“Living the Transformation”: Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) World Gathering | The Australian Friend

“Living the Transformation”: Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) World Gathering | The Australian Friend

Taisoo Kim Watson, Queesland Regional Meeting

Taisoo Kim Watson and Cho-Nyon Kim from Korea

I feel very honoured representing the Australian Friends and attending the FWCC Plenary program at Pisac, Peru, from 19 to 27 January 2016. And I am thankful for the funds provided by AYM and the Thanksgiving Fund. It would have been very difficult to manage the registration cost and airfares without this financial assistance.

The daily program was very full. I was asked to be on the Pastoral Care group, which involved rostering ourselves to be on duty in the Pastoral Care Room and also always wearing a green sash so Friends could seek help at anytime, anywhere. This was a good opportunity to meet Friends individually who dropped in for cups of tea and talk. I have made a special connection with a few Friends through Pastoral care and Choir. When there are over 300 Members from nearly 40 countries, it is not easy to make connections with all.

I was so eager to hear the news from Korean Friends, I tried to sit with them at breakfast time. Also it was a good opportunity to make some suggestions to the itinerary of Lee and Kim who will be visiting AYM in July. It was lovely to hear the Korean bamboo flute played by Kim and the three of us sang a Korean folk song.

Home Groups were decided and compulsory, but we were encouraged to participate in other groups such as Consultation. I joined as many as I could manage until I developed a terrible cough.

I chose the FWCC Constitution Review Consultation Group as I have some experience working with constitutions and also I felt strongly that some issues needed to be reviewed. One recommendation was to hold World FWCC Gathering/Plenary sessions at least once in every 12 years instead of the current practice of every 5 years. The rationale was that FWCC has to find financial and human resources to plan and organise the World Meetings, but every gathering puts FWCC in great financial hardship. There are smaller numbers of full paying Friends and growing numbers of Friends needing help. The Meeting reached a kind of unity to hold it every 10 years.

The North American Section predicted a 15% reduction in contributions to FWCC in the near future. The British Friends are able to continue to support FWCC at the current rate because of their endowment/investment, and some increase from the European and Middle Eastern Section. But as we see the numbers of this Section, we should not expect a great deal more. The registration cost for some YMs/MMs in Asia West Pacific Section was over A$2000. No Members from Japan Yearly Meeting attended. Two Korean Friends received financial assistance from their Monthly Meetings.

Our Group studying the Constitution also have acknowledged that other important works need to be done by FWCC other than organising World gathering/meetings. We will be celebrating 100 years of FWCC in 2037.

I quote a part of the section Equipping FWCC:

… serving the world Quaker community, developing flexibility to face challenges while maintaining organizational integrity and sustainability, looking at meeting requirements and governance changes…

I always valued the early morning silent meeting for Worship. The program noted clearly “un-programmed Meeting for Worship”. I do not think some Friends from evangelical and programmed Quaker churches understood what Silent Meeting for Worship means. On the first morning, a Friend started to sing very energetically, and then another Friend started praying in Spanish. A Friend had translated every sentence to English. We did not have much silent time left. I changed to the Bible Study, led by Janet Scott. I have learned much from these early morning Bible studies. It was rather moving to share the Lord’s Prayer in Korean at the end of one study session.

When I was attending the AWPS gathering in India, a number of Friends expressed concern that we had very little quiet time. I have received some concerns again during this FWCC gathering: there was not enough quiet time.

It has been exciting to meet cousins and distant cousins from many places of the World. We have different ways of worshiping, in many different languages but we came together in spirit .

I feel more strongly than ever the importance of FWCC in the lives of world Quakers.

FWCC needs all our spiritual and financial support to meet the challenges of the next 20 years and longer.

Quakers around the world

For your information, I have listed the YMs and MMs and the numbers of Members. (Ref. FWCC Finding Quakers around the World, 2012)

Bolivia (22,300), Canada (1,300), Colombia (10), Costa Rica (90), Cuba (900), Dominican Republic (110), El Salvador (1,600), Guatemala (19,620), Haiti (1,000), Honduras (2,500), Jamaica (2,100), Mexico (1,400), Nicaragua (200), Peru (3,500), United States (76,360),

Albania (380), Belgium (40), Croatia (50), Czech Republic (10), Denmark (30), Estonia (10), Finland (20), France (70), Georgia (20), Germany/Austria (340), Greece (10), Hungary (4000), Ireland (1,600), Italy (20), Latvia (10), Lebanon/Palestine (70), Lithuania (10), Malta (10), Netherlands (120), Norway (150), Poland (10), Portugal (10), Romania (920), Russia (30), Serbia (50), Spain (20), Sweden (100), Switzerland (100), Ukraine (10), United Kingdom (15,800)

Congo(s) (10+3000), Ghana (10), Kenya (146,300), Madagascar (20), Nigeria (20), Rwanda (4,200), Tanzania (3,100), Uganda (5000)

Australia (1,000), Bangladesh (475), Bhutan (800), Cambodia (410), China (100), India (4,300), Indonesia (1,800), Japan (140), Korea (50), Nepal (6,000), New Zealand (660), Philippines (2,500), Singapore (10), Taiwan (5,000)

Compass - ABC TV Religion | Stories

Compass - ABC TV Religion | Stories

Quakers - Seeking the Light Within

Sunday September 28 2003 

Summary:

A look at the history and experiences of The Society of Friends - Quakers - in Australia and their disproportionate contribution to education and peace activism.

Story:

Intro:

Hello and welcome to Compass. I’m Geraldine Doogue.

