....

My thought for the day

Here is what I ended up saying to Yearly Meeting (well, approximately):

I was asked to speak at the first of an open series of evening discussions that we held in Limerick, and spoke under the title “Quakerism – development of thought and action”.  I found I needed to prepare carefully, reminding myself of the Quaker history I have been steeped in all my life.

This reading, and the discussion series, led me to further reading on the people and history of Quakerism.   I realised that early Friends came up with some amazing ideas and practices that have stood the test of time.  Listen to the peace testimony as presented to Charles II in 1660……..

We utterly deny all outward wars and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretence whatever; this is our testimony to the whole world.  The Spirit of Christ by which we are guided is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing as evil, and again to move unto it; and we certainly know, and testify to the world, that the Spirit of Christ, which leads us into all truth, will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the kingdom of Christ, not for the kingdoms of the world.

Would we come up with something like that now?  The words may be old but the spirit shines through.

Over the years our Quaker brethren have come up with all sorts of innovative thought and action that was ahead of their time – in my profession of human resources management I particularly feel we owe thanks to the Quaker businessmen of the 19^th C who thought of the welfare of their workers and introduced pensions, healthcare and the concept of holidays, items we now take for granted. 

That brought me to wondering whether we are set up to support new and creative thinking that challenges our current ways of living.  We seem to spend a lot of time doing business.  Does that sap our energy?  Do we step lightly to business meetings knowing that we will change the world?  I suspect not.

Having said that, I have always loved our business practices – the way we carefully consider items such that we can move on together.  I wonder, though, whether we need to re-think how we carry out our business, and harness our spiritual energies, in our new age of electronic communications.  How should we harness the benefits of technology in communications?

·         Imagine being able to have a meeting without moving location. 

·         Imagine doing this and retaining our Quaker discernment and sense of the meeting in decisions.  European Young Friends hold their committee meetings on Skype.

·         Imagine holding Meeting on the web.  Some isolated European Friends already do this.

·         Imagine being inclusive of all those younger members who find business meetings difficult, or don’t find them practical to attend.

·         Imagine putting our annual epistle into 140 characters on a Tweet and sending it around the world. Would it be read more than our current epistle, and what message would it hold?

·         Do any of you enjoy the Quaker discussion groups on the web?  Or, visit our web site that has so much care and attention given to it? Or, use the Quaker resources on line to find something, or for inspiration?

·         Imagine having a query that dealt with electronic communication?  What would it say?

      Do we think carefully before sending an e-mail, considering the impact on those who will receive it?

      Are we inclusive in our communications, arranging within our Meetings for those who do not have access to e-mails to receive the communication?

      Is everything we send necessary for the receiver?

      Is this the best way to communicate, or should we speak first?

Many meetings send minutes around to everyone by e-mail.  At a recent meeting in London they were looking for e-mail buddies to ensure those without e-mail don’t miss out on communications. 

Some may say that use of new technologies will exclude older Friends, but I believe that we currently exclude younger Friends by not using them.  

Of course it doesn’t make sense to do everything electronically.  We need to meet.  We need the camaraderie and the sharing that happens person to person.  Our whole being centres on the presence in our Meetings.  Something stirs when one or two are sitting in the presence of God.

Maybe, though, our occasions for meeting could be freed up a bit more from business if we used electronic processes more for the routine. 

What would we do instead when we meet?

Our meetings may then be free to consider matters of overall policy and thought, and new ideas.  I particularly enjoyed a recent session in MQM where Cork Friends arranged for us to talk to each other in groups.  I’ve been attending MQM for years and still hadn’t had a chance to have discussions with Friends from other Meetings, always going to QM to attend to business or listen to someone talking to us. 

I thought it would be worth considering what the “Tweet” would be for what I’ve just said – so no more than 140 characters:

Early Friends were inspirational.  Would new technologies free us up to let the spirit shine through?  Are we ready to meet this challenge?