Quaker testimony is rooted in truth, but what is truth? Truth can vary according to perspective, and it can be tainted by the needs and interests of the speaker, giving rise to partial truth and untruth, passed on as truth. The way we receive someone else's truth is also affected by our own perspectives and prejudices and those of the culture in which we live. And there are some truths that we simply don't want to hear!
Our understanding of truth is often partial and provisional. The important thing is to seek truth and bring it into the Light, a search that's enabled by reading, listening, observing, reflecting and testing our understanding with others. This enables our testimony to grow deep roots and strong branches.
In my search for truth, I was fortunate to be invited to join a (community) book group a few months ago. We meet once a month to discuss a book or podcast. Some of those we've looked at since I joined are:
• Farmerama Radio, 'Landed' podcast series, listen – Farmerama Radio
• 'Emergent Strategy: shaping change, changing worlds', adrienne maree brown, 2017
• 'The Next American Revolution: sustainable activism for the twenty-first century', Grace Lee Boggs, 2011
• BBC Sounds, ‘Witch’ series, BBC Sounds - Witch - Available Episodes
• 'Cannibal Capitalism: how our system is devouring democracy, care and our planet – and what we can do about it', Nancy Fraser, 2022
All these have been interesting and informative. ‘Emergent Strategy’ was also a challenging read, as it was written in a style and rooted in a culture with which I was unfamiliar. Although the discussions in our meetings are based on the current book or podcast, they're deep and wide-ranging, often with a significant spiritual/religious dimension in our search for truth. It's a format that would work well in a Quaker context.
There are three other books I'd like to mention here:
• 'Less is More: how degrowth will save the world', Jason Hickel, 2020
• 'Introducing a New Economics: pluralist, sustainable and progressive', Jack Reardon, Maria Alejandra Madi and Molly Scott Cato, 2018
• 'Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the wisdom of plants', Robin Wall Kimmerer, 2013
All these have helped me in my search. I wonder in what places other Friends have sought truth and what Quaker book or study groups are out there or waiting to be born?
Wendy Pattinson