iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 30/09/2026

The early Quakers would have agreed with the Psalmist: “The law of the Lord is perfect.” We can say this with confidence, because Isaac Penington turned to this verse repeatedly, as he gave thanks for the law "containing in it the commandment which is life everlasting." quaker.org/2026/09/28/l...

An engraving of a Quaker meetinghouse in Philadelphia, a man and woman standing in the spacious yard in front of its entrance. The building is flanked by trees on both sides.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 23/09/2026

When the Inward Light shines upon us and exposes the reality of our sins, what else should we do but fix our hearts and love one another? This week's Look to the Light message follows a thread from the prophet Ezekiel and George Fox to W.H. Auden and... David Lynch? Yep. quaker.org/2026/09/21/g...

A photograph of a person standing in darkness, clutching to their chest a glowing neon sculpture of a cartoon heart.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 16/09/2026

“For most of my adult life I have been an urgently interested and frequently uneasy reader of the Bible, particularly of the Gospels,” Wendell Berry wrote in 2005. Though he had faith, he admitted to a frequent lack of confidence in his relationship to what he had read. quaker.org/2026/09/14/l...

Wendell Berry, an older White Man balding on top with white hair at the temples, stands in front of a solar energy panel in a field, raising his right arm and making a peace sign. He wears a blue sweater.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 09/09/2026

Biblical translators handle the Hebrew word hesed in a variety of ways. "I have a soft spot for 'lovingkindness,'" Ron Hogan writes, "but the more time I spend thinking about it, the more I come to appreciate the simple practicality of 'steadfast love.'" quaker.org/2026/09/07/a...

A photograph of HH30, a protoplanetary disc located in the dark cloud LDN 1551 in the Taurus Molecular Cloud, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 02/09/2026

What does it mean when God says we should warn the wicked of their iniquity? "We don’t fight the Lamb’s War with an army of scolds and cavilers. But neither would God want us to remain silent as the moral arc of society bends further and further toward injustice." quaker.org/2026/08/31/y...

A detail from a painting of the prophet Ezekiel, zooming in tightly on his eyes, which appear to be looking upward. To the side, you can catch a glimpse of long gray hair.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 26/08/2026

"Let love be genuine," says Paul (Romans 12:9); early Quakers would have read, in the Geneva or King James Bible, that they should “let love be without dissimulation.” Sincere, unfeigned, free of hypocrisy or hidden agenda. That kind of love doesn’t always come easy. quaker.org/2026/08/24/d...

A photograph of a Black person holding their hand out so as to obscure their face. In their hand, they hold a piece of white cardboard on which the message SHARE LOVE NOT HATE has been printed.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 19/08/2026

The rejection of Empire begins in our imaginations, but it must not end there. Spirit calls on each of us to remember the promise of a more blessed community and, by refusing to conform to this age, to redirect our lives toward establishing that community here on earth. quaker.org/2026/08/17/d...

A photograph of a young Black person in a white sleeveless shirt, facing the camera. They have raised their right hand, and on the palm they have written the word NO in large black letters.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 12/08/2026

The Canaanite woman cries out because she has seen what Jesus has done for other people, as the popular meme goes, and she wants that for herself. She believes in the power of his ministry to overcome the ills and evils of this world. What's the lesson here for Friends? quaker.org/2026/08/10/w...

An oil painting of Jesus, warding off a woman who is kneeling at his side by extending his arm as if to push her away. On his left side, some of the disciples are trying to speak with him, but he isn't meeting their gaze, either.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 05/08/2026

As he read about the miracle of the loaves and fishes, and how Jesus went alone up the mountain to pray after the crowd had gone, Ron Hogan writes, "I started thinking about the early Quakers, and the stories George Fox told in his journals" of Firbank Fell & Pendle Hill. quaker.org/2026/08/03/h...

A watercolor painting of Jesus, standing on a rock at the top of a mountain, agsint the backdrop of a starry sky with a crescent moon. His arms are stretched out in prayer.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 29/07/2026

Jesus never set out to feed 5,000 people at one event. You can see it in the beginning of the story: He was trying to get AWAY from everybody. But as thousands converged on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he couldn't help but be moved by their faith. So he came back. quaker.org/2026/07/27/j...

An etching of Jesus, sitting in a boat that has bben brought up to the shore. He holds his hands out to address a crowd that's gathered to hear him speak. Some apostles are listening intently, leaning against the boat to hold it steady. In the far backgroun, you can see a few tall buildings just beyond some hills.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 22/07/2026

As we strip away the trappings of Empire, and break through the mental and spiritual fog of this world, the more capable we become of perceiving what early Friends called “the Inward Light" and its invitation to abandon sin and embrace God's call to love one another. quaker.org/2026/07/20/y...

