Page 2 - SPRING 2024 News and Views

Editorial

Because of the timing of the publication of the Spring, Summer and Autumn/Winter editions of News
and Views, this Spring edition contains some contributions which would have found a more natural

home in the Autumn/Winter edition.

The term Smorgasbord has been extended from meaning a varied menu of Scandinavian sandwiches and
delicacies to, in this case, a Smorgasbord of news and views, using a variety of literary and visual media.
It includes prose, poetry, philosophy, theology, history allegory, and photography. We are grateful to our
contributors who together, have created this Smorgasbord which we hope you will find both enjoyable
and worthwhile.

Two themes seem to emerge: Spiritual Experience and the Life of Faith in Action. These themes can be

detected as our contributors share with us their insights as Friends seeking to live the Quaker life.
In a sense the first theme of Spiritual Experience is summarised in the review , on page 10, of David

Yaden and Andrew Newberg’s book The Variety of Spiritual Experience. They describe it as ‘numinous,
revelatory, synchronicity, mystical, paranormal, and aesthetic’. Our contributors allude to this from their
different experiences and viewpoints.

The word ‘testimony’ is used by Quakers to describe ‘a witness to the living truth within the human
heart as it is acted out in everyday life.’ QFP 23.12

In the second theme, The life of Faith in Action, our contributors share with us their often very personal
experiences and activities in this acting out of the ‘living truth’.

Dorrie and Eric Johnson.

Joint editors.

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