by Lee H. | Jun 20, 2025 | Meeting Life
There are conflicts in the world. And conflicts need solutions. What are the solutions?
Upon careful rumination, I have looked into my own past to find examples of conflict and how they were resolved. I came up with these questions that I asked myself. Why do people fight? What stops or ends fighting? Why is there conflict? And what causes it? How should conflicts be resolved? Why is aggression wrong? How important is peace in the world?
When I think and talk about fighting, I equate it with violence, whether physical or verbal. I think that violence occurs when humans are controlled by the wrong side of human nature, the side that is not spiritual, the side that forgets to think things through. I believe that violence is spurred by sudden anger and the attempt to gain power and control over others.
It is so easy to hate and be hostile to another, especially when they are very different from you, than to love and respect them. It is so easy to get angry and to start fighting over problems. Fighting also further marginalizes those who are marginalized and widens the gap between people when we should have solidarity and support each other.
Living as a minority in the U.S., I have felt the need to stop injustice and marginalization, which is spread by fighting. I am really thankful for attending Radnor Friends Meeting. When I grew up, even though I disliked violence, I gave the questions I asked above very little thought. Not many people taught me about conflict and conflict resolution. Once I started to attend Radnor Friends Meeting, I read about blogs by members of the meeting, which pushed me to think even more about the importance of peace and virtue, and the importance of stopping fighting and conflict. Many friends I know from the meeting are kind, loving, and caring. They follow the spirit and path of peace and not a path of fighting. In a world with much fighting and turmoil, the importance of peace and love is even more profound.
And as a conscientious objector, I try my best to support a good cause for myself and others, to stop the bigger fights from occurring.
I was taught by my mother that war is sinful in nature, as people were created equal in spiritual nature, and that harming and taking the life of another is a heinous act. Even Chinese martial arts, 武, were created to stop fighting rather than cause it, as 武 can be separated into “止” and “戈”, which mean stop and conflict, respectively.
Further reading, research, and personal experience provided more reasons for me to take my current stance that I have today, on viewing peace as a solution to conflict.
I dislike and try to avoid people who cause conflicts and show aggression. I have caused and escalated conflicts in the past and when I come to think of it, I regret what I have done. Aggression causes us to act like buffoons, and lose power and influence. I think that even though this world we live in will never be absolutely perfect, we can always try to make the best of it, and leave it better than it was, rather than think that since it will never be perfect, we should let it fall and deteriorate, then indulge ourselves in personal matters and continue to create conflict and waste.
So before choosing aggression, I think people should think things through and try to resolve conflict peacefully and spiritually. I support peace as a solution to conflict.
When we support each other and our differences, we can accomplish great things.
Written by Shangwen, Attender of Radnor Friends Meeting.
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Peace pole photos courtesy of Shangwen. Banner photo by Peter Steiner 🇨🇭 1973.
by Lee H. | Mar 10, 2025 | Climate Action Committee
Here is a four-minute video (presenter: Beverly Ward, via YouTube; editor Cai Quirk) about art as joyous inspiration to live a climate-conscious life.
The understandable anxiety related to climate crisis can cause people to avoid information, and thereby miss opportunities for lifestyle changes. In this short clip, we hear how Beverly Ward draws on an already-existing love for improvisational Playback Theatre to find joy in the challenge to “work on the world we seek.”
“It is a fantastic idea,” says James LaFlame of Radnor Meeting, “to lean into our passions and frame climate crisis through them!”
Asking people for their first memory of being outdoors hit home for James. “Mine came to me quickly and very vividly, including smells.”
That sensory connection touches people at a different place than facts about temperature and sea level rise do. Instead of overwhelming people, Beverly begins with what we want to save—what gives us joy.
How can we live fully, and fully accept the challenge of living on our planet’s terms? From under the weight of climate reality, what joy can we tap into? How can we channel doing what we love into saving what we love?
by Lee H. | Nov 23, 2024 | Climate Action Committee
It’s often said that it takes more muscles to frown than to smile. There is an inherent simplicity and ease in smiling. To love, likewise, is simpler than to create distractions from love. Peace, too, is the simple way. Simpler than war, simpler than hate, simpler than the endless desire to dominate that humanity so often displays.
In a world entangled with complex human systems that introduce increasing levels of chaos into our lives, it’s simplicity that offers an appealing path forward. There is wisdom in simplicity, and it calls us to live a life aligned with it.