A photograph of a young woman with long, dark hair standing amid some trees. She looks up to the sky and the sun shines brightly upon her.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 15/07/2026

“What has the gospel to do with the oppressed of the land and their struggle for liberation?” Everything. God doesn’t promise that heaven awaits us after a lifetime of suffering *if we’ve behaved ourselves*. God assures us the blessed community will come to THIS world. quaker.org/2026/07/13/w...

A photograph of a small globe of the planet Earth, illuminated from its interior, being cradled in a pair of human hands in the darkness.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 01/07/2026

Twenty-three years after his death, Empire's viziers still feel compelled to tear Mr. Rogers down in order to justify their failure to love their neighbors. It shouldn't surprise us: Jesus called out this world's ongoing effort to discredit prophetic messengers long ago. quaker.org/2026/06/29/t...

A color photograph of a smiling Fred Rogers on the set of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, sitting on the bench by the front door in a red cardigan sweater.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 24/06/2026

HOW LONG, O LORD? The language of the 13th Psalm might have resonated with the earliest Friends, especially those who had been publicly tortured or thrown into prison—nevertheless, they continued to believe in God's steadfast love. We can learn from their example. quaker.org/2026/06/22/m...

A photograph of a forearm, stretched out in front of the bars of a jail cell, with blurry multicolored lights in the background.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 17/06/2026

When Spirit breaks through Empire’s illusions, it reconnects us with what Walter Brueggemann called the prophetic imagination—the ability to recognize that something has gone terribly wrong, that we do not have to live like this, that a greater possibility exists. quaker.org/2026/06/15/w...

An engraving of Jeremiah, standing on a stepped wall, crying out, surrounded by people who are listening glumly, distressed by whatever he's telling them.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 10/06/2026

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'” The harvest of the blessed community awaits—what will we do to pitch in and bring it home? quaker.org/2026/06/08/t...

A photograph of a group of people standing in a field, gathering the harvest from neat rows of plants.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 03/06/2026

The Hebrew word hesed describes a relationship—sometimes between two people, but more often between God and humanity. English words like "loyalty" or "trust" capture some of hesed's complexity, but they miss out on the "steadfast love" at the core of the relationship. quaker.org/2026/06/01/i...

A pair of dark-skinned hands held up against a white cloud in a blue sky, forming the shape of a heart icon.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 01/06/2026

"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.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 27/05/2026

"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...

A pen and ink drawing, with abstract representations of men and women sitting in a meetinghouse. Lines of sunlight come in from the upper left corne, shining on the abstract figure of a haloed Jesus, standing above those seated with a gesture of blessing.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 20/05/2026

"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...

A woodcut illustration of the Holy Spirit, in the form of a great white bird, shining its light upon a crowd of men and women, represented by little flames at the crown of their heads.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 13/05/2026

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...

A drawing of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse (from Chapter Six of the Book of Revelation) looming over a burning city next to a blood-red river. An ethnically diverse group of men and women are fleeing from them, fear writ large on their faces.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 04/05/2026

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...

An image from a video, released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, of the accused would-be presidential assassin (circled) running through a checkpoint outside the White House Correspondents Association dinner.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 01/05/2026

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 🎧

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 29/04/2026

"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...

A Black man in jeans, a purple T-shirt over a yellow T-shirt, and a yellow baseball cap, uses a trowel to spread mortar across the top of a stone in a wall.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 22/04/2026

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...

A color illustration of a group of Christian men in first-century Judaea gathering together around a table for a friendly meal. They are all smiling as they engage one another in conversation.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 15/04/2026

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...

A painting of three men walking down a rocky road on a hill, with large trees behind them. The two men on either end seem anxious or forlorn, but the man in the middle has a comforting hand on one's shoulder, and raises the index finger of his other hand as he speaks, as if to emphasize what he's saying.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 08/04/2026

Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” In this week's "Look to the Light" message, we look at John 20:27 in the original Greek and find something much heavier than "doubt." quaker.org/2026/04/06/d...

In Caravaggio's painting, Jesus bares his chest and, grabbing Thomas by the wrist, guides his finger into a gaping wound in his lower abdomen. Two other apostles stand behind Thomas, looking over his shoulder at the wound.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 01/04/2026

While the apostles hid, Mary Magdalene stayed by the empty tomb. Her spiritual mentor had been arrested and made to suffer a gruesome public death. Now, not even his body remained for her to mourn, and two strangers stood in his tomb, asking her why she was crying. quaker.org/2026/03/30/w...

