Forum, June-July 2026

Protecting neighbors

Thank you for writing “Quakers Respond to ICE Deployment in Twin Cities” (by Sharlee DiMenichi, FJ Feb. online; Apr. print). Here next door to Minnesota, in Madison, Wis., the Mennonite Action Committee organized a Sing for Justice at the local Target store for Valentine’s Day. Many Quakers were among the 130 participants. Some employees were glad we were there. Our area newspaper printed a letter to the editor just before the event. Many Quakers across the globe are sympathetic with and working for justice. Friends Committee on National Legislation’s Advocacy Teams—138 volunteer teams across all 50 U.S. states—are lobbying legislators in 2026 on executive overreach in its many forms.

Dave Minden
Madison, Wis.

I appreciated the article about Friends’ responses to Operation Metro Surge. There were, of course, other quieter responses that occurred among Friends.

Quakers were among those who contributed to mutual aid. We also reached out beyond the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” to our out-of-state connections. Monthly meetings in the Midwestern United States and countless Friends sent funds; still others made donations to trusted nonprofits like the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.

People who couldn’t give funds or do ICE patrols, or who couldn’t safely intervene when ICE was breaking down doors without proper warrants, instead made thousands of whistle kits to distribute; dispatched rapid responders; translated papers; did groceries and delivered diapers; drove neighbors to critical appointments; facilitated meetups to build community and to share how best to meet neighbors’ needs; repaired and secured the busted doors battery-rammed by ICE; jump-started cars during what was already a brutal winter; used their notary public credentials to sign the heartbreaking paperwork known as DOPAs that would delegate parental authority of children to a trusted adult if the parents were deported.

Not all of us were protesters but all of us were protectors of our neighbors. I’ll never know all the ways that we showed up for one another.

One more example: I wept as my Iowa-based monthly meeting invited the entire yearly meeting to a morning worship one First Day; my video screen was filled with Friends across the region who knew that Minnesota was hurting. They too were part of showing up.

Liz Oppenheimer
Minneapolis, Minn.

Responding after the silence

I was reminded of Star Ford’s article (“Being Heard and Being Attentive,” FJ Jan.) when I was reading something yesterday and thought I might mention it. There’s a passage in Gustavo Gutiérrez’s On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent:

The poor and the marginalized have a deep-rooted conviction that no one is interested in their lives and misfortunes. They also have the experience of receiving deceptive expressions of concern from persons who in the end only make their problems all the worse.

It’s certainly a reminder to me that my response after the silence can be as important as my attention during listening.

Isaac
Brisbane, Australia

Speed up Quaker process?

I’m confused (“Embracing Diversity to Deepen Our Walk” by Michelle Downey, FJ Dec. 2025). I should be curious about people with differences. But I guess some things, like taking long amounts of time to “wait earnestly for the voice of Spirit,” and “bow to a time not of our own decision,” as Downey puts it, are unchangeable to Quakers.

I am a neurodivergent Quaker. With my ADHD, my brain processes things super fast and then very deeply. If I say that to most people, they’ll be insulted and assume I’m implying I’m smarter than them, which is not what I mean. Like many neurodivergent people, I say what I mean, literally, without implying meanings that others put on my words.

I feel that in many instances, Quaker process could go much, much faster. I may have an idea for a solution to a conflict within a week or two. But because of people’s insistence that Quaker process has to go so slowly, they might miss Spirit speaking through me, because it’s not dragged out long enough for them—even if the conflict is hurting people in the meeting.

My generation has 850 million problems to solve. We respectfully have no time to wait for one decision to take three to six months or longer, especially if people are hurting. That’s why I’m now only attending worship in my meeting and not participating in the other meeting structures. Too many people have shut out Spirit within me, while clinging to their old ideas.

Francine Brocious
Collegeville, Pa.

Reframing argument and debate

I grew up in a culture where dissecting and debating the meaning of words, phrases, history, and context, often with passion, was the norm, expected, and intellectually stimulating and the way we learned together (“A Sacred Space for Argument” by Nat Case, FJ Apr.). That is not the tendency or interest for many of my Friends in my Quaker community, so I have invited a group of those interested in discussing Quaker philosophy and history to meet weekly, and it has been a refreshing supplement to my usual experience with my loving Quaker community.

Thank you for mapping the way for us to reframe what argument as discussion and debate within the framework of love, kindness, integrity, and the Quaker way.

