The wisdom tales, magically performed by Eleanor Martin, covered the themes of social and environmental justice by Muslim sages Rumi, Saadi, and Mulla Nasruddin.
Eleanor has worked extensively as a storyteller, performing everywhere from schools to living rooms to a circus top and at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The artistic director, Luqman Ali, stated it was good to get together in deep and inspiring silence, contemplation and in some meaningful conversations.
The far-ranging conversations and reflections covered the themes of imagination, language, ethics, symbology, spirituality, community and the contemporary relevance and resonances of the stories with capitalism, poverty, inequality, injustice, indebtedness, debt forgiveness, rapacity, children, elderly, water, waste, nature, ecology were powerful, illuminating and edifying for all.
Luqman extended a huge thanks to the Luton Quaker community for their heartfelt, warm and generous reception and hospitality. He said, “Easily it was one of the most high-voltage spiritual storytelling circles we've co-convened this year.”
The event came in the wake of the police raid on Westminster Quaker Meeting House a fortnight ago, condemned by Quakers as "shocking and unprecedented".
Quakers issued a statement saying the move undermined democracy, describing the raid as "a massively disproportionate response, when a force of 20 police officers broke open the door without warning, arresting six young people who had hired a room to discuss legitimate social justice concerns as UK citizens.
"People must have the right to assemble and to speak out, even when their views challenge those in power. Every citizen deserves to be heard, not just those with influence or media access.
"In a diverse society, we need to be able to hear dissenting voices with respect. Forcibly preventing these from being heard, through law or police action, is in no way democratic. People talking and peacefully demonstrating is not a threat to society, but stopping them is."
Following the incident, Quakers in Britain claimed to have been "overwhelmed by messages of support, from different faiths, from the public and people around the world, horrified at the violation of a place of worship".