成人快手

Good morning.

When I say Quakers, I wonder if you think of the guy on the box of porridge oats? For nearly two hundred years, a simple style of dress, meant that Quakers were instantly recognisable. Their distinctive strict dress code, allowed Quakers to avoid the vagaries of changing fashions, and the waste that this produces; it freed up energy to focus on the things that are eternal; and, it meant that economic distinctions between different social backgrounds were less visible, supporting efforts to create a community of equals.

British Quakers relaxed their rules about plain dress in 1860, having realised that the rules themselves had become a distraction. Go into a meeting house in Britain this week, and you鈥檒l see people of all ages wearing completely ordinary clothes.

But Quakers still hold to a testimony of simplicity, trying to let go of whatever gets in the way, whatever holds us back, from following the promptings of love and truth. This might include the way we present ourselves physically, the technologies we use, the stuff we accumulate in our homes, and the forms of our worship.

We are becoming increasingly aware of the consequences of human consumption, for our beautiful world, and of the heavy burdens borne by communities who help tidy up the waste, our economy produces.

In a world obsessed with fast fashion and flashy tech, may I find the strength to live with integrity, my outer appearance matching my inner truth, evaluating my decisions, against my values. Can I shop, dress, and live, in ways that reflect truly who I am, my spiritual experiences, and the values and convictions that arise from them?

Thank you friends.