Whispers Of Faith

Whispers Of Faith

Young Friends Share Their Experiences Of Quakerism

EDITED BY GEOFFREY BLACK, ZION KLOS, CLAIRE REDDY, MILAM SMITH, RACHEL STACY

Brief Description:
This book is a collection of inspiring, deeply-felt, writing about young Friends faith life, with sections on worship, testimonies, spiritual journeys, and walking on water. "We shared the common experience of trying to make sense of our religion, of seeking to answer the questions, 'What does Quakerism mean to me, in my heart?' You will find many different voices in these pages, but above all, you will find voices of faith. If there is one message we want this book to convey, it is that young Friends' voices may not be loud, but we do have things to say, and we are speaking." - The editors

Quaker Press of FGC 2005 168 PP. Paper

$12.00 (in stock)

The young people have stepped forth confidently to speak of their encounters with God as well as their doubts. They invite all Friends -- young, old, African, European, American, evangelical and liberal -- to join them in worshipful and sometimes playful conversation about being a Friend. Their integrity should be a prod to all of us to examine our own conceptions and misconceptions about the barriers of age, Christianity and so on which too often push Friends apart.
Margery Post Abbott

Full of acute reflections, observations and memories, and expressed in verse, vignette and comment, this book does great credit to all the contributors. It has a number of themes but an underlying unity. The young writers strive to be honest and critical about their own religious development and the influences that have made them what they are. They succeed magnificently. I would have no hesitation in putting this book into the hands of any newcomer as a fine account of what Quaker living is really like.
John Punshon

Anyone listening for the voices of Young Friends should pick up a copy of Whispers. Edited by five Young Friends, this book brings together the writings of 45 Quakers (primarily American, but with some British and African Friends included) between the ages of 12 and 19.

There is no doubt that Whispers is a valuable contribution to Quaker literature and an incredible accomplishment on the part of its authors and five clearly enthusiastic editors, themselves between the ages of 15 and 19. There are few, if any, other books which even attempt to record the experiences of Friends in this age group. I found myself comparing Whispers to Who do we think we are? -- the 1998 Swarthmore Lecture prepared by British Young Friends -- but in that case the Young Friends who wrote that (also remarkable) book were almost all between 18 and 30 years of age.

The depth and power of the contributions themselves are extremely mixed. The collection seems to take its name from its first contribution -- a wonderful poem entitled "Whispers." Its power enfolded me in the silence as I read it, and I was frankly stunned to find that its author was only 13 years old. There are other similarly articulate and powerful contributions that would be at home in any collection of Quaker writings, from Friends struggling with thoughts of suicide, or the death and illness of loved ones, to Friends looking for the words to explain their beliefs to their classmates.

However, there are also many contributions that seem based more upon what the authors have been told about Quakerism than original "experiences." It is perhaps unreasonable to expect a uniformly high level of insight among the authors, but contributions which sound like an excerpt from a "What I Learnt In First Day School Today" essay do little for the book as a whole, and pale next to the truly spirit-led and personal contributions.

I got the impression that the editors themselves had something of the same problem: a little too much book learning about what Quaker experience is "supposed" to look like. The book might have benefited from a little more openness to the Spirit to trust that a range of personal spirit-led sharing, even if not always obviously Quaker, might better convey the experiences of Young Friends. In one case the editors even went so far as to annotate a contribution, noting that it represented only a partial account of Quaker belief.

I also wished that the editors provided some background about how the book came to be. Who decided to write such a book? How were the contributions collected? How many were received? How were the editors selected? The development of the book itself was probably an engaging exercise in Quaker practice; however, although there is an interesting description of the meeting at which the editors came together to "sift through the submissions" and make their selections, we are left in the dark as to the rest of the process.

Despite my quibbles with some of the contributions and the editing, there is good and powerful stuff in this book. In addition to providing a voice to encourage Young Friends to articulate their belief in and experiences with Quakerism, the book consciously attempts to capture the full diversity of the Quaker community, from Evangelical to Liberal, from African to North American. Those contributions containing a powerful insight or heart-felt cry from an articulate teen demonstrate that the editors have done us all a service. Although in some ways a less consistent book, Whispers deserves a place on the shelf beside Who do we think we are? and other better known collections of Quaker writings.

Andrew Gage is a member of Vancouver Monthly Meeting. First published in The Canadian Friend.