 Jeffrey Plaut
Elkins Park, Pa.

Addiction and self-harm

First, I am sorry for Nate Crew’s loss (“The Journey Back to God,” FJ Apr.). Addiction is a daily struggle, and I am sorry his brother lost the battle. The article has hit home for me in two ways as a lifelong addict who was running from childhood trauma. I am curious as to why he called it a suicide, because as a recovering addict, I never thought of it as suicide.

The other thing I can relate to is the journey back to God. My addiction has led me to prison. After living in the belly of the beast, I was able to overcome my disease and find my way back to God. After losing my freedom, I was able to hear the voice of the Lord. By researching my faith and finding the one that is best for me, I came to know that the kingdom of God is within me. I am sorry to say the Jesus America is portraying couldn’t be farther from the truth and Bible. I thank God for showing me the way back home, and I thank the Quakers for teaching me the truth and keeping me in the Light.

Today, for the first time in my life, I have no vices. I have given up all inhibitions and have felt God’s love for the first time in my life, and I am looking forward to walking out of the belly of the beast and into the footprints of Christ.

John Newkirk
Somers, Conn.

Shaking and pounding

Thanks to Ron Hogan for “Disruptive and Downright Weird,” his movie review of the new Ann Lee movie, The Testament of Ann Lee (FJ Feb online; Mar. print). I enjoyed it and was glad I had already watched the movie. The shaking and pounding really gave voice to “that which cannot be described.”

I was reminded that just before a message is given a Friend can experience an array of feelings in their body that are not usually visible, and yet the meeting can sense the presence and movement of Spirit among us. There is no way that moment of ecstatic sensation can be described by words.

Mary Pags
Staten Island, N.Y.

Thankful for poetry

It’s been four months since Jennie Sherwin’s “In Need of Repair” reached me (FJ Feb.), and I still love it for what it tells me.

Aware of what was happening
but thinking that whatever I did
wouldn’t matter,
I left this repair until letting in the light
was all I could think of.

Thanks to Jennie, thanks to poetry, and thanks to Friends Journal.

Rosalie A. Dance
Baltimore, Md.

A plea to listen

I just watched the video of Billie Wade talking about being black (“Are Quaker Meetings Safe for Black People?,” QuakerSpeak.com May). She feels lonely at times. Why is that? Conversation about how she feels could be very enlightening. People of color do get profiled! I was just at a meeting where they asked me, why Quaker? I said the love for God, country, equality, non-discrimination, and love for fellow humans. Please hear her.

Susan Harriman
Montana

Sister Wade’s words rang true—echoing similar experiences I’ve had at Fifty-seventh Street Meeting in Chicago. My meeting draws attendees from the University of Chicago and warmly welcomes many people of color, but Black Americans are treated differently! As long as racism is hidden under blankets of cultural-based identity, other African American Friends will remain unsafe.

C.A. Lofton
Chicago, Ill.

Early Quaker faith and courage

Thank you for this wonderful QuakerSpeak episode (“Margaret Fell: The Mother of Quakerism’s Powerful Ministry,” an interview with Shulamith Clearbridge, QuakerSpeak.com Mar.). It spoke to my condition during these days when hope seems small. Thank you.

Laura Jean Seeger
Red Bank, Tenn.

Excellent video. Thank you for its depth and focus on letting God guide us in the ups and downs of this life and times. My great-grandfather married into a Fell family who were Quakers!

David Highfield
Westminister, Md.

What a lovely presentation given here by Shulamith, who I have known to be someone who listens deeply for guidance from the Inward Teacher and faithfully follows it. The passages from Margaret Fell she translated and read here were clearly done with such love and comprehension! I look forward to the book when it comes out, but I think I would almost prefer an audio book. Hearing Shulamith’s voice allows us to hear this profound spiritual wisdom in a different way than we are historically used to—through the voice of the feminine. I think this serves to amplify the truth that Margaret Fell spoke of: that women had the same Light as men and could act and speak as powerfully as men out of that Light. Thanks for this interview!

Paulette Meier
Cincinnati, Ohio

One of the best QuakerSpeak videos I have seen. Terrific!

Don Badgley
New Paltz, N.Y.

Thank you for this inspirational reminder of the early Quakers’ faith and courage.

Margie Herbert
Kennett Square, Pa.