Today: How to join in World Quaker Day

Reader Responses

When have you seen peacemaking in action?

I was a tough kid to love.

I could count the number of Black kids at my Quaker school on two hands. I could only count the number of poor kids on one hand. Unintentional acts of racism and elitism were everyday occurrences, so by 13, my preteen rage was inconsolable.

The Head of Upper School, a middle aged white woman, watched me like a hawk as a result. I was in her office for things no Friend should do, and I’d even turned that anger and frustration toward her several times.

But by 8th grade, I realized that she’d made a choice not to punitively police me. She knew I was struggling, and she had my back. She made sure that the culture at our school was for teachers to intervene and support the kids like me, who felt they didn’t quite belong.

I returned to that friendly place when I was in college to give a talk on bullying, and she knew from our embrace and from my desire to return to the community to serve, I’d finally received her love and intentionality. She’d withstood my rage and responded to my acting out with care like a genuine Friend would. She knew she had done her job.

My Quaker school and its warm sense of community, despite its cultural gaps and limitations, lives with me as a human, a parent, a professional, and an educator. It’s why I am a Quaker today.

Mi A., Newnan, GA, USA

Not that long ago, members of Westboro Baptist church were protesting a funeral. Then people wearing angel costumes started showing up. They used long poles to heighten their wingspans to block the protests. It was beautiful and the protesters went home.

Susan M.

I attend a local Methodist church, and our pastor taught the difference between peacemaking and peacekeeping this past Sunday. Peacekeeping is when you go along with, so as not to make waves. Peacemaking is intervening when something is not right. He says this is the most difficult thing we do, but Jesus asks us to be peacemakers. 

I admire people who are able to speak up for what is right, even when they are afraid, or when it might make waves. Many of us need peacemakers to empower us to do and say the right things, and to call us out with love and care when we need correction. My own daughter has been a peacemaker for me, and I have grown because of her ability to point out where I need growth and change. Blessed are the peacemakers. May we all learn.

Denise P., Kansas City, MO, USA

My husband and I run a Quaker-Montessori school and this is the biggest work of the children we guide. True peacemaking happens on the playground, at the lunch table, and while practicing math and reading.

Cara Beth B., Asheville, NC, USA