FRUITS OF THE MARAZION QUAKER LIBRARY (16) - MOIRA FITT (2022) 'THE GOLDEN THREAD IN MY LIFE - A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY WITH QUAKERS'

 In the last year of her life, in late May 2022, Moira paid a visit to our Stennack home in St Ives to thank us for a message of support we had sent. 2022 was our first year as Quaker attenders, not in person but through Zoom because we were fearful of the threat of Covid infection. When Moira came, Louise was gifted with a half-hour meeting; I was walking our dog. Moira left a handwritten card thanking us for holding her in the Light of God's love and healing. She wrote: 'The Meeting House is a very special place for me, somehow it has a "spirit of place" where the 330 years of Quaker worship seems to emanate from the walls and seep into us as we worship. Thank you for joining us.' That card has a permanent place on our mantelshelf.  

Moira's story of her spiritual life was the fruit of her last years as she sought to pull together her experiences so she could share her journey with others. In 2022, dying of cancer, she never gave up writing and editing to the very end. Her daughter, Penny, and husband, Tony, have published this book as a tribute to her passion and out of deep love. 

Moira Fitt (1940-2022) wanted to share her spiritual journey with others. 

Moira was convinced that her life experiences were linked by a single 'golden thread' which was a 'leading of the spirit'. In that odyssey, specific places helped nurture the development of Moira's faith over a span of sixty years, drawing her closer to understanding the mystic roots of the core Quaker belief: We, being human, all have access to that of God within. 

Moira was a bright child who passed the 11plus exam to gain a place at Watford Grammar School for Girls. Unfortunately, she was stricken by illness in her teens, suffering from both T.B. and meningitis. Slowly recovering but missing a whole year of school Moira passed her O-levels and went to secretarial college. Around this time she met her husband-to-be, Tony Fitt. He had started to attend Watford Friends Meeting and Moira began to attend too. A Quaker wedding followed in 1960 in Watford and Moira and

FRUITS OF THE MARAZION QUAKER LIBRARY (15) - ALTERNATIVE DEFENCE REVIEW (MAY 2025)

 This Alternative Defence Review was proposed and undertaken by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in response to the RMT union's decision to convene a labour and peace movement summit to work out the basis of a new foreign policy which would promote peace and social justice.

The Alternative Defence Review, published in May 2025

 

It is so refreshing to read a document that offers a new vision for peace, justice, and security - and challenges the war narrative that is becoming louder and louder, played out by the political elites, the military-industrial complex, and the mainstream media.

In summary, the Review shows how militarization:

• distorts national priorities
• fuels global instability
• undermines international law
• harms the environment
• diverts investment from public services and social infrastructure. 

Increased military expenditure will be economically inefficient, environmentally destructive, and socially regressive, offering limited job creation while stifling a more sustainable and just economy. 

We need a significantly demilitarized defence strategy rooted in human security and common security - prioritizing diplomacy, global cooperation, conflict prevention, and investment in health, education, climate resilience, social care, and the creation of well-paid, secure, unionized and socially useful jobs. 

We call for:

•  a significant reduction in military spending
• an immediate halt to arms exports to countries involved in active conflict or human rights abuses (including Israel and Gulf states)
• a Just Transition for defence-dependent workers and communities.

Unfortunately, the present Labour Government plans to increase defence spending from 2.3% to 2.5% of GDP, financing this escalation by cutting international aid and domestic welfare - directly undermining