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+ − 1 Report of a meeting held on 23 May 2022 at the home of Ross Armstrong
+ − 2
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+ − 3 Ross Campbell
+ − 4 Robin Liebmann
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+ − 5 Henry S Thompson
+ − 6
+ − 7 Ross welcomed us to his home, and after a period of worship he shared
+ − 8 the history of his experience of Friends. His mother was raised a
+ − 9 Quaker by _her_ mother, a life-long Member. His father joined Friends
+ − 10 after his experience in a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II,
+ − 11 attending Meeting at Leyburn in Yorkshire.
+ − 12
+ − 13 The family had connections with Brummana, where the family spent time
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+ − 14 when he was young when his father was Head there (1957--1962), then
+ − 15 lived near Jordans when they returned to the UK, where he attended a
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+ − 16 'progressive' school with a Quaker head.
+ − 17
+ − 18 Although his upbringing was in a Christian environment, as a young
+ − 19 adult Ross was at first not a church-goer. He was however always
+ − 20 conscious of a need for a source of guidance in how he should live his
+ − 21 life, and for a while he looked for help with life decisions from the
+ − 22 _I Ching_, but that didn't last as responsibilities grew.
+ − 23
+ − 24 During the 1980s Ross became involved in Palestinian issues. He began
+ − 25 working as a furniture maker and in the building trades, then
+ − 26 assistant manager at Hadeel, the Palestian shop on Queen Street.
+ − 27
+ − 28 Ross started observing Ramadan around the time of the 1st Gulf War,
+ − 29 giving him an active, pervasive engagement with religious practice.
+ − 30 He began studing Arabic, a life-long project thereafter. He learned
+ − 31 the 1st Sura of the Quran, which became the cornerstone of his
+ − 32 practice. The nature of this, as a prayer that begins with 'In the
+ − 33 name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful' [Ross,
+ − 34 please replace with your preferred translation, this is just the first
+ − 35 one I found online], is so different from the caricature of Muslims as
+ − 36 fanatics.
+ − 37
+ − 38 Ross has been coming to Meeting for Worship at Portobello and
+ − 39 Musselburgh for four or five years. He's been impressed by the depth
+ − 40 of some of the Quakers he has met. He realised recently that he has
+ − 41 made the transition from a "committed non-Attender" to acknowledging
+ − 42 he _was_ an Attender. He has really appreciated the Quaker method of
+ − 43 decision-making, in contrast to other experiences of committees.
+ − 44
+ − 45 Turning to the question of Membership, Ross recalled that last autumn
+ − 46 his mother, who was a Trustee of Brummana, asked him to consider
+ − 47 applying for the Headship. He applied, and although he was not
+ − 48 appointed, the experience made him think again about Membership.
+ − 49 Seeing the achievements, the remarkable work that has been done by
+ − 50 Quakers, in particular Andrew Clark, a friend of his mother, led him
+ − 51 to recognition of how awesome can be some people's achievements,
+ − 52 leaving us a bit ashamed by comparison: how are _we_ working for the
+ − 53 Kingdom of Heaven.
+ − 54
+ − 55 Ross finished by summarising where this has led him
+ − 56 * "Friends of Truth" can be goal and a daunting challenge.
+ − 57 * "What I think of God" is not relevant, what matters is what 'he'
+ − 58 has to say to me about how to live my life.
+ − 59
+ − 60 And a few other topics we touched on:
+ − 61
+ − 62 Ross's wife is as it were a lay preacher in the Zen temple in
+ − 63 portobello. He sees a lot of connections between their practice and
+ − 64 scriptures and ours.
+ − 65
+ − 66 Ross sometimes gets into trouble for telling the truth.
+ − 67
+ − 68 Meeting for Worship for Business can be an awe-filled experience.
+ − 69
+ − 70 Once as Ross was leaving the Quaker Meeting House in Ramallah, he was
+ − 71 asked "are Quakers Christians?". Well, perhaps not as you probably
+ − 72 mean that: we have no Christology...
+ − 73
+ − 74 Are the challenges for Ross in becoming a Member: Vietnam, Palestine,
+ − 75 now Ukraine, and Extinction Rebellion, are difficulties. Ross worries
+ − 76 about the apparent need to take sides: being driven by fear is not a
+ − 77 good starting point for decisions.
+ − 78
+ − 79 As we reached the end of a discussion about the nature of Membership,
+ − 80 Ross said "I'm ready to be a member of the crew rather than a
+ − 81 passenger", and Henry and Robin agreed.