“What does it look like for us to build a capacity for silence? What does it mean for us to exercise that muscle, to not be afraid to be bored, to let our minds wander without having input constantly? How could that shape us and help us to feel better, to be able to focus better, and be able to be present with ourselves and with one another, with the Spirit?”
“When it comes to tech, billions of lines of code have been open-sourced. The same cannot be said of the decisions that led up to them. What might a Github for choices and insights look like? How much better would actors act if they knew others could see — and how much more would we trust if people could see the inner workings of why, not just how, technology works as it does?”
“The future always belongs to us. It is neither the working of nature, nor that of fate. It comes by our resolution. Only a person who resolves not to be enslaved enjoys freedom. Only a person who resolves not to assert his own enjoys freedom. Only the person who resolves to love even at the cost of his own life can win love. The first ingredient of life is courage.”
“Although data can transform how we live, work and think, its usage doesn’t happen in a vacuum — it relies on a model. In one sense, that model is a statistical approach. But in a deeper sense, it is a mental model: a way of looking at the world. So using one ‘frame,’ a rainforest is worth more when it’s cut for timber than when it’s acting as the lungs of the planet.”
“Peace Trolls respond to violent language with genuine connection. The vision of the Peace Troll Movement is simple: social media platforms will become interconnected webs of good-natured connection, stretching between every home across the globe. Threads where verbal aggression lurks will be ‘infected’ with nonviolence, not by agreeing with the other person or keeping silent, instead by choosing to honour the common humanity of each person they respond to whatever their belief. A reminder that collaboration is a practical principle to live by.”
“I find that Quakerism and research science fit together very, very well. In Quakerism you’re expected to develop your own understanding of God from your experience in the world… [and] you keep redeveloping your understanding as you get more experience. It seems to me that’s very like what goes on in the scientific method. You have a model of a star – it’s an understanding – and you develop that model in the light of experiments and observations. And so in both you’re expected to evolve your thinking. Nothing is static, nothing is final, everything is held provisionally.”
“Just as early Quakers adapted their faith to meet changing conditions, today’s Quakers will also…. As all of us rely on our traditional practices of seeking unity among ourselves, we can rely on our more technologically comfortable Friends to help the rest of us find ways to participate in this new environment.”
“In place of a process which trusts technology and mistrusts humanity, we must learn and live out a process that builds trust between people and their institutions… From the earliest days of Friends, we have known that safety cannot be defended in our own strength, but only in God’s… And we don’t have to do it with tools of our own fashioning, ever more elaborate technological juggling acts, ever more devastatingly destructive bombs… [We can] learn to lay down carnal weapons, practising with weapons of the spirit: love, truthsaying, nonviolence, the good news of God’s birth and rebirth among us, imagination, vision, and laughter.”
“The problem of fear cannot be solved by any scientific technology nor by any political organisation. For it is a problem in personal relations, and such problems are religious problems, and can only be solved by religious means. More than ever, in today’s world of turmoil and tribulation, we need courage and trust – a living manifestation of our faith in the power of love….”
June 2026: This month we explore how Friends season what technology to use, how technology can further our witness, the pros and cons of online worship, and what to do when your attention is commodified.
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