"Patriotism is really difficult because it's about a love of country, and that love of country often comes from a place of being afraid of dissent." In the latest QuakerSpeak.com video, Katie Breslin reflects on the ways that Quaker testimony can become incompatible with nationalist pride.

"Among all the experiences I had in Bolivia, I particularly connected with and became interested in visiting Quaker churches," Jasson Arevalo reports. "Each conversation and encounter with my Bolivian Quaker brothers and sisters... still stirs deep emotion in me."

"Growing Green is as packed with information as your windowsill could be soon with edible plants," says Rebecca Robinson. It includes simple, clear instructions to help children and their parents grow a variety of fruits, vegetables, and other plants in their yard... or even on a windowsill!

"Remember," Jesus tells his disciples, at the end of Matthew's gospel, "I am with you always, to the end of the age.” What do Friends today make of that promise? @ronhogan.bsky.social shares his perspective. quaker.org/2026/05/25/i...

The Friendship Train begins with a question: “How can I help?” The Quaker newspaper columnist Drew Pearson asked this of himself when he learned of the hunger in Europe at the end of World War II. Then he asked his readers, and the idea of filling a train with food for European families was hatched.

For Friends, living the gospel is not merely about bearing the Christian label or emphasizing one religion but about reflecting the character of Christ through consistency between what is professed and what is practiced in daily life, treating our neighbors with dignity, without racial distinction.

“There’s this idea of country above everything else—and for Quakers, that gets in the way of your relationship to God,” says Katie Breslin. In this episode of QuakerSpeak, Katie reminds us that Quakers have often taken up causes that put them in opposition to their governments.

The history of the Evangelical Friends Church in Bolivia is the result of the faith, sacrifice, and obedience of men and women who responded faithfully to God’s call to preach the gospel—a legacy, as Eliseo Marco Portillo Valencia reminds us, of the church's Quaker roots.

Firefly Song is a book for younger readers based upon the true story of Lynn Frierson Faust, a self-taught naturalist who, through keen observation and persistence, become such an expert over the years that people call her the “Lightning Bug Lady.”

"Prophetic imagination isn't about seeing what will happen tomorrow," says Ron Hogan, "but about recognizing what has gone wrong with the world today—and why." The miracle of Pentecost came with a promise that Spirit will help us all access such a transformative mindset. quaker.org/2026/05/18/i...

According to the Bible, Solomon's wisdom was a gift from God. In Martha Seif Simpson and D. Yael Bernhard's A Ring for a King, however, Solomon is a man who may be somewhat wise but knows he still has a lot to learn—and a young boy is about to teach him a truly valuable lesson.

John and Diana Lubeck spent years living with the indigenous Chortí community in Guatemala, learning their language so they could provide them with a translation of the New Testament. Sometimes, though, the language of the early disciples didn't always translate easily into Chortí cultural norms.

"Rainwater spills from the spouting— I hear it splashing at the edge of the garden as bleak afternoon wanders slowly into night—the water finds its level..." —from "Why I Attend the Evening Quilting Session" by Carole Mertz

"The greatest delusion of all... that violence is an expression of strength, and nonviolence a symptom of weakness," @adamserwer.bsky.social writes in @theatlantic.com. "Nonviolence is the only way to create political change without the kind of generational wounds that make tolerance impossible."

What if, Alicia Mendonca-Richards suggested in this QuakerSpeak interview, we adopted mystical perspectives on economics instead of turning to rational, empirical models that prioritize material wealth? "[When] we listen to that still, small voice within us," she said, "we know what we need to do."

In the 123 years since the first Quakers entered Guatemala, the Friends Church has grown through stages in which God has borne fruit, shaped character, & allowed the advancement of the gospel. Edgar Rolando Leiva García looks back at this history—and ahead to the future a new generation is creating.

What is relational finance, and why are Diana Yañez & I talking about it on the Quakers Today podcast? And what does Jennifer Aniston have to do with it?? youtu.be/P3qgL8UmMmA?... @friendsjournal.org

Like her previous book, The Depth of the Lake and the Height of the Sky, Jihyun Kim's Blue Sky Morning encourages children to pay close attention to the natural world around them. This story of a young girl's walk to school with her mother could become part of a conversation about mindfulness.

🎙️ Taking the theology of the "priesthood of all believers" and applying it to economics, this month's Quakers Today podcast explores how taking personal responsibility for our money—and our institutional assets—leads to deeper integrity and more equitable power-sharing. 💰

How do Orson Welles & William Gibson tie in to speculation about the end of this world—and why do we rarely see Quakers messing around with any of that stuff? And why doesn't @ronhogan.bsky.social see current events as "the fiery ordeal that is taking place to test you?" quaker.org/2026/05/11/t...

Why is Jennifer Aniston on a Quaker podcast? 🎬 We’re using the movie "Friends with Money" to explore how financial disparity creates unspoken walls between friends. Let’s talk about relational finance and breaking down the barriers that keep us apart. 🧱✨ @friendsjournal.org @afsc-org.bsky.social

Each page of If God Were a Great Big Bear imagines how a different creature would have created a world to their liking—and not just creatures, but lilac bushes and stars, too! Paul Harbridge and Marta Dorado have created a book that will reward nightly readings for as long as children request them.

I get skittish around conversations concerning money. My partner has to give me a heads-up the day before he wants to have a chat about our shared finances, taxes, or financial planning. This season of Quakers Today podcast stretches me. www.friendsjournal.org/quakers-and-... @friendsjournal.org

"I can describe who Quakers are: their history, important figures, different types of worship, and even their principles," Lola Ruiz Castañeda writes. "But what does it really mean to be a Quaker? What does it mean for me to be a Quaker? That’s the question I find difficult to answer."