In the current climate of international tension the threat of hostilities never quite goes away.
Tonight we profile a religious organisation whose response to the challenge of war is the vigorous pursuit of peace.

It began over three hundred and fifty years ago but most people know little about the organisation called the Religious Society of Friends, better known as the Quakers. Throughout history their numbers have been small but their influence considerable.

Tonight we meet a group of people who may not have met but who all call themselves “friends”. They’re on a shared journey that reflects both their beliefs and their determination that their lives be a testimony to those beliefs.

Peter Jones 
Quakerism represents a road that you walk on. It’s a search.

Sarah Davies 
For me being a Quaker is definitely something that involves a lifestyle

Jo Vallentine
It’s like a spiritual well into which I dip for renewal.

John Green 
And in Quaker speak we would talk about that of God in every person.

Narrator
In Sydney’s leafy north Quakers have gathered for their weekly Meeting for Worship. For Quakers world wide this practice is both integral to their faith and central to their lives. There is no priest or pastor, no sermon, hymns or spoken prayer.
It’s a form of worship conducted largely in silence ….broken only when an individual feels called to speak.

Speaker 
Each of us in our relationships with people every day can provide a model for how communities and nations and cultures might and can relate to each other.

Narrator
Quakers believe the experience of a shared active and listening silence brings them closer to their God….and that God is present in each and every individual.

Sheila 
When you are really centred in a meeting with a group of people it’s a very powerful experience

Pera 
I think a sense of oneness it’s not just a brotherhood or sisterhood or whatever. It’s actually being part of each other. That’s my experience.

David 
The notion that the spirit is there to be encountered, to be heard, to be listened to is the heart of it.

Narrator 
Quakers accept Christ’s teaching but not Christian dogma.
Their daily lives are geared to upholding testimonies of Peace, Truth, Integrity, Equality and Simplicity.

Ro Morrow
One of the strongest testimonies for me, and perhaps one of the hardest is the testimony of simplicity.

Narrator
Ro Morrow lives near Katoomba in the Blue Mountains district of NSW where she teaches permaculture.
Searching for something more she abandoned the Anglicanism of her childhood to find a spiritual home in Quaker belief and testimonies.
She tries to live simply with no car, television or refrigerator….It’s a way of life she finds rewarding.

Ro Morrow 
So to live simply is to live as much as I can from the garden; to live simply is to be a very low low consumer. Like not to consume packaging and be part of the big buying thing.
To live simply is also to consume locally and support local people. To live simply is to try and speak simply and to think more purely.
In fact it’s a joy, it’s so less cluttered. Your shopping list goes down to about six or eight main things and that's it. Most of your supermarket is in your garden. No life is much much better living simply.

Narrator
Through her work with Quaker World Service Ro Morrow is passing on her horticultural skills to women in third world countries so that they too may become more self sufficient.

Ro 
In Cambodia I was involved in a project to teach district women, all women, how to grow food. And when they could grow food they had to go and teach poorer women.
So I basically taught them permaculture. And they had to practice it before they could teach. It's a sort of nutrition that takes people out of chronic persistent hunger into better health. So it's food gardens and fruit.
Poverty is an injustice against the spirit of God or the inner spirit of all those people. And at least if they have food they can rise a little above that terrible gut feeling of being hungry and worse for many people is seeing their children hungry.

Narr 
Quakers do not prosyletise. They believe people can’t be converted but must discover for themselves whether they are Quakers or not. The great majority are Quakers of conviction who have come to the belief from different beginnings.
This was not the case for Sarah Davies.

Sarah Davies 
My mother is a Quaker so it was a natural process for me to become a Quaker. When she went to meeting I just came along. Her father actually was a Quaker. I don't have a process where I went from knowing something else or going to a different church and then becoming a Quaker like a lot of people have. For me it was just a natural process, I was always there.

Narrator
Sarah Davies’ grandparents were Quakers. The advent of World War II was to herald very challenging times. The attacks on Britain both tested her Grandfather’s Quaker convictions and isolated him when other men were rallying for their country.

Sarah 
My grandfather was a conscientious objector during the 2nd World War. And this was due to his being a Quaker. Quakers believe in pacifism, and I know stories about my grandfather. During that time he would be given white feathers by people, such as a symbol of being a coward. But I think often it is the person who says no, and who says this is wrong is the person who is much more courageous.

Narr 
Sarah Davies is a media studies graduate but her career path has taken a very different direction from that of her fellow students.
As a consultant with the Geneva based World Council of Churches she spent 2002 working in their peace building and disarmament section.
In 1999 she went to Israel and Palestine as part of a Quaker peace observation team

Sarah 
For me to be able to see these people and talk to these people face to face was just an unbelievable experience.
We went as part of a peace observation team, sponsored by Quakers, but not all the people there were Quakers. And people on either side of the fence if you like in Israel and Palestine were told we were coming, were invited to come and talk to us.
And it really really opened my eyes to how the situation was. I think it was a harrowing experience as well to be able to witness what they’re going through, and then how easy and wonderful our lives are here.

Narrator 
For Sarah Davies being a Quaker determines how she lives her life.

Sarah 
There’s one famous quote which is from George Fox which says Live Adventurously and that’s something I really try and do with my life. Don’t stand back, don’t hesitate. Live adventurously and let your life speak when you’re doing that. Let your life be what you’re trying to do or trying to be.

Narrator
The Quaker movement was founded by George Fox, the shoemaker son of Puritan parents in the mid 17th century.

In the midst of a spiritual crisis Fox experienced what he believed to be the voice of God speaking directly to him.

