Epistle from Netherlands Yearly Meeting, 28-30 May 2010 in Barchem

To all dear Friends,

Heartfelt greetings from Netherlands Friends.

Late May 2010 we gathered together in Barchem for our annual Yearly Meeting. We were over 80 people: members, visitors, young adults and children, and also representatives from several other Yearly Meetings.

The clerk opened the Annual Meeting with the parable of the mustard seed, a small seed that brings forth the tallest tree in which birds make their nests. Then we were surprised by a conversation between two eighteenth-century Friends who were wondering about a man named John Woolman. This man had just arrived in England. His tenacious and respectful testimony is an example of the far-reaching influence that one man can have.

The theme of the meeting was: how can we as small people exercise influence on global issues? The idea of aspiring to bring about fundamental changes as an individual or small group is so controversial that it is easy to get discouraged. Thinking about major problems, searching for major solutions, we tend to see walls that block our path. But those seemingly impenetrable walls have tiny cracks. They offer openings.

Today, the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva acts in similar ways as did John Woolman. QUNO manages to put items on the agenda of diplomats and politicians such as the recruiting of child soldiers and the distribution of small firearms. This work is rooted in the concerns of individual Quakers. An introduction by David Atwood about QUNO’s efforts and later an interest group dealing with conflict mediation run by a small group of British Friends made us realize that our niche as Quakers often consists of bringing people together.

In all Quaker actions, working in Quaker style, we will not forget that it is most importantly the way we do it that distinguishes us from others: in a spirit of helpfulness, patience, demonstrating the truth in love, with pastoral care for the persons that are the authorities we address. In short: by simply being Quakers and not overreaching ourselves in our enthusiasm.

This can and must be done not only on a global scale, but also in relation to local issues. We can all act according to our own Calling in our own corner of the world. From the interest groups, the examples given in our discussions of what we are already doing as Quakers and the video about the People’s Crafts Training Centre in India it was clear how closely we are involved in countless concerns, both far and near. Our solidarity, also with others who work on similar issues, contributes to the solidarity and reconciliation in the world. Pondering the enormity of the global problems might well discourage us, but following dr. Martin Luther King’s example we can have a dream about what could emerge from the small things we do, the movement we are, also together with others.

Being a religious society is also being a learning society. We learn from differences; differences between us and other people and differences among ourselves. Many aspects of being Quakers together contribute to this, such as the silence, our seeking Leading, being open-minded by suspending judgments, holding up a mirror to each other, and passing on stories.

Our representatives in Friends World Committee for Consultation and the representative of the Swedish Friends confronted us with the question of whether we need appointed Friends to guide us in our learning process. So far, we in our Monthly Meetings and Yearly Meeting have had no ‘elders’.

After this the young Friends invited us to help lay out a mandala of natural materials on the floor. For this, everyone had brought something from the woods around the house. This mandala portrayed the pattern that emerges in the many layers of our Quaker identity.

We look back on a meeting in which we made visible our connectedness with each other and with the world around us, nourished by the meetings for worship and our stories and experiences. We have learned during this weekend that we do not need to feel powerless. Quakers believe in the direct accessibility of God, in that which unites all and everyone. We do not need to ask what we as a small people can possibly do about big problems. We can ask what we can do to make this connectedness visible.

In connectedness with you all,

Kees Nieuwerth, clerk

“If your faith is as small as a mustard seed, love will overcome hate.”

From a Dutch song: “Als je een geloof hebt als een mosterdzaad, groeit de liefde uit boven de haat.”