At last, we are on line with our June issue.  We’ve been plagued with technical problems which has necessitated a complete site rebuild.  We thank Danni Green of Black Cactus Creative for her ongoing support.  Even now we might not be completely out of the woods, and some contributions may struggle in over the next few weeks.  Keep checking.

In this issue we look back to George Fox, and ahead to our next Yearly Meeting.  The faith taught by Fox was that we must each individually be guided by the Inner Light.  Yet the Quaker way is not a lonely path.  Fox realised early on that people need to be part of a community, and urged Friends to “keep to their meetings”.

Our next Yearly Meeting will again be by Zoom.  All Friends are urged to take part, even if they regard Zoom meetings as a poor substitute for meetings in person.  We have one article regretting the loss of personal contact at Yearly Meeting, and another reminding us of the risks and asking us to consider the right way forward.

George Fox had a passion for social justice, and this passion is still strong.  The Know They Friend article is about Jo Vallentine who championed the causes of peace and justice for First Nations People in the Australian parliament.  And David Evans draws our attention to the Uluru Statement from the Heart in which Aboriginal Australians ask for a Voice to their Parliament in Canberra, and for truth telling regarding the injustices they have suffered.

David Purnell writes about Conscientious Objection, a concern which dates back to George Fox who spent an extra 6 months in prison rather than take a commission in Oliver Cromwell’s army.

John Michaelis reminds us that in George Fox’s time there were many Quakers, despite persecution.  How are we to find the people who need our message today?  Adrian Glamorgan writes of his Peace Video project, which both promotes the cause of peace and reminds people that Quakers are still here working for that cause.

We live in troubled times.  So did George Fox.  Yet he wrote, “Sing and rejoice, ye Children of the Day and of the Light; for the Lord is at work in this thick night of Darkness.”