He began expounding the gospel of the inner light which emphasised the immediacy of Christ’s teaching within each person. He argued that all human beings had the capacity to know God directly and had no need for consecrated churches and ordained clergy.

Fox and other early Quakers were persecuted and imprisoned for their radical beliefs.
But the movement grew and underwent various name changes.

Peter Jones 
Quakers originally called themselves Publishers of the Truth, or Children of the Light. And they are both phrases I really enjoy.
But in 1652 George Fox was on trial before Judge Bennett, and I think he was an Anglican - or you had to be in those days if you were a judge- in Derby in England. And the judge was laughing. He wasn't a very religious Anglican. And Fox turned around to him and said, Thou shouldest quake at the name of the Lord. And Judge Bennett thought this was so funny he called George Fox a Quaker, and the name stuck.

Narrator
Peter Jones has been a Quaker for 30 years. He was born in Britain to peace activist parents. The family were staunch protestants, his father a lay preacher

Peter Jones 
Historically Quakers undoubtedly came out of 17th century Christianity. They're one of what we call the three historic peace churches. We're part of the radical reformation if you sort of trace it from the Catholics through the Anglicans and the non conformists, and the Puritans. And then right at the end of this you've got the Society of Friends. And everybody hated the Quakers and that’s why so many of them went to gaol.

Narrator 
Quakers were denied access to university and the professions.
Instead they turned to business and manufacturing. Cadury’s Chocolate was established by Quakers…and great banks like Lloyd’s and Barclay’s.

The movement spread to America.
In 1862 William Penn founded Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Quaker principles.

In 1832 it came to Australia when two London Quakers were sent to report on conditions in the colony.

Sheila Given 
Well of course I consider Tasmania to be the cradle of Quakerism in Australia because this is where it began when the two English missionaries George Washington Walker and James Backhouse came here in 1832. They had the first meeting, Friends Meeting for Worship in Australia here on 12th February 1832.

Narr.
Sheila Given is a former teacher and historian at the Friends School in Hobart. Originally an Irish Anglican it was through teaching at the school that she was drawn to Quakerism 25 years ago at age 50.

Sheila 
I have been all my life fascinated by children and education. And I believe and always have that a child is not born in original sin but is an original blessing. Has a core spirituality, magnificent mystery inside them and that you build on that.

And when I came to this school Friends School I found my educational beliefs aligned really well with the beliefs of, the underlying beliefs of this school.

I feel that that of God whatever that God is I’m not sure whether I’d even put a capital G to it ..is in everybody. That’s not to say they don’t have the reverse, evil or wickedness or wrong. But it is up to the individual to nurture that of God in themselves.

But the mystery of it intrigues me and the seeking after whatever it is that the spirit, the inner light, or whatever one wants to call it, is exciting to me and has been from the start and continues to be.

Narrator
Since retiring Sheila Given has been busy…..A grandmother of five, she gained a Ph.d at 64; a place on the Council for the Ageing;
A column on aged issues for a weekly newspaper; and Presidency of her local University of the Third Age.

Sheila
There are two aspects to being a Quaker. That is ‘being’ a Quaker and two is ‘doing’ from that belief…action to do with the community or following through on any of the testimonies. People are often astounded at their commitment and where has that come from. Where does anyone’s commitment come from? It comes from their basic beliefs. And I think the Quaker basic beliefs inspire one. They’re an inspiration.


Narr
Originally financed by London Quakers, The Friends school was established in Hobart in 1887.
The Cadbury family were ongoing benefactors.

Whilst the school does not aim to produce Quakers, it does aim to inspire students with its Quaker values….and to instil a sense of service.
On the surface it may look like many other schools but what distinguishes the Friends’ School is its emphasis on the practice of silence.

John Green 
I think this is very distinctively Quaker. And it makes us a Quaker school. We live in a world that very rarely gives a great deal of value to times of quietness and reflection. But I think in those periods it’s a time when we become aware that there is something greater than self. And it is a time when we start to realise that fulfilment is more than the narrow pursuit of self interest.

Narrator
John Green is school principal and one of only three Quakers on the staff. But he believes the Quaker principle of the ‘light within’ shapes the culture of the school.

John Green 
In this school it’s a commonly held idea that there is something special inside oneself and in others. And that I think has a profound influence on the way relationships develop in a Quaker school. Because if you start to believe that there is something intrinsically good or that of God in someone else you treat them with less arrogance and with more respect. And so if you actually believe there is that of God in someone else then obviously it produces a more egalitarian feel in the whole place.

Peter Jones is also on the staff of the Friends School.

From a young age he took part in anti war demonstrations and at 16 attended his first Quaker meeting.

As a student at Oxford University his commitment to Quaker ideals was cemented and at age 23 he became a full member.

The road he’s travelled has led Jones to full time work in the peace movement and has brought him in touch with Quakers around the globe. He’s taught in Quaker schools in Yorkshire and Romallah and now teaches comparative religions at the Friends School.

Peter 
What's happened is that in the last hundred years there has been a sort of difference amongst Quakers. There's those Quakers that are very Christocentric, equally there are those who are drawn from other faiths. We call them universalist, who wouldn't probably call themselves Christians. And those of us who are everything in the middle. And I'm somewhere in the middle.

Peter
As a teacher of comparative religion I value a lot what I learned from my Jewish friends, my Muslim friends, my Buddhist friends, my Hindu friends. But I have always seen myself as a radical Christian, and I rather accept the idea of God as sort of the top of the mountain. But there are many ways to walk up the mountain, and nobody has a prerogative of the truth.

This inclusivity underpinning Quaker belief is one of the features that attracted overseas aid worker Mark Deasy.

