London Quakers responding to the blasts
Comments (1)
Two of the blasts that hit London today were near Friends House, the home of Britain Yearly Meeting, which is acting as a relief center. From TimesOnline
Ministers and priests went on to the streets to work alongside the emergency services, helping to comfort traumatised commuters. At Friends House, opposite Euston Station, Quakers set up an emergency unit for the hundreds of people blocked in the middle of the explosions at Kings Cross, Woburn Place and Russell Square.
The Quakers offered free tea, coffee and telephone calls to all the people affected by the blasts as well as emotional support. Many of the hundreds of people stuck in Euston were witness to the explosions, with one young woman describing how she saw the bus explode and thought it was another 9/11.
She has become partially deaf and is resting in the Quaker First Aid room.
The hundreds of people who are in Friends House remain stuck there for the foreseeable future and many are unsure how they will return home tonight.
Friends House also gets a mention in this Guardian piece
Responses from the Quaker Blogosphere:
Rob of Consider the Lillies is okay and is posting reactions. The Contemplative Activist reminds us to live in that virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars’. Peterson Toscano wonders if the bombings really are senseless in light of our cultural attitudes—”You push me; I push you harder; you push me back, and it goes on and on and on.” Beppe turns to a recent passage from his scripture study to gage just what Jesus might have done. I will try to continue updating these responses as they come in.
Our prayers are with all those in London today: the dead, the injured, the scared. And with those whose fear turns to anger and will inevitably lead to calls for retribution. Our Friends Peace Testimony helps us keep our groundedness in times of horror and I am grateful to hear that Friends are there, ready to tend to the wounded of body and soul.
Elsewhere
Apparently Wikipedia is now covering news and is one of the better sources of information on the London bombings.
1 Comments
Leave a comment
About Martin
I’m a Quaker from
South Jersey with a love of
outreach and ministry.
More bio and my contact information in my
about Martin
post.
Martin's other sites:
Feed Subscription:
You can also sign up to get daily posts delivered by email. Enter email address:
Thank you, Martin, for collecting some Quaker responses. I spent some time in the UK, and remember fondly visits to Friends House. It is so wonderful that they have set it up as a relief center. But so sad that the bombings happened...
Contemplative Scholar