Instead of structuring our society on tiered systems of wealth or clout, simplicity calls us to seek out ways of living in harmony with our planet and all who inhabit it. We’re interconnected – not only as members of our communities, but also as part of Earth’s broader ecosystem. Our individual and collective actions impact not only our immediate lives and communities, but our planet as a whole. Consumerism – the quest for the newest, the best, the most – diminishes planetary resources while simultaneously increasing pollution and global warming. It also oppresses communities around the globe who struggle under the pressure of exploitative economic systems that prioritize profits over people.
“The Earth is what we all have in common.” That’s Wendell Berry, the farmer and author, speaking to finding unity in the power of each other and our Earth. We are interdependent; no one is complete apart from the rest. How often and how deeply do we acknowledge our beautiful, sacred connections?
Buildings may crumble into the rising seas or human wars. Yet nature endures – a powerful force striving always to regenerate and heal. When we side with the power of nature, the effects can be impressive. One vivid example is the resilience of mangrove forests. After deforestation, corridors of mangroves along a river can regenerate fully within mere decades. This is a testament to the Earth’s ability to renew and heal itself. When we listen closely, we hear Earth calling us to follow its lead and do the same in our communities.
Continuing Revelation
We have come to understand the importance of native gardening. We appreciate all that happens when nature thrives on its own terms.
And we have come to understand that some people are not to be owned, controlled, resocialized, or exterminated by others. We now know the Doctrine of Discovery was a profound mistake, advanced by European settlers who misused religion to justify it. Continuing revelation brought us to understand and support reparations for those our ancestors have exploited.
Will we similarly come to rue humanity’s systematic exploitation of living communities beyond our species? Given that we have no b
iological need for this habit, is it, too, relinquishable? Imagine how different, how much freer, our living Earth would be if we stopped chasing, confining, and commercializing other beings—and if we simply grew food, not feed. This would support a resurgence of biodiversity and help us coexist with Earth’s climate system. It would also relieve some of the least privileged among us from the work of repetitive killing, along with the resultant injuries and traumatic stress.
As inhabitants of Earth, we are given a sacred calling – to sustain our world and all its living beings. As Earth itself teaches us, the best approach is not domination, but simplicity.
We’re part of this society, yet also of Earth’s web of life. We imagine how much better we could be at sensing this, and how soon the results could be observable, and what a relief it would be to see the transformation.
We imagine the type of world we could inhabit if we, both environmentally and socially, truly embraced simplicity, solidarity, and love. By treating all living communities and our planetary systems with respect, we could foster societies where division, war, and strife are replaced by peace. For peace is a principle that promotes love over division, and solidarity over hierarchy.
We thank you so much for reading this far, and look forward to connecting with those who feel called to contribute to the urgent work of our time. Our Climate Action Committee is advancing dialogue to inspire actionable commitments to a more sustainable and equitable humanity. We’re eager to explore our transformative potential together.
By SJM and Lee Hall
Climate Action Committee
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Photo credit: Vincent M.A. Janssen (Pexels/Canva).
by Lee H. | Nov 9, 2024 | Upcoming Events
Radnor’s Climate Action Committee and Outreach Committee have joined forces to invite our community and friends to attend the opening performance of The Return of Benjamin Lay, a play by Marcus Rediker and Naomi Wallace. The production features the Quintessence Theatre Group in residence at the Sedgwick Theatre in Mount Airy, Philadelphia.
An update on transportation for the evening of Thursday, May 1, 2025: The first bus we have dibs on holds eight people. We’ll continue planning transit as we receive commitments. Reserve a seat on a first come, first served basis.
Please let us know if you plan to go and if you hope we can reserve a bus seat for you.
Mail Lee Hall of our Climate Action Committee at climatelaw[AT]me.com to say
“I am committed to going with the group on May 1, 2025. I do not need / do hope to go in group transit.”
or
“I already bought my ticket! I do not need / do hope to go in group transit.”
Please sign up even if you’re taking your own transportation. We are looking for a number to give Quintessence management so we can participate in a talkback session following the performance.
Here’s more about the production from the Quintessence website:
A 4ft tall “Little David” confronts the “Goliath” of slavery once again as he pleads to be readmitted into the Quaker community that has disowned him and who still believe him to be dangerous. Now, “trembling at the edge of playing God himself”, how far will Benjamin go as he stares down his accusers? Continuing a unique decade-long collaboration between multi-award-winning playwright Naomi Wallace and multi-award-winning historian Marcus Rediker, featuring acclaimed American actor Mark Povinelli and directed by RSC Honorary Associate Director Ron Daniels, The Return of Benjamin Lay sweeps across the centuries in a bold exploration of an utterly impossible man.
Text and graphic featuring Mark Povinelli as Benjamin
from the play. Artwork depicting Benjamin Lay on our home page is by Vance Lehmkuhl.