A painting of Mary Magdalene at the door to Jesus's tomb, where two figures, dressed all in white, stand facing her. She is shocked and frightened, nearly collapsing to the floor.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 25/03/2026

Puritans in Massachusetts viewed the Quakers as so powerful a threat to their colony that they passed a law forbidding Friends within their borders upon pain of death. Mary Dyer kept coming back, "willing to suffer, as her Brethren did," and was publicly executed in 1659. quaker.org/2026/03/23/g...

A color illustration of Mary Dyer being led down a Boston street to her place of execution. She is flanked by two armed men, with drummers in front and behind her. People stand and watch solemnly from the side of the road.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 18/03/2026

“Sing and rejoice, ye children of the day and of the light,” George Fox told his fellow Quakers, “for the Lord is at work in this thick night of darkness that may be felt.” Feeling helpless in the face of evil is understandable—but it shouldn't be the end of the story. quaker.org/2026/03/16/t...

Jack Holloway plays his electric guitar on the altar of Old First Reformed Church in Brooklyn while, off to the side, a Despair Sanctuary crew member monitors the sound.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 11/03/2026

Instead of accusing trans people of abandoning their “original” nature, we might do better to see their rejection of socially imposed gender identities, based solely on the presence of physical characteristics, as a recognition—and an embrace—of their authentic selves. quaker.org/2026/03/09/w...

A photograph of a city square, paved with bricks. Some of the bricks have been painted to form a rainbow path, but midway down the path, the colors change to those of the trans pride flag.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 04/03/2026

When people become convinced God has abandoned them, they usually decide they need to fend for themselves—and “fending for ourselves” always implies “screw the rest of you.” Walter Brueggemann called that “the royal consciousness,” the animating spirit of Empire. quaker.org/2026/03/02/a...

An ink drawing of Moses, an older bearded man, who's just struck a rock with a stick. Men, women, and children gather in amazement as they look at the water flowing from the rock. You can see, dimly, some alternative composition choices that the artist drew in chalk but did not choose for his final version.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 25/02/2026

"For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ," Paul warned in his letter to the Philippians. "Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things." quaker.org/2026/02/23/e...

An ink drawing of St Paul, writing in a book with a feather dipped in ink from a vessel on the table. He has a sword, pointed down toward the ground, leaning against his chest, the hilt resting at the base of his shoulder.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 18/02/2026

Embracing empathy reflects the highest of Quakerly aspirations—to accept the summons of the Inward Light to pattern our minds after that of Jesus, “to do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, looking not to your own interests but to the interests of others.” quaker.org/2026/02/16/w...

A photograph of the back of a man's head. He is wearing a gray baseball cap that says QUAKER in small white letters across the back. Around him we can see a crowd of protestors, some carrying signs criticizing the Trump administration and the invasion of Venezuela.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 11/02/2026

Dallas Willard didn't see our relationship with God as that of master & servant, nor patron & beneficiary: “A mere benefactor, however powerful, kind, and thoughtful, is not the same thing as a friend," he wrote, "[and] Jesus says, ‘I have called you friends.’” quaker.org/2026/02/09/n...

A fresco painting of Jesus, standing at the peak of a mountaintop, with Moses standing on a rock at the left of the painting and the prophet Elijah similarly positioned at the right. At the base of each of the three rocks, one of Jesus's apostles cowers, terrified.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 04/02/2026

"We can’t build the blessed community with thoughts and prayers," Ron Hogan writes. "God wants more from us than just our love and attention; God also wants us to love our neighbors as ourselves—and expects us to put some backbone into it." quaker.org/2026/02/02/t...

A man sits cross-legged on a sidewalk in front of a brick all, wearing gray sweatpants and a blue hooded sweatshirt. He holds a cardboard sign that says "HOMELESS... PLEAS HELP AS I WOULD BE VERY GREATFULL ANY SPEAR CHANG WOULD HELP ME, THANK YOU."

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 28/01/2026

Every "low and despised" person rejected by the elites has that of God in them. Every outcast has a home in the blessed community. And when they come together in love and solidarity, it can be, as George Fox urged us to be, "a terror to all the adversaries of God." quaker.org/2026/01/26/w...

Two protestors marching down a Minneapolis street carry a white sheet upon which is written WE BEAR WITNESS. Next to them, another protestor carries a homemade sign in the shape of a shield bearing the legend DEFEND LOVE.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 21/01/2026

“How can we be made in the image of God and not be built for care, solidarity, and love?” History may show human societies choosing supremacy over love time and time again, but we don't HAVE to live that way. We don't have to give in to the ideology of Empire. quaker.org/2026/01/19/d...