Mark
I think the meeting at its best is very inclusive, very accepting. And I think if we go back to that doctrine of the inner light, of recognising there is that of God in every person it becomes much easier to be inclusive.

Narrator
He comes from a long Anglican tradition. His grandfather and father were both clergymen and he grew up happily in a strong parish community. But in adolescence he began to question both his sexuality and his church.

Mark
I think one of the key things though for me was going to an elite church school. And there seemed to be a dissonance between the values that the church officially professed and what was in fact supporting in terms of this elite institution which seemed in some ways to be about the perpetuation of difference, of injustice, of inequality in society that got me asking some serious questions about the church.

Narrator
On the advice of his school house master, at age 16 he attended his first Quaker meeting.

Mark
It was the time I was really coming to terms with my sexuality, recognising that I was gay when I was about 15 or 16. And not being at all satisfied with what was coming through in terms of official church doctrine about that.
It was at that time that Quakers were somewhat in the news because they'd put out in Britain a couple of publications which were the first to come out of any long-standing mainstream church, which was to suggest that homosexual relationships were not intrinsically sinful.

So I went along to a Quaker meeting. And I think the sense that I had there was what a lot of people will describe when they first come to Friends. That it's not a sense of conversion - we never really talk about that. It was a sense of homecoming.

Mark Deasy’s spiritual homecoming was to hone his concern for social justice issues and steer his working life.
Much of it has been spent in relief and reconstruction projects in areas of conflict or its aftermath in Asia and the middle east. He’s been with Quaker World Service, the Middle East Council of Churches, and for the past decade with the strictly secular Oxfam community Aid Abroad.

But it was his work with Quaker Service Australia that took him to Cambodia when few others had been allowed entry.

Mark
Quakers see themselves as having a mission particularly to work either in areas of conflict or in the aftermath of conflict. And of course in Cambodia this conflict continuing there was also the aftermath of genocide.

Narrator
Deasy’s experiences influence his views on the proactive demands of pacifism.

Mark
I think being a pacifist is not about waiting till the conflict happens and then saying, I'm not going to take up arms. It's about in all the stages previously, looking at the sources of injustice, the sources of conflict of exploitation of aggression and giving the rule to work against others. Also working on mediation, working on conflict resolution.

Narrator
Fundamental to Quakerism is the Peace Testimony, a testimony first proclaimed to Charles II in 1660.
It is this principle that most clearly defines Quakers in the public mind.

Jo
Well the peace testimony is very important to me. And I think that’s one thing that I was very interested in about the Quakers when I first started going along in 1972. At that stage we were involved in the Vietnam War. I’d been to moratorium marches. I’d seen these people who were marshals and I like the way they were in the marches. They were quiet and dignified and weren’t ranting and raving and so on. So that appealed to me.

And that really led me to going along to Meeting for Worship. And so it was the first testimony that I became aware of, and it has given me a framework in which to lodge all of the feelings that I had about non-violence and not wanting to fight and so on, that came from the teachings of the people like Jesus. Because he was a great exponent of non-violence.

Narrator
She was raised a Roman Catholic but thirty years on former Greens Senator Jo Vallentine has become one of Australia’s better known Quakers.
It was the issue of nuclear disarmament that first saw her elected to the national Parliament.
A long time activist her passion for peace and social justice issues has twice landed her before the courts and produced short stints in prison.


Jo Vallentine
I think civil disobedience should be taken through to its logical conclusion. For me that’s not paying a fine to get out of going to goal. For me it is going to gaol and bearing that witness right in the gaol system. It's also helped me with my AVP work of course.
It has given me a perspective that I would otherwise not have. Of what it's actually like to be locked down, to be deprived of liberty. Not to have any of your own personal things around you. To have to live in very crowded situations.

Narr
Through history Quakers have been no strangers to prison. In the 19th century Quaker Elizabeth Fry wrought wide-sweeping reforms in the prison system thoughout England and Europe.

These days Jo Vallentine works on the “Alternatives to Violence” Project.
Now mainstream, it was initiated 30 years ago when prisoners at a US gaol invited Quakers to devise for them a “non violence” program to help bring about personal change.

Jo
So that’s really how it began. And I think from that light within that the Quakers believe is in everybody. No matter where they've been or what they've done, no judgments, out of that a loving atmosphere could be engendered. A spirit of community could be built in a workshop, even in the darkness of prisons. Even with people who had done the most dreadful things.
You see we're all capable of violence, and I believe we all actually do violence in our lives.
Another way must be found to deal with conflicts from the personal to the international. And that’s what Quakers really work on very hard.
Quakers are famous for setting up meetings between diplomats of countries that would not normally talk to each other. And they will come to the Quaker house in New York and have these lovely lunches and sit and talk off the record no media no reporting back. They just provide the opportunities for people to get together and know each other. Because then they can really begin to talk about the things that separate them if they’ve found some common ground first.

Narrator
Quakers believe that all life is sacred and war is not the way to resolve conflict. Whilst their calls for peace may seem idealistic to some, Quakers insist that their peace testimony is not merely about abstaining from violence. Instead it’s about seeking a process that can lead to a different way of being in the world.

