November Queries

LEYM ADVICES AND QUERIES ON: ECONOMICS

May we look upon our treasures and the furniture of our houses and the garments in which we array ourselves and try whether the seeds of war have any nourishment in these our possessions.

John Woolman, Plea for the Poor, p. 255.

Are we careful that our use of financial resources is in accordance with our values of peace, honesty, simplicity, and concern for all of creation? Do we resist the desire to acquire possessions or income through unethical investment?

Does our stewardship of personal and Friends meeting financial resources promote active support of those forced to live with less?

Are we actively educating ourselves about the wide disparities in economic and social conditions that exist among groups in our society and among nations of the world? Are we using what we know to promote economic and environmental justice at home and around the world?

Do we take care not to judge others, or ourselves, by the world’s criteria of wealth and status? How do we answer that of God in those who have fewer possessions than we do? … in those who have more? What tools and practices do we use to foster awareness of our personal and corporate biases? In what ways do we oppose prejudice and injustice based on outward condition or belief? How do we deepen our sense of empathy for others?

From Advices & Queries, for Use by Individual Friends, Meetings, and Worship Groups (Lake Erie Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends: Ann Arbor, 2012). Find the whole document online at http://leymquaker.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/aq3f2.pdf, or in printed form in the GRFM library at the Browne Center.