A handmade protest sign, at a rally in New York City honoring the memory of Renee Good, declaring "THERE IS NO FASCISM IN THE LIGHT." Yep, a Quaker made it!

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 14/01/2026

From the moment an ICE agent shot and killed her, the U.S. government has attempted to brand Renee Good as a “domestic terrorist.” Those who knew her best, though, say her celebration of God’s faithfulness and steadfast love for the world shone through her actions daily. quaker.org/2026/01/12/y...

A flyer taped to an electrical box on a street in South Minneapolis says "RIP Renee" above a photograph of Renee Nicole Good and "MURDERED BY ICE" below it.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 07/01/2026

Care for the poor features prominently in the 72nd Psalm's vision of good governance. It celebrates a ruler who acts in accordance with a divine sense of justice and righteousness, assuming power not for himself, not for a small inner circle, but for the benefit of all. quaker.org/2026/01/05/h...

A man sits on a brick sidewalk, his back against the wall of a building. It's cold: He's wearing a hooded heavy jacket, his hands tucked inside his sleeves, and in his lap a dog sleeps, wrapped in a blanket.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 31/12/2025

“Of old none were ever judged Christians, but such as ‘had the Spirit of Christ,’” Quaker theologian Robert Barclay wrote. "But now many do boldly call themselves Christians, who make no difficulty of confessing they are without it, and laugh at such as say they have it.” quaker.org/2025/12/29/a...

The title page to Robert Barclay's "An Apology for the True Christian Divinity, as the same is held forth, and preached by the People, Called, in Scorn, QUAKERS."

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 24/12/2025

Earlier this year, one of the most powerful men in the world began musing about what would happen after he died. “I want to try and get to heaven if possible,” he said. Well, just about everybody had an opinion about THAT. Even some Quakers, though we don't all agree about whether heaven exists.

The triple star system of Apep, approximately 8,000 light-years from Earth, photographed by the James Webb Space Telescope.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 17/12/2025

Some Quakers may feel drawn to activism because of the ways it fulfills secular philosophies of justice or morality. Yet the core testimonies that have informed Friends' actions for nearly four centuries derive from something far weightier than political judgment. quaker.org/2025/12/15/s...

A photograph of a man and a woman, standing on the water's edge with their backs to the camera as the sun rises over the horizon, framed in the space between their bodies.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 10/12/2025

What drew audiences to John the Baptist? Quite simply, they came because he had a message that, to borrow a turn of phrase from George Fox, spoke to their condition. They chafed under the rule of a foreign oppressor, and John declared God would soon come to liberate them. quaker.org/2025/12/08/w...

St. John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness, an etching by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 03/12/2025

Like John the Baptist, George Fox could sense the ax at the root of the trees, ready to cut everything down. He was convinced that the Spirit of Christ was already moving through this world—and he wanted to help others recognize and embrace that presence among them. quaker.org/2025/12/01/e...

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's early 18th-century painting of John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness to a gathered crowd.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 26/11/2025

Throughout history, people have tried to frighten the masses into believing the world will end, plunging us all into eternal torment. In Christian circles, this is often associated with "the Rapture." Quakers (usually) don't get caught up in these panics—why not? quaker.org/2025/11/24/y...

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 19/11/2025

"I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, [and] I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall no longer fear or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord." (Jeremiah 23:3-4) quaker.org/2025/11/17/i...

An Asian woman in a purple frock with a yellow head wrap stands in the middle of a large flock of sheep, holding one against her body with her left arm while she lifts up a small branch in her right hand. Behind her shoulder the sun is rising.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 10/11/2025

As the Trump administration continues to fight with the federal courts about whether they need to provide SNAP benefits to millions of food-insecure American families, next Sunday's reading of 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 will likely make some churchgoers squirm in their pews. quaker.org/2025/11/10/a...

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 05/11/2025

When the Persians conquered Babylon, the Judeans that had been exiled from Jerusalem were allowed to return to the city. Rather than restore the high temple, they concentrated on their own fortunes—until Haggai showed up and asked how that was working out for them. quaker.org/2025/11/03/m...

A painting of a young (or middle-aged) bearded man in a yellow tunic with a white headdress, sitting on a cloud. A large white scroll unfurls out of his hands, bearing a Latin verse from the Book of Haggai.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 29/10/2025

What did Dietrich Bonhoeffer have in common with the 17th-century Friend James Nayler? Neither man was willing to accommodate himself to the ruling forces of their time, and both paid dearly for their faithful discipleship. And what will WE do to resist authoritarianism? quaker.org/2025/10/27/i...

A black-and-white photograph of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

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