Dear Friends,
Greetings of peace to you all during this dark time of war! The situation in the Ukraine is painfully complex and there are no easy answers, but as Friends, we believe that the Inward Light will guide us individually and collectively to do what we can to help alleviate this crisis. As our Russian Friend Boris Fedyukin wrote, “Act according to your conscience, do not allow the circumstances to destroy you. Hold to those you hold dear, help those near to you, make a public witness for peace…” To read his full letter, go to https://mailchi.mp/westernfriend.org/extra-extra_2022-02-26?e=2e2e2f6184
You are invited to join in daily meeting for worship by Julie Harlow, a dear Friend and member of the Friends House Moscow Board (see below). Around 450 Friends attended our Zoom worship on Monday, from the USA, UK, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, etc. I was very inspired and heartened to see so many Friends gathered for peace! Please hold the people of Ukraine and Russia in the Light, especially those working for peace….
Although the current situation seems grim and terrifying, I am reminded that in the early 1980s I was led to my first Quaker project: "spiritual linkage with the Russians" (the title of a Pendle Hill pamphlet I wrote). When President Reagan was rattling his sabre and calling the Soviet Union an "evil empire," many of us were fearful that we were on the brink of nuclear war, and for good reason. That's when Spirit led me to work with Friends like Janet Riley to do a Soviet-American joint book project to dispel stereotypes and build understanding between Americans and Russians. We also hoped to start a Quaker meeting in Moscow. As we got to know Russian writers as well as "ordinary" people, we became part of the citizen diplomacy movement that helped end the Cold War without bloodshed. Thanks be to God, we were able to start a Quaker meeting in Moscow. For this reason, I believe that when we seek Divine Guidance and work together for peace, miracles can and do happen. As Paul says, we have "grounds for hope."
Meanwhile, there is much work to be done to ensure peace since we are God's hands and feet. So please
consider writing to our elected officials about the Ukraine situation, as suggested by the Friends Committee on
National Legislation: https://www.fcnl.org/
David Hartsough and George Lakey, our leading Quaker peace activists, call on us to “build a powerful global movement to say No to Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine and No to NATO and an end to threatening one another with nuclear annihilation.” Here are links to efforts to use the power of nonviolence to quell this conflict:
https://wagingnonviolence.org/2022/02/ukraine-secret-weapon-civilian-resistance/
https://wagingnonviolence.org/2022/02/the-dangerous-assumption-that-violence-keeps-us-safe/
In peace and friendship,
Anthony Manousos, OGMM Rep to FCNL
Below is the letter from Julie Harlow of Friends House Moscow:
Dear Friends,
Let us join together
in holding in the Light the situation in Ukraine, the decision makers, the
soldiers, the citizens, all the people whose lives are in danger and
disrupted by fear.
You are invited to
participate with Friends House Moscow in a virtual Meeting for Worship each
morning for one hour throughout the crisis in Ukraine.
The online room opens
at 8:45am Pacific time; worship begins on the hour and ends an hour
later. After worship you are invited to introduce yourself and share
brief thoughts that did not rise to the level of ministry. You may also
want to rename yourself indicating your geographic location. There will
be no audible indicator when one enters or leaves and everyone will be muted on
entry. Please leave yourself muted unless giving ministry.
Ministry may also be
shared in the chat, but it is not the place for private conversations. If you
are new to Quaker unprogrammed worship and wish to talk with someone about it,
send a message to the host and someone can join you in a breakout room.
Daily
9:00AM Pacific = 10AM Mountain
Click here to join the Meeting for Worship
for Ukraine directly.
Meeting ID: 416 500 5614
Passcode: 182805
from Julie Harlow,
Friends House Moscow Board (2/25/2022)
Below is a letter from Boris Fetyukin, a "Friend in Russia"
This Morning
February 24, 2022
This morning, President Putin declared war against Ukraine.
Cities are under rocket fire, paratroopers are being landed, people are being killed.
This morning, I pray God to protect as many people as possible in Ukraine, that He take them under His shield. In a time of force gone mad, I hope that the power of the Holy Spirit, that which dwells in each of us, may give each of us the strength and forbearance to stand against the madness. I believe that, in each person, there is that of God, and that each person is deserving of life. The people of Ukraine are deserving of life, of peace and of freedom.
Let us cast war out from our own hearts.
This morning, our nation has broken into two parts.
A demon-ridden elite has supported Vladimir Putin’s terrifying ideas: his propagandists, his security men and the courts will safeguard the existing order of things. Each of them, who has refused to take action on behalf of peace, bears a personal responsibility for the deaths which are taking place. There are others, banned from decision-making, deprived both of voice and of the power to choose, forced out of our country, stung silent by the propaganda, who are becoming only spectators to the on-going madness, And each of us in the majority of the citizens of Russia is called to come to an understanding of the pain of war, of the malignancy of the developing situation. And God will give each of us the strength to make a stand and to speak out, as long as we listen to the song of peace.
This morning, I asked my son not to to believe his teachers, if, even in passing, they should speak in favor of the rightness of Russia’s and Putin’s acts of war, and to tell me about them this evening. I will not allow the government to indoctrinate my child with the propaganda of death.
Discuss the situation with friends and family. make it clear to the children, that the what is happening is harmful to the soul, make it clear to yourself.
Act according to your conscience, do not allow the circumstances to destroy you. Hold to those you hold dear, help those near to you, make a public witness for peace, don’t give an ear to the blandishments of the propagandists.
No to war.
– Boris Fedyukin (2/24/2022)
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