Jo Vallentine
Sometimes I’ve been called an armchair pacifist and I guess that’s the case for a lot of us if we haven’t actually suffered repression at the point of a gun. But I do think that it’s important to be a witness.
We’re called to be faithful, to be witnesses to what we know is true. We’re called to be faithful to be witnesses to what we know is true. We’re not necessarily called to be successful. And so we stand out there on street corners week after week saying non violence is the way, let’s not go to war. Let's address the underlying causes of terrorism that is in front of everybody's minds at the moment. Let's look at what's behind all of that. Address those issues. We're never going to have peace without justice. So as well as being an idealist and saying well let's not have war, Quakers really put that into practice by looking at the underlying injustices

Peter Jones
Quakers don't deal with the concept of evil very well, and I'm acutely aware of that.
And I think it's something we really have to come to grips with.
I can understand why people turn to war. In many ways it's actually the easy option because it represents a black and white view of the world. I'm good you're bad. But the world isn't like that. It's different shades of grey, and all that war breeds is more hatred and more war. It’s not the answer.

I think the problem for Quakers is we can warn about the conditions that create war. That is why we put the emphasis on equality and simplicity and the sharing of right resources and so on.

I think what a lot of Quakers are wrestling with today through groups like Peace Brigades International and the global peace force is trying to find some way of dealing with some of the dictatorships, some of the injustices in the world in a way to say we have got a non violent solution but we certainly don't claim to have an easy answer. War has never worked either.

Narr
Peter Jones believes that much of the conflict in the world today is shaped by a refusal to respect the beliefs of others.

Peter Jones
Probably the greatest evil facing the planet today is fundamentalism. It doesn't matter if it is Jewish fundamentalism, Christian fundamentalism, Hindu fundamentalism or Muslim fundamentalism. It is the position that simply says, I am right and you're all wrong, and I'm going to shove my religion down your throat whether you like it or not, and all the ideas that go with it.

And I teach comparative religion because I want students to understand that that's actually the opposite of what religion stands for.

So I take my students to the synagogue, I take them to Muslim prayer. I bring people to come and talk to the school. And we try and celebrate the festivals and Holi is one of the is one of the most fun loving joyous festivals in the Indian calendar because it is the spring festival. So I bought the power back with me from India. We filled the dust bins with water and we throw water over each other like one billion Indians are doing today.

Narr 
As Peter Jones’ religion class reinvents the Hindu spring festival of Holi, he sees it as just another small step that can build bridges to other faiths and peoples. Quaker numbers have always been small yet their influence considerable. They believe Quaker values lay the groundwork for a wider vision of society… The task of individual Quakers is to communicate their testimony by the way they live their lives.

Peter Jones
If you look through the history of the world, the only things that have made the world a better place are the little people who did little things. There's very few of us are going to be great leaders. But it's all those little cumulative acts.
The first women who demanded the vote, you know. The first trade unionists. The first people who demanded equality for black and white people, or spoke out against slavery. Those are the people who make the world go forward.

Ro Morrow
I think your lives need to speak. I think it’s much more powerful than words.

Ends

The millionth snowflake : the history of Quakers in South Australia by Charles Stevenson | LibraryThing

The millionth snowflake : the history of Quakers in South Australia by Charles Stevenson | LibraryThing

DSLM's review

From the Foreword by William Oats: "Charles Stevenson has been most thorough in his research, but he brings that research to life through his concern to portray characters in action. His flair for intimate anecdote adds to the interest of his narrative.
"There was good reason for the Quaker fledgling colony in the early days of South Australia to be hailed as 'the Pennsylvania of the South'. Even if that promise was not fulfilled, the influence of the early Quaker pioneers on Australian Quaker history stemmed from the quality of their individual and family life. These pioneers too played a significant part in the history of the colony and indeed in the development of Australia.
"My first contact with Quakers was with Frederick Coleman. Quakers do not think in terms of prototypes, but I looked upon him as one who expressed for me what Quakerism means. He was a major reason for my decision to seek membership.
"Charles Stevenson, by telling the story of the lives of South Australian Quakers such as Frederick Coleman, will give others a reason for saying, 'Is that what it means to be a Quaker?'"

   DSLM | May 19, 2010 

Quaker by Convincement (Pelican): Geoffrey Hubbard

Quaker by Convincement (Pelican): Geoffrey Hubbard

Quaker by Convincement
ByKerouac fanon 17 February 2003

I read Quaker by Convincement 25 years ago and because it explained Quakerism in a down-to-earth, easy to understand way it helped me make up my mind to become an attender at Quaker meetings (for 10 years) and then a Friend (full member). I think that for a person of the hippy generation, their liberal attitude, spirituallity and peace testament are very attractive. Underlying this is a strict wisdom, logic and sincerity which I find un-rivaled in most other churches. Quakers don't preach to you but are interested in your spiritual experiences of life. The author has a friendly, engaging style that explains clearly and simply the precepts of Quakerism. Read it and you'll see why many Jews, Hindu's and Christians attend Quaker meetings while retaining their own beliefs.

Einstein: His Life and Universe: Walter Isaacson: 9780743264747: Amazon.com: Books

Einstein: His Life and Universe: Walter Isaacson: 9780743264747: Amazon.com: Books

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsYou Don't Have to be a Student of Physics to Enjoy this Book

By D. Buxman TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on April 15, 2007

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

In my experience, biographies of great scientists often leave the reader in a fog of technical complexity. While this book is not "Physics in One Simple Lesson," Walter Isaacson did a wonderful job of telling the story of the man and making the scientific aspects sufficiently understandable to be useful in grasping the magnitude of Einstein's intellect. This book is meticulously researched and sourced, yet written in a witty and entertaining way that makes reading it a pleasure. The central lesson that I was left with was the importance of independent thinking in any context. Einstein made it clear that conventional wisdom is often neither practical, nor wise. I was struck by his resiliance in his early years and his good humor in really tough times. I also appreciated the fact that the author was willing to examine all aspects of Eintein's personality, both favorable and unfavorable.

