How Do Quakers Choose To Die–And Live?
Death will come to us all. But one Friend, Peg Morton, decided to come to it.
The new issue of Quaker Theology (#28) is now out, both in print and now online, here. A feature of the issue is a series of three accounts/reflections on Peg Morton’s chosen death, last Twelfth Month (December.)
Peg was 85, a longtime activist Friend, with numerous arrests on her record. And last fall she seemed ready to continue working for her various causes.
But when she announced to her meeting, in a special called session, that her next witness would be her last — well, you need to read the pieces to gauge the impact.
Reactions to Peg’s declaration were varied and strong. We include a report from a member of the meeting, a profile from a local newspaper, and an outside view from a Friend who is a longtime hospice counselor.
The issue also takes note of two other deaths, from years ago: one is that of Friend Tom Fox, a peace worker in Iraq, who was killed ten years ago this spring after being kidnaped in Baghdad with three other peace workers in November of 2005. The other three survived and were rescued in March 2006; but some days before, Tom had been taken away and murdered; we can only speculate why; but he was a martyr for gentle nonviolence in wartime.
The third story noted in the issue is one of death and life, a review of
One Yellow Door: A Memoir of Love and Loss, Faith and Infidelity,
by Rebecca de Saintonge. The author lost her husband to a hideous wasting disease, which threw her not only into grief, but a religious crisis. To survive this ordeal broke some rules, and rebuilt her spiritual life from scratch. This reconstruction eventually brought her to Friends.
Not everything in this issue of Quaker Theology is funereal. There are lively and life-affirming essays on Walt Whitman; on one Quaker pastor’s support for same sex marriage; and an update on the struggles in some yearly meetings. More on these in future posts — or you can read them online right now.
Quaker Theology is published twice a year, in both print and online editions. Single print copies of Issue #28 can be ordered here; for print subscriptions, go here.