On 20th September, we held a national Quaker silent walking vigil for peace. Not a march, not a stationary vigil, not even just a peace walk. But a walking vigil for peace: a walk punctuated by Quaker Meetings for Worship, conducted in silence. No shouting, spoken or written. Just one large banner with “Quakers for Peace” at the front and another to hold traffic at various points. Not everyone was Quaker – the vigil was open to anyone.
I keep returning to the feeling that there is something very powerful about a long file of people walking in silence, especially through the noisy heart of a city. And there were very many of us: estimates of 700 to a thousand people. We walked not for a particular country or issue; with so many places in conflict, and so much talk of preparation for war, it felt hugely important to stand, to walk, for peace in its largest sense – a different way of seeing the world, a different way of being.
I wondered how the walk could be called national, since the route was entirely through central London. But it was, with Friends travelling from all over Britain – I met some from Yorkshire; there was even, I was told, someone from the Isle of Arran. And Quaker meetings round the country were upholding us; some holding their own local walks to coincide with ours.
We walked not for a particular country or issue; with so many places in conflict, and so much talk of preparation for war, it felt hugely important to stand, to walk, for peace in its largest sense – a different way of seeing the world, a different way of being.
We started with a short Quaker Meeting for Worship, sitting or standing in the Ministry of Defence garden on Victoria Embankment, before setting off to walk slowly south along Whitehall, then crossing the road, turning 180 degrees, walking back to Trafalgar Square and on to the back of St Martin in the Fields. We walked in the road, directed to keep to the inside lane, with stewards on either side keeping us safe from a multitude of cars and buses. We had to stop many times; the roundabout at Trafalgar Square was particularly hard to negotiate, the Friends at the front with the banner leading the way. With so many people, it was a very long file that walked slowly along. I was near the front, and it was quite surreal to see the tail of our column walking in the opposite direction on the other side of the road.
In St Martin’s Square we sat or stood for another Meeting for Worship, and at the end we held hands, joyful at having been part of such a memorable experience. People ate their sandwiches and greeted Friends from their own meeting or further afield.
It seemed extraordinary to walk in the middle of such busy roads; the closeness of danger, and the fact of having been given permission to walk there, seemed to accentuate the importance of our mission. Although some Friends reported understandable frustration from car drivers, the mood throughout our walk was serious, contemplative, and prayerful.
I give thanks to those who organised the walk so well, and those who volunteered to be stewards or pastoral carers. All I spoke to found it a very moving experience. As did I.
Jennifer Kavanagh, Westminster Quaker Meeting and FoR member