2 Comments  288 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?  YesNo  Report abuse

4.0 out of 5 starsA complex man gets his due in fascinating biography

By Wayne Klein HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on April 11, 2007

Format: Hardcover

Walter Isaacson's biography of Einstein creates a fuller better rounded image of one of the finest minds of the 20th Century than many biographies of Einstein. Although it's not without its flaws, Issacson's book covers much of Einstein's life pointing out both his successes and flaws as both a person and physicist.

We learn that as a child Einstein suffered from what could be echolalia (which is where you mutter a phrase to yourself multiple times before saying it to others). Issacson notes both Einstein's debt to Hume, Planck and philosphers such as Kant in helping develop both his world view and his breakthroughs in science. To his credit Isaacson also points out that the man that came to embody the modern view of physics and became a hero who had feet of clay; Einstein gave up his daughter for adoption without ever seeing her and spent much of his time away from Mileva (who would eventually become his first wife) while she was pregnant for a variety of reasons some understandable some not. The young Einstein was brash,egotistic and obnoxious (or you could call him overly confident) often pointing out flaws in papers by the very professors he was seeking jobs from. He also charts Einstein's difficult path to his professorship including his stint working in the Swiss patent office.

Isaacson does cover Einstein's support for the development of the atomic bomb (although this is a relatively small section of the biography) and mentions that Einstein later regreted his support and the bombing that occurred in Japan during World War II. When Einstein came up with his famous equation, he never imagined it would help pave the way for for mass destruction. He was conflicted over his role in the development of the atomic bomb feeling both responsibility and guilty over his role and how it led to the deaths of those in Japan and the arms race. This guilt shaped his role in leading the charge for a world government that would prevent individual nations from using the atomic bomb. He later stated that if he had known Germany wasn't going to be able to develop the atomic bomb, he "never would have lifted a finger" to prompt the United States to develop this weapon of mass destruction. He never forgave the German people for their role in trying to exterminate Jews and others prohibiting sale of his books in post-war Germany and stated that he felt the country should continue to be punished for what occurred. Isaacson addresses some of the contradictions of the man of peace who contributed and supported war showing that while Einstein had his absolute convicitions they could sometimes shift depending on the circumstances. Einstein never pretended to be perfect and Isaacson does a good job of portraying the flawed but brilliant human being at the core of all that brain power. The biggest surprise for me was discovering that he unwittingly had an affair with a Soviet spy and the fact that he refused to believe in Black Holes even though there was clear evidence (some of it in his theories)because it didn't fit his elegant view of the universe.

Most importantly the author manages to give understandable explanations of Einstein's theories and how he came up with many of them. One can't understand Einstein's world without understanding his world view or the way that his papers/theories altered the world we live in today. I'd recommend this book for the compelling human portrait that Isaacson creates of one of the leading figures of science in the 20th Century. Also recommended--
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

21 Comments  357 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?  YesNo  Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 starsThe human face of Einstein

By Jon Hunt on April 28, 2007

Format: Hardcover

Walter Isaacson's sweeping new book about one of the great minds in life is a tribute to Albert Einstein through his life and his work. For those of us who know the renowned physicist through equations and reputation, Isaacson fills in the rest. Einstein's creativity and his abiltity to think far past others added so much dimension to the arena of science while his personal life was just as rich with detail. In "Einstein", the author reveals a dashing history.

As Isaacson says, Einstein wondered early on what it would be like to ride alongside a light beam. This kind of thinking outside the box led to a lifetime of successes and a few failures, as well. The good and the bad are covered here. What is so striking about this book is that the reader seems to grow with the subject. One cheers Einstein on in his youth as he throws convention out the window, bucks hierarchy and generally goes his own way. Later in life, as Einstein becomes more reasoned (but nonetheless no less radical) we understand the transformation. This is the key to the enjoyment of reading "Einstein"...the humanness of his person shines.

There are a couple of chapters which took me by surprise and are terrific additions to the book. One is titled "Einstein's God", a look at how science and religion may or may not be reconciled in Einstein's eyes, and a chapter on the "Red Scare". That Einstein should have lived through the McCarthy era and had the wits to comment on it is fortuitous, indeed.

"Einstein" may just be the best read of the year. Isaacson's narrative style flows and while there are a lot of technical points about physics necessary to the the story, it never for a minute lets down. I highly recommend "Einstein" and give tribute to Walter Isaacson, whose research and strength as an author gives us such a compelling look at Albert Einstein.

Comment  107 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?  YesNo  Report abuse

3.0 out of 5 starsCompetent but simplistic

By Odysseus on January 12, 2008

Format: Hardcover

It's often unfair to rate a book relative to its reputation, but sometimes it is necessary to do so to offset the impression given by other advance billings. I found Isaacon's Einstein to be a serviceable biography, nothing more; certainly not the tour de force I half-expected it to be based on its having climbed to #1 on the best-seller list. Among biographies I read in 2007, Neal Gabler's life of Disney, and Leigh Montville's Babe Ruth bio ("The Big Bam") were certainly superior. So too was Whittaker Chambers's haunting "Witness" (though this was a 50th-year anniversary re-release). Even Bill Bryson's light and unpretentious "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" far outshined this book in the biography/memoir category.

Isaacson's book provides the salient details of Einstein's life, and does a fair if unspectacular job of bringing the gist of Einstein's theories into focus for the layman. Biographies of scientists, artists and philosophers can sometimes be frustrating reads when the life narrative isn't as interesting as the subject's body of work. This places a burden on the biographer to convey the aesthetic flavor and force of the subject's work (or, in other words, "what all the fuss was about.") Isaacson does a fair job of this. It's virtually impossible to fully do it with Einstein while omitting nearly all the math, but at least Isaacson manages to get it done without losing the essence of what made Einstein's work fascinating.

