Luton Friends hosted Area Meeting on Sunday last. It was inspiring to be with Quakers from other local meetings, and we tried to give them a very warm welcome over lunch and at teatime. Many thanks to our caretakers for making sure that the Meeting House was looking its very best.

At the meeting itself, a Luton Friend read from Quaker faith and practice 10.20:

“One of the unexpected things I have learnt in my life as a Quaker is that religion is basically about relationships between people. This was an unexpected discovery, because I had been brought up to believe that religion was essentially about our relationship with God…

… I do not think I am alone in my certainty that it’s in my relationships with people that the deepest religious truths are most vividly disclosed.” (George Gorman)Another Luton Friend gave a short talk about the transformative work of the Quaker Office at the United Nations (QUNO). QUNO addresses some of the greatest and most difficult issues: human rights and refuges, peace and disarmament, food and sustainability, and climate change.  Diplomats, UN officials, staff of NGOs, come together for off-the-record meals in the Geneva House, in a Quaker atmosphere of trust, a meeting of hearts and perhaps then of minds.  

-Colin Hall