Making Peace with the Peace Testimony

by Susan Weisfeld
Scarsdale Meeting

Susan Weisfeld served as the guest editor for this issue of Spark. 

I used to take the Peace Testimony literally and then get upset when I felt it was not happening according to how I thought it should work.  Britain YM states, “We call for grassroots action and political change towards a peaceful, just and sustainable global society.”

It took me 20 years to understand what that means. In practice it doesn’t mean focus on all injustice—we can’t do it all. And this disappointed me. Over the years I brought some issues to Quakers—Darfur, mines, child slavery in India and Pakistan—that did not get much support nor real interest. The Quaker responses to the horrors in Ukraine, as well as to the recent barbarous Hamas attacks in Southern Israel on a farm kibbutz which has been there for generations and the mass execution of young people at a music festival, seem to mainly consist of platitudes that “both sides need to find a way to peace.” 

From early Quakers until today we say this is our testimony: “We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretence whatsoever; and this is our testimony to the whole world.”

After much contemplation my personal belief is that, if war is not the answer, prayer can be the answer. . . and prayer can result in amazing leadings. I have witnessed in awe the bravery and work being done in El Salvador, Kenya, Republic of Georgia, Timur and AVP work in the prisons of Bolivia.  

People in war zones and those in danger from drug cartels or religious zealots are unable to have “peace.”  So is peace only for those with material solvency?  Or can people living in turmoil and fear find a way to be protected by the mantle of peace?  Although limited in our ability, Quakers try not to stand by—we are a small group, but not powerless! The peace testimony gives us corporate power. 

The power of the Peace Testimony is in the unique corporate witness shared by all who consider themselves Friends.  When you meet a Quaker for the first time, you can assume they believe there is that of the Divine in each of us, and that trying to change the reasons for conflict and violence is a goal that we seek together.  This belief has inspired Quakers for centuries and continues to give us hope that peace is possible.

So when we look at the peace testimony as individuals, we first need to decide whether we are called, and if called, then how?  What can I do, how much time can I give, and what sacrifices might be required? 

We can try to work for peace in our families, in our communities, even with our social media contacts, and then in the wider world.  Yes, the world is full of evil and violence—and yet there is much good. Being part of the "Ocean of Light flowing over the ocean of darkness" is our charge, our mission. . . and it is a challenge.  

The peace testimony is perfect, but we are not. So if each of us tries to work individually and together, we can make a difference. We cannot stop a war, but we can try to kindle a spark of peace and that, perhaps, will bring Light to the darkness.