The larger problem with the book is the author's reduction of Einstein's personality to a few summary points, repeating those over and over, even to the point of jamming virtually every life event into tight pigeonholes. Specifically:

-- Einstein, we are told, was repulsed by conformity. Isaacson relates a story of the child Einstein crying when seeing a Germany army marching by in perfect synchronization. Nothing could be more horrifying to this fiercely independent mind than such mindless collective action. Isaacson argues that Einstein's determination to go his own separate way was one of the vital elements of his unique genius.
-- Einstein's non-conformity enabled him to avoid running with the pack, even in the political arena. A pacifist for some of his adult life, he had the good sense to eschew pacifism in the age of Hitler.
-- Einstein didn't do as badly in school, nor as badly at mathematics, as is often stated, though he was hardly a leading mathematician.
-- Einstein had an ambivalent attitude toward his own fame. On the one hand, he was amused by the buffoonery of celebrity culture, and went out of his way to deflate its pretentions. But he cultivated an image of indifference to fame that outstripped the reality that he quite enjoyed it.
-- Einstein was often cruel or indifferent to those closest to him, but he deeply felt, especially late in life, moral obligations to humanity at large.
-- Einstein was a willing scientific revolutionary early on, but later become something of a scientific conservative. He was never able, for example, to fully accept the achievements of quantum mechanics.
-- Einstein preferred simple, elegant theories to fiddly, complex, clunky ones.

There, that didn't take so long, did it? The book devotes hundreds of pages to interpreting most of Einstein's life events according to one or the other of these themes. The repetition is vexing, but the bigger problem is that one gets the sense that Isaacson is so determined that these be the defining characteristics of Einstein's life and work, that he allows little room for the possibility of narrative events that collide with the themes.

Most of us have read biographies where every childhood event is treated as though it's a precursor or partial explanation for some later adult event or tendency. And we've read bios that seem to reduce a life to a manifestation of a small number of repeated themes. But human beings are more complex than this, and life narratives are rarely so neat and tidy. It seems unlikely that a man of Einstein's intelligence and complexity would have a life that so unremittingly conformed to the favorite leitmotifs of his biographer. No doubt, Isaacson's interpretations have a sound and convincing basis, but the relentless plumbing of these lines left me rather numb by the end of the book.

Beyond this, the book simply wasn't as engrossing to read as many biographies are.

Certainly a serviceable biography, but not a flawless one.

17 Comments  192 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful 

Things My Best Friends Told Me for the Camino and for Life eBook: Kerry O'Regan: Books

Things My Best Friends Told Me for the Camino and for Life 
 Kerry O'Regan: Books

A woman sets out to walk the Camino, the ancient pilgrimage across the north of Spain. No longer young, she walks alone, leaving family and friends behind. But she also carries them with her, in the messages they've written on her stick. Each day she walks and each day she reads the messages, and muses on them. These are her musings, on the places she sees, the people she meets, the events she lives. The Things My Best Friends Told Me for the Camino and for Life is part travel adventure, part soul journey. It's whimsical, witty, and wise. 
Kerry O'Regan lives in suburban Adelaide. She's a retired academic, a Quaker, grandmother and unlikely adventurer.

Brotherhood: Dharma, Destiny, and the American Dream: Deepak Chopra, Sanjiv Chopra

Brotherhood: Dharma, Destiny, and the American Dream: 
Deepak Chopra, Sanjiv Chopra

4.3 out of 5 stars   293 customer reviews
--
Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars
Chopra
By Tom T VINE VOICE on April 17, 2013

I have read many of Deepak Chopra's books through the years with great enjoyment. I particularly read his books during the time that he was a spokesman for Transcendental Meditation. He is a great story teller and having heard him speak a couple of times, also a great inspirational speaker. Brotherhood by Deepak and his younger brother Sanjiv added another dimension to the Chopra story for me. This book was set up with each brother writing a chapter without the help or consultation of the other. The brothers write alternating chapters. At times they tell about the same people or experiences, but from a different perspective. At other times the chapters aren't related in subject at all.

Deepak has been publicly involved in more spiritual matters in his previous writing. Sanjiv appears to have a more scientific attitude. Both are medical doctors, though I do not believe Deepak is involved in medicine to a great degree, except perhaps Ayurveda. Sanjiv practiced a more traditional western medicine and is a professor and a dean at Harvard Medical school.

Being somewhat familiar with their backgrounds in India, I found Brotherhood a great addition to my knowledge of India, their families and what it was like to grow up in India. The stories in Brotherhood are extremely well written and very entertaining. They are humorous, moving, and at the same time historical. I found Sanjiv's writing to be particularly good, especially since it is Deepak who has been the one writing books for many years. In Brotherhood Deepak's writing gives the impression of being overwhelmed by the information that he is relaying and becomes somewhat scattered. On the other hand Sanjiv's writing is clear and more linear.

Perhaps, I have been a bit too analytical in this review. Overall the book is very enjoyable, and is a quick and easy read. When Sanjiv was asked how he might live his life differently if he had the chance, he described exactly what he had done and said he would do it again. These are two extremely intelligent and caring individuals who have added greatly to this country and to the world.

I would like to add, upon reflection, for those who wondered why and how the split occurred between Deepak and Maharishi, it is explained in this book.

