At the 2026 Annual Gathering, Swiss Quakers agreed to write an open letter to the Swiss Federal Council exhorting them to act so that Switzerland will continue to be an instrument of rapprochement in a troubled world.

On a clear, fresh, full-moon evening in the beautiful Swiss Seeland. Thirty of us. We could hardly recollect where our theme had come from – “Being inspired by Other Lights” – until a friend effortlessly grounded it: “Are you open to new light, from whatever source it may come?” (Britain YM Quaker Faith and Practice, Advice and Query 7). A more secular interpretation of our theme would be “How to Thrive in Troubled Times”.

Without hope that following Fox’s advice will transform the world today, we might ‘answer that of God in everyone or everything’ – as we understand it – merely as a courtesy and because the alternative is unappealing. More substantively, we might also be strengthened in following this path because as our speaker, reminded us: “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not vanquished it” (John 1:5). No matter how much darkness exists in a space, be it grief, ignorance or malice, it takes only a tiny spark of Light to displace this darkness and to transform the space radically.

brought to the blog by Peter Struba

David Sunderland