"There is a great deal of variety in church life and faith expression among Latin American Friends," Stephen W. Angell reports, and the history of how their communities were founded is a fascinating one.

"I am accustomed to joining communities where I am the only African-American present," Billie Wade says. "Coming to Quakerism and discovering that that thread was going to continue was not a surprise... Fortunately, Des Moines Valley [Friends Meeting] has been an open, welcoming community to me."

Going to Meeting for Worship was designed by Germantown Friends School to explain what happens at Quaker meetings to young students. Eileen Redden says it could also be helpful for monthly meetings, either in First-day class or whenever parents want to explain worship to kids.

"The one benefit of the world being marched into hell by the stupidest men alive is that speaking with intelligence has never been simpler. We only have to say: Enough."— Mac Loftin for @christiancentury.bsky.social

On April 25, authorities say, a man set out to assassinate the president of the United States. In a "manifesto," the would-be shooter claims it would be un-Christian NOT to commit violence to eliminate a greater evil. Quakers refuse to buy into that logic. Here's why. quaker.org/2026/05/04/d...

"My favorite metaphor about God is the story of the blind men and the elephant," Adam Segal-Isaacson reflected in 2024. "In a lot of ways, that’s the way we are about God, is that we all see different aspects of God and the totality of God is greater than all of that."

In the Season 6 premiere of the Quakers Today podcast, @petersontoscano.bsky.social and co-host Diana Yañez discuss how their "money biographies" have shaped his spiritual lives. Watch the full episode and find our show notes at QuakersToday.org 🎧

Twice a year, Quaker Works enables Quaker-led nonprofits and other groups to inform Friends of their activities. A lot's happened in the last six months—come read about the latest developments in public ministry, environmental justice, and other fields where Quakers are following their leadings!

"Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, & like living stones let yourselves be built into a spiritual house..." (1 Peter 2:4-5) This week's message reflects on the solidarity that makes blessed community possible. quaker.org/2026/04/27/l...

Baltimore Yearly Meeting has prepared a free downloadable ebook with information about the condition of Indigenous people living in the United States today, with demographic data covering various aspects of life, from the economic to the spiritual.

When her husband joined the Peace Corps to avoid being conscripted into the U.S. Army and sent to Vietnam, Elizabeth Emrey followed him. During their orientation, they happened to walk past a Quaker meetinghouse as worship was about to begin. Inside, she discovered "God’s healing way for all of us."

"A lot of people like to ideate and fixate on violence when they see our political problems," Amber Flannery Field tells us in a new QuakerSpeak interview. Ultimately, she continues, the Quaker belief in "that of God in everyone" makes murder and other forms of political violence an impossibility.

"The main point of unprogrammed oral ministry," Stanford Searl reminds us, "is to touch the hearts, minds, and souls of participants in worship... The emphasis is not upon the speaker, but on what the worshipers take away."

Kent Nerburn's Lone Dog Road is "a long, deep, challenging, engrossing, and rewarding journey," says Margaret Crompton. "As I read this novel, I was learning all the time, and I was changed."

From serving breakfast to Henry Kissinger in a white tuxedo to working with youth uptown, I saw the "baccarat crystal" side of finance firsthand. 🥂 Join me for Season 6 of Quakers Today as we go "into the wallet." 💸 Watch at QuakersToday.org #Quakers #Finance #Ethics @friendsjournal.org

The earliest Quakers defined themselves by their commitment to return to the "primitive Christianity" of Jesus’s first followers, a community who "had all things in common [and] would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need." quaker.org/2026/04/20/a...

"God was big And His story was hope The feeding of the hungry The release of the captive A new Kingdom on the horizon..." —from "God Was Big" by J W Goossen

In a new memoir, Quaker author Patricia Wild looks back on how she dealt with the deaths of her parents eight years apart. Through family stories and life experiences, Strands explores Wild's grief and rage—the latter often masking the sadness she felt welling up inside her.

The Quaker community in Monteverde, Costa Rica, is in the news today—but our readers have known about the hospitality they've shown to families who've been deported from the United States since February, when we shared this report from Lynnette Arnold.

"In 2020, my youngest brother died by suicide," Nate Crew writes. He might have gone down that path as well, he acknowledges, had he not been able to heal from his own deep spiritual injuries. (In the U.S., you can call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 to be connected to a trained counselor.)

"We have a world that is out of balance," Anthony Manousos told QuakerSpeak back in 2018, "a world where people are suffering, where there’s injustice. For me, being a Quaker peace activist means to be part of a movement to restore wholeness."

At the MIAM ministry (Mujeres de la Iglesia Amigos en Apoyo a Mujeres del Sector) in Guatemala City, the gospel is lived out through pastoral care and service. Under the principle of Galatians 3:28, no one occupies a higher place, and no one speaks from a position of spiritual privilege.

Eight short reflections—and several poems—provide glimpses into the life and spiritual influences of Lloyd Guindon, the longtime grounds manager at the Pendle Hill study center just outside Philadelphia. "Get The Back Forty; read it," John Andrew Gallery says. "It will inspire you as it did me."

🎙️ A new season of Quakers Today begins now! Diana Yañez joins longtime host Peterson Toscano as they reflect on money not just as personal math, but as a spiritual practice and communal responsibility. Listen at our website or download the latest episode wherever you find your favorite podcasts! 🎧

Imagine the despair Jesus’s followers felt in the days following his arrest and crucifixion, @ronhogan.bsky.social suggests. "The sheep of the flock will be scattered," he had warned—and, indeed, some disciples had decided to get out of Jerusalem while they still could. quaker.org/2026/04/13/o...

In The Land Knows the Way, Ricardo Levins Morales draws on nature, culture, and history in finding the way toward liberation. The work is intersectional in every way: we have much to learn from both nature and each other, and we are strongest together.