Saturday 19 April 2014

M is for Mångkulturell (Multicultural); N is for Nässjö

[Two letters in one, here described in reverse order for historical reasons!]

In 1914 Nässjö was recognised as a Swedish stad (the Swedish word stad can mean town or city) and granted the accompanying privileges and charter. Nässjö’s Town Hall was formally opened in the same year. One hundred years on, in 2014, Nässjö is celebrating its centenary.

At that time Nässjö belonged to a new urban generation known as a ‘stationsamhället’ – a bridge between the old and the new, a merging of town and country. Its identity as a town was therefore not entirely clear.  

Nässjö is a railway town – an important railway junction for trains heading north, south, east and west. When the railway was first established, in the mid-1800s, Nässjö’s inhabitants numbered 43. Fifty years on, when the town received its charter, the population had grown to 5,949. With the railway as its mainstay and the explosion of various industries (cigarette factory, clothing mill, furniture factory) the town blossomed.

Today, Nässjö has a population of around 17,000, and in the municipality as a whole (including the surrounding communities) the population numbers 30,000.

The present population is mångkulturell – multicultural. The town works towards integration – the integration of native Swedes and new Swedes. The concept ‘new Swedes’ has been adopted in Sweden as a whole to include ‘immigrants’ from various corners of the world. Just as in 1914, the town is a bridge between the old and the new, this time in a merging of cultures. Similar to 1914, its identity is unclear and still emerging.

Multicultural Nässjö is a town in formation. Following its progress will be fascinating.

Thursday 3 April 2014

L is for Ljus

Here in Scandinavia ljus – light – is an important part of people’s everyday lives. In the depth of winter, when light is scarce, we long for it. We light candles in our homes to remind us that the light is always there. As the darkness lightens we rejoice at it, stand in it, sit in it, work in it and enjoy being ‘in the light’.

The light is important for Quakers too. In our Meetings for Worship in Scandinavia we always have a lighted candle at the centre of the circle. Early Friends were called ‘Children of the Light’. We talk about the inner light, the light within, the inward light and about being enlightened. We hold people in the light. We encourage people to let their lights shine. We wait in the light. We mind the light. We let the light guide us.

In his Journal, George Fox wrote: “I saw, also, that there was an ocean of darkness and death; but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness. In that also I saw the infinite love of God, and I had great openings.” Much later, in 1904, Rufus Jones wrote: “The Inner Light is the doctrine that there is something Divine, ‘Something of God’ in the human soul.”

Let us walk in the light. Let it illuminate the darkness. Let it reveal our innermost truths.

Tuesday 1 April 2014

K is for Kvalitet and Kvantitet

We often talk about kvalitet – the quality – of life, and the importance of it. In a just world quality would pervade the whole of life. It would be an unquestionable right. For every living creature.

Kvantitet – quantity – lies elsewhere on the scale. How often do we, in our Quaker meetings, bemoan the fact that we are not sufficient in number?

Why do we put quantity before quality? Quality is to do with whether truth is prospering amongst us – not how many bums warm the Meeting House benches.