The Prize this year went not to Ghandi but the Quakers –
Delivered to the English and American Friends Service.
They rejected weapons and war as conscientious objectors,
Replacing aggression with service – “from the nameless to the nameless.”
The Quakers arose from resistance to codes of the Anglican Church.
They emigrated and grew, both in America and England, to become
A ‘Society’ whose actions in wartime blunted its reach:
They ran ambulances, kitchens, schools, and among them, no one
Was a slave, too ill, too weak, too oppressed not to aid:
They brought welfare, manned bomb shelters, schooled prisoners in WWII.
Into the fury of war they strode, purpose-bent and true
To their inner voice, to never raise a hand God made
Against another. They listened. They never ceased,
Despite their own oppression, to keep Peace by bringing Peace.
June Edvenson 