The Gospel in the Anthropocene: Letters from a Quaker Naturalist
Reviewed by Patricia Barber
October 1, 2026
By Brian Drayton, illustrations by Darcy Drayton. Inner Light Books, 2026. 368 pages. $32/paperback.
How then shall we live as people of faith in this era of accelerating ecological, social, and political crises? This is the urgent question that author Brian Drayton seeks to answer in The Gospel in the Anthropocene, a beautifully written, profoundly thoughtful, and prophetic book.
A recorded minister in New England Yearly Meeting and a plant ecologist and environmental educator of more than 40 years, Drayton invites us into wholeness through what he calls “the three great modes of revelation: nature, Spirit, and Scripture,” to enable us to meet the daunting challenges of the Anthropocene, defined as an epoch when human activity has become the dominant influence on our planet’s environment. He writes, “I am concerned to understand how recognizing our calling and taking action are inseparable today from becoming a more faithful follower and companion of Christ, who is alive and teaching among us.”
It will take, he asserts, nothing less than a Spirit-led journey towards metanoia, a transformative change of heart enabling us to live and serve in the world in an entirely new way. While Drayton is a Christ-centered Friend deeply inspired by the Bible, he recognizes that for each person this journey “must grow authentically out of your situation, your worship, your love, your learning, and according to your measure of preparation and of faithfulness.”
The book unfolds in a series of 38 deeply personal letters, each addressed to “Dear friend.” They follow an arc from foundational principles through modes of spiritual formation and end with praxis and proclamation for a time of climate crisis. Each letter concludes with a reflection consisting of queries that can be used for individual discernment, journaling, or group discussion.
No less important, between each letter is a short nature meditation drawn from Drayton’s own experience. In reading these, I felt as if I were being invited onto holy ground where contemplative prayer meets wordless encounter with the natural world. Nature, Drayton asserts, reveals God’s truth in ways that words alone cannot. It is by meditating on the natural world that we learn reverence for all of God’s creation and remove ourselves from the center of importance.
Drayton acknowledges that some readers might be put off by the word “gospel” in the book’s title. He invites them to see beyond what they think the word means. The gospel, he writes, “is not a thing but a living process, a workshop, a place.”
[It is] God working within us for our liberation so that we are more and more available to that Spirit whose effects are joy, courage, peace, truth, and the heart and works of compassion. It is the continuing work of creation and, therefore, before and beyond any expression in words.
The gospel life, he says, helps us to “understand that our own wholeness is not separate from the wholeness of the world.”
Like the prophets of old, Drayton does not flinch from the consequences of humanity’s failure to faithfully steward the creation. The path out of despair, he asserts, is to undertake the journey into wholeness under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is within this soul work that we can rediscover and remain rooted in joy. This is not a superficial emotion or a groping for a panacea but a fundamental assurance that there is a path forward, that we will be sustained through suffering, and that we will be shown right action as we live as participants in God’s love for all of creation.
I first read this book cover to cover over a couple of days, but even as I pressed on to the end, I was aware that I was sailing over very deep water. Through Drayton’s words, I could feel Spirit calling me to a deeper engagement with nature, and I was aware of a growing recognition of way opening: a path away from hopelessness and desolation toward compassion, resilience, freedom from fear, a willingness to serve, and a profound delight and reverence for the world of which I am a part.
I am now deep into my second reading of this remarkable book. This time it will take me months to complete as I pause to pay closer attention to the miraculous creation of which I am a part and absorb the new Light slowly being revealed to me. I am grateful to Friend Drayton for opening the way.
Patricia Barber is a member of Goose Creek Meeting in Lincoln, Va., and is a trustee of Friends Publishing Corporation, publisher of Friends Journal.
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