This landmark booklet by the late Charis Waddy has been republished.
It was launched at a special memorial service in London, at which Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, was among those paying special tribute to Dr Waddy. Charis Waddy was one of the liveliest minds in the early history of IofC. By 1935 she had an Oxford degree in Arabic and Hebrew, and a PhD from the University of London. At the age of 25 she laid aside her status and career to work full-time with Frank Buchman, helping to architect the thought and action of a developing outreach. In the early 1960s came the call to take up her Middle East scholarship again. For the next 30 years she researched, travelled, corresponded, lectured and published, and cultivated hundreds of friendships in the Muslim world and beyond. When she died in August 2004, she was described by Dr Zaki Badawi, Director of The Muslim College in London, as a towering contributor to the interfaith movement.
Dr Badawi was one of 120 people who came to a memorial occasion for her in London on May 6. The Principal of Lady Margaret Hall (Charis’s Oxford college) paid tribute to her scholarship and humanity. Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, described what Dr Waddy’s friendship had meant to her and her country. Two IofC friends travelled specially from Egypt. A representative of the Muslim Council of Britain was there, along with diplomats from Pakistan, Bahrain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Where did Charis find her vision, compassion and staying power? What was it that led people in so many countries, some of them eminent, to confide in her and to honour her? From my 35 years working with her, I could only observe that she felt herself to be the servant of a benevolent Creator who has a plan for the world and everyone in it. She came into that Presence morning by morning, conscious of her frailties, and wanting by grace (which is what ‘charis’ means) to be part of the larger plan. So there was something to learn from everyone she met, as well as something to give. From that daily process, and her lifelong travels, came a thinking that bridged difference and inspired hope.
‘The Skills of Discernment’ started as a talk at Caux for an education conference in 1977. It arose from visits that year to several Mediterranean countries, and conversations with people in government and education. As a booklet, it outsold everything else she produced. Distilled from Charis’s life work, it has a warmth and wisdom that can still serve us today.
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