| READER A: |
Everybody in this room has beliefs.
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| READER B: |
Whether they are religious or spiritual or atheists...
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| READER C: |
...They still have beliefs...
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| READER A: |
About how to treat other people...
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| READER B: |
Or about caring for the planet...
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| READER C: |
Or life after death...
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| READER A: |
Or life before death!
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| READER B: |
Everybody has beliefs!
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| READER C: |
The question is - what are we willing to do to put our beliefs into practice?
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[Pause]
| READER A: |
Time travel. The year is 1772. An American Quaker, John Woolman, arrives in London after the 39 day sea crossing. He is 52 years old.
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| READER B: |
Woolman has a belief...
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| JOHN WOOLMAN: |
'There is something of God in everybody.'
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| READER B: |
...So he cares for the Native American Indians, when other people are robbing and cheating them.
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| READER C: |
He has a belief...
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| JOHN WOOLMAN: |
'There is something of God in everybody.'
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| READER C: |
...So he opposes slavery, long before most people can see anything wrong with it.
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| READER A: |
He has a belief...
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| JOHN WOOLMAN: |
'There is something of God in everybody.'
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| READER A: |
...so he believes in what we call fair trading, long before the phrase is invented, because he thinks workers should get a fair wage for their hard work.
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| READER B: |
When his own business is successful, he makes so much money that money is taking over his life and his mind, so he gets rid of the business and begins to make a simple living working as a tailor and looking after an orchard...
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| READER C: |
...and all because John Woolman has a belief, that there is something of God in everybody - even in John Woolman!
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[Pause]
| READER A: |
Remember? The year is 1772. This American Quaker, John Woolman, arrives in London after the 39 day sea crossing. He is 52 years old.
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| READER B: |
He is upset because British food is very expensive and wages are very low, so that many families are living mainly on bread and water...
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| READER C: |
He is upset because many stage coaches travel up to 100 miles in 24 hours and he finds out that horses are frequently killed by hard driving while others go blind because of neglect by their owners. Some of the post boys who ride on top of stage coaches to help with luggage and post actually die of cold on long stages in the winter.
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| READER A: |
Because John Woolman has a belief...
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| JOHN WOOLMAN: |
'There is something of God in everybody.'
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| READER A: |
...And that animals are God's creatures as well...
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| READER B: |
He decides that he cannot, on principle, rent a horse or take a stage coach on the 300 mile journey to York so...
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| READER C: |
...He walks from London to York.
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| READER A: |
He what?
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| READER B: |
He walks all the way from London to York.
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| READER C: |
All because he has a belief... |
[Pause]
| READER A: |
The Quakers of York do not at first welcome the dirty traveller in his untidy clothes who arrives in their Meeting and sits quietly...
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| READER B: |
But they soon sit up when he speaks...
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| READER C: |
...and his influence is a major part in leading the Quakers of Britain to decide actively to oppose slave trading. |
[Pause]
| READER A: |
John Woolman works with the poor people of York and, perhaps as a result, catches smallpox.
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| READER B: |
He dies in York on October 7th 1772.
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| READER C: |
He lived by his beliefs and now his beliefs live on.
What are we willing to do to put our beliefs into practice?
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[Pause and dismissal]
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