Moving with the times?

As a Quaker, I sometimes despair and the self-defeating way some Friends stick rigidly to old ways of doing things. There is much to be said for valuing tradition, but in the 21st century, it’s equally important to adapt to remain relevant in our largely secular society. The alternative is to slip unnoticed into history and be forgotten.

I was prompted to reflect on this when I heard an Amish farmer speak at a farming event in Hertfordshire last week. He had flown to the UK, and was using Powerpoint to illustrate his talk. His message, that we need to work with the soil, and not subject it to needless doses of fertiliser was both timely and powerful.

But to travel to the UK and use a computer will not have sat comfortably with the religious tradition within which he’d been raised. I suspect he had thought long and hard about how to balance the importance of his message with the need to use technology to convey it to us.

His presentation reassure me, both that we are all slowly adapting to a more wholesome, nature friendly way of life, and also that I too must follow my instinct and follow my conscience rather than blindly follow the herd. To conform, or worse, to walk away are not options. Better to remain a pragmatic Quaker.