---

5.0 out of 5 stars
DESTINED TO AWAKEN A SLUMBERING WORLD?
By Eric Chaffee VINE VOICE on May 7, 2013

There is a short incident in Walter Isaacson's biography, EINSTEIN, where, during the space race of the late 1950's, a member of the NY Board of Regents (responsible for public education) writes to ask Dr Einstein what they should have students study, expecting to hear a response mentioning math & science. Instead, the good professor writes back to say that it would be most beneficial to have them study the lives and biographies of the great ones. I don't know if Deepak Chopra would fit into that category if a vote were taken, but he certainly gets my vote. His writing has been stimulating me, and readers in the world around me, for decades. He has had over 20 titles on the NYTimes bestseller list. And he has helped to shape an awakening in spirituality and healthcare. This book furthers the learning he has fostered.

Meeting his brother and family in this book was delightful. Learning about the evolution of Deepak's thought and career stands splendidly in contrast with his younger brother's approach, also a major medical influence, but in the more conventional mode - parallel lives in a multiverse. The book is organized in alternating chapters written by each author. It traces their evolving thoughts, influence, and destiny. It includes many accounts of learning from a spectrum of challenges beginning in boyhood. Their father was a prominent cardiologist, and they find their way to continue in the medical field, in colorful fashion with considerable impact on medicine, education, spirituality, and society.

The thrust in history of treatment is fascinating, especially considering the evolution of mind-body medicine over the past 30 years. Here's a favorite quote from Deepak (p.274 in my uncorrected copy): "The real revolution in medicine would come about only through consciousness. People needed to see that matter was a mask for mind. A human being isn't a machine that learns to think; we are thoughts that learned to build a machine."

There is much in this book about destiny and questing to learn our purpose and assignment. Yet the science of it is never abandoned. While I prefer the writing of the elder brother, Deepak, both writers have provided much to stimulate thought in this volume. One brother becomes a prominent expert on a single organ, the liver, while the other treats the whole person, reshaping both medicine and spirituality in the process. Enlightening.

---
5.0 out of 5 stars
East Meets West to Benefit Us All
By Becca Chopra VINE VOICE on May 14, 2013

Having grown up in America, I didn't have the experience of growing up in my family's traditions in India. But, thanks to Deepak Chopra, I have been able to read and study the Eastern philosophy that has shaped my own views and teachings. In this book, I'm also happy to read the insightful writing of Sanjiv Chopra.

Both trained as doctors of allopathic medicine, like their father, a cardiologist in India, Deepak, however, leaves his career as an endocrinologist to teach mind-body healing and spiritual success, while Sanjiv continues as a Western-trained doctor to become a medical expert and professor at Harvard Medical School. Both have great success in their fields, and each write humbly and beautifully about their life journey. They explain how they discovered their own identities and, between the lines, we too learn how to discover our own life's meaning and truth.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of the memoir, Chakra Secrets

---

2.0 out of 5 stars
More Gobbledegook by Deepak: Sanjiv's Chapters Good
By SanjeevP VINE VOICE on July 16, 2013

Having gone to the same medical school in India that these brothers went to, coming from the same area and cultural background, speaking the same language, I share some of the experiences with them and that's what made me order this book through Amazon.

I liked reading the chapters by Sanjiv in this book: his writing is more about personal, immediate and direct experiences. It is logical and straightforward. Of course, I had many of the same experiences and could relate to that. What many of the Indian immigrants, particularly the Indian doctors go through in US, is what Sanjiv's writing is about.

After reading Deepak Chopra's first book "Ageless Body, Timeless Mind", I could not stand reading another book by him. To me he is just a charlatan who has mastered the art turning gibberish into bestsellers. Jargon like "Quantum healing" sounds as if he is talking something profound, but is actually meaningless. There is not really much about his personal and direct experiences in this book. Deepak Chopra has basically recycled his mumbo-jumbo in this book, probably ghostwritten by David Fisher.
---

On becoming American (9780395262832): Ted Morgan: Books

 On becoming American  Ted Morgan: Books

On becoming American Hardcover – 1978

by Ted Morgan

---
Amazon.com:

On Becoming American is an inquiry into American identity--what it is that sets Americans apart from the rest of the world. Ted Morgan discusses America through the prism of his own experience: he was a French aristocrat, Sanche de Gramont, who became Ted Morgan and an American citizen in 1977, he settled on a name that conformed with the language and cultural norms of American society, a name that telephone operators and desk clerks could hear without flinching. 

A Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, Morgan's experience illustrates why immigration is central to the American experience. He sees us with fresh eyes, and writes with humor about our passion for fast cars, fast food and the freedom we take for granted. "An antidote to facile put downs of America. Morgan makes the case that America is the greatest success story the world has ever known. Not bad for someone who isn't even running for office!"

---

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsUseful insight from someone who made the transition
By Ted Doty on October 2, 2000

The problem with being american (for those who were born american) is that we are so immersed in american-ism that we can no longer see what it is. Someone who is born elsewhere and consciously decides to become "american" has a unique perspective - one that is useful for the rest of us americans to read.

Ted Morgan was born a noble french aristocrat, son of a Free French hero ("Ted Morgan" is an anagram of his french name, de Gramont). However, he found himself increasingly estranged from the closed world of the post-war french nobility, and increasingly drawn to the open culture of the United States. This book describes why, and how he came to make the break with his old life.

As Morgan says in his book: "All americans are either revolutionaries, or descended from revolutionaries." While his turn of phrase makes enjoyable reading (Morgan won a Pulitzer prize for news reporting under deadline), his insights go deeper. This book acts in some way as a mirror held so we can contemplate our own reflection. Those of us who were born here can get some unique insight from this insider/outsider view.