Top 5 Videos of 2022

2022 has been quite the year for QuakerSpeak! This year we posted 19 new videos and reached almost 4.8 million views on YouTube. This week, we’re looking back at the top five videos of the past year.

#5

Examining the Quaker Peace Testimony

While this was the last video of season 9, Adria Gulizia’s reflection on the peace testimony resonated with a great many viewers in the final weeks of 2022.

On YouTube, user Torger Vedeler wrote:

I am currently struggling with how to respond to a terrible wrong done to me, and which I see the consequences of every day. And I think a lot about the adage “hurt people hurt people”. It is not easy to hold back anger. It is not easy to follow peace and try to heal rather than lash out. I don’t know if I can do it. But this talk does a lovely job of strengthening me as I try to follow peace and healing, so thank you so much.

#4

Scattergood Hostel: A Quaker Response to the Holocaust

Michael Luick-Thrams shared how Friends in Iowa helped refugees fleeing from Nazi Germany, and examined how we might respond to refugees in need of help today.

Nancy Allemen commented:

this is an amazing story. i am originally from iowa – although was not a quaker. until today i have never heard this beautiful story. and now the german connection with ukrainians. thank you so much!

#3

The Secret to True Communication

J.E. McNeil, featured in two of this season’s QuakerSpeak videos, shares her secrets to communicating with folks with whom you disagree.

On our website, user Jane commented:

I have been thinking of the (few) times that I have managed to just listen and hear what is being said and ask questions to really understand where the beliefs/perspectives are coming from. Invariably, it has happened with people I truly love. I guess then that there is more love needed. thanks for that

#2

On Quaker Deathways: Practices Around Death and Dying

Carl Magruder’s video on Quaker death practices deeply resonated with viewers this year

Friend Charles David Tauber writes:

First, as a physician and as a Friend and as someone who has worked a fair amount with people who are dying, I very much like what Carl is saying about the processes of suffering and dying.

Further, I do a great deal of work with traumatized people, asylum seekers and refugees and war victims online in various parts of the world. Carl’s point at the beginning of the video about walking in without any preconceived ideas, and “simply” – it is not at all simple – listening to the people – there always also are relationships – is the essence of good therapy. I don’t know how many times people have said to me something like, “you’re the first person who has listened to me”. Listening and empathizing and being there is essential. This is the essence of our spiritual relationship to other people and to G-d.

YouTube user megleland simply wrote:

Wow, it is like you knew I needed to see this today. Thx.

#1

A Quaker Way Toward Ending Gun Violence

Our top video this year featured Peter Murchison, who shared how gun violence personally affected him and his family.

Friend Mylène DiPenta commented:

Thank you so much for this perspective. I have great hope that we can inspire that change of heart, starting with ourselves. Those of us who don’t own guns, probably buy them every year unwittingly: we pay for the military and police departments to arm themselves, which they then do in the name of protecting us. And yet we know that armed forces have not made our lives safe — neither abroad nor at home…

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We hope you have a happy and safe winter and we’ll see you again in March!
The QuakerSpeak Team