A Note from Nelson
Welcome to Rose & Waratah
I hope the first term has been an exciting, interesting and appropriately challenging one for our students. We all know that growth and understanding can come in a variety of ways - a smooth trajectory, bursts of understanding or in 'fits and starts'.
I would like to welcome you all to this new publication by The Friends' School, Rose & Waratah. It will be distributed via email several times a year to all current and prospective families as well as all families who receive Focus - the School's student-written newspaper.
Mary Margaret Gibson, Wendy Crow and I recently returned from the International Baccalaureate (IB) World Conference in Singapore with IB educators from around the globe. At dinner one evening, I sat with the head of a secondary school in Mexico City and the principal of a school in India - both of whom share common beliefs with us here in Hobart. It was an inspiring setting where educators were learning and sharing together in the pursuit of developing a world full of deep learners focused on understanding others and making a positive contribution.
With the Easter holidays behind us, I sometimes get asked about how Quakers view important Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas. A couple of years ago I sent a note home about Quakers and Christmas, reflecting upon growing up in a multi-generational Quaker family, so I thought I would take the time to share my perspective on Quakers and Easter.
As with most concepts in Quakerism, there is a range of thought on holidays like Easter. Easter, like every other Christian holy day, is just another Sunday for most Quakers. Quakers view every day as being equally important and without any required religious rituals to perform, so for Easter Friends would gather in the Meeting House, like any other Sunday for usual worship.
Theologically, Easter serves as a time to remind us all of the teachings of Jesus. The teachings of Jesus as recorded in the Bible are important to Quakerism as it was founded on these teachings. Since Quakers believe there is 'that of God in everyone', Jesus too had that of God within him. As was explained to me at my First Day School as a child, more of "God" shone through Jesus than through us, but we all have the capability to have that same amount of God shine through us as well. The teachings of Jesus as found mostly in the Gospel of Mathew, chapters 5-7 which include the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, is core to Quakerism at its beginning. Other passages such as ‘turn the other cheek’ and ‘love thy enemy’ and ‘let your yea be yea and your nay be nay’ are key teachings that many Quakers strive to live by. Since its founding as a religion more than 350 years ago, Quakers have expanded our initial understandings beyond the Bible and the teachings of Jesus.
Because Quakers do not accept nor practice Christian sacraments, many Christians do not consider Quakers to be Christian.
I have strong memories of Easter when I was growing up in Byberry Monthly Meeting in Philadelphia. We as a family would attend Meeting for Worship in the morning just like every other First Day (as we called Sunday when I was young). After worship, the Meeting would hold an 'Easter Egg Hunt' of brightly dyed Easter eggs that we made in preparation for the 'hunt'. Each family with a child would be responsible for dying (colouring) a dozen or so hard-boiled white eggs in order for the coloured eggs to be hidden around the Meeting House grounds - in the garden or the base of the 300-year-old maple and buttonwood trees. Sometimes the eggs would even be hidden in the Meeting's graveyard next to the grave markers. We then would then go about 'hunting' down the eggs. Afterwards, Meeting members would have a shared meal featuring hardboiled eggs or egg salad. At home, my parents would often purchase special chocolate Easter eggs from a specialised Easter candy store in central Philadelphia. My siblings and I would each have our own Easter basket with our chocolates and jelly beans.
I hope my reflections on my childhood memories of Quaker practice help to further your understanding of Quakerism.
It is my deepest desire that all students have had an excellent learning experience at Friends' and I anticipate that you and your families will be able to spend some family-affirming time together over the upcoming term break.