Stepping into the professional world as a Program Assistant with FCNL this year has been a Spirit-led journey. It’s been an opportunity to embrace growth in unfamiliar territory and discover how interpersonal connections can drive social change. Like many people of faith, I’ve been learning that it isn’t always clear what following the Light will mean at the start of a journey.
Graduating from Earlham College in May 2023, I was eager to join FCNL and learn from the approaches of Quaker lobbying. At Earlham I had learned about how social services, education, and institutional structures intersect within this country. I had a growing curiosity about how to live into my gifts while answering the call to work alongside others building a better world for all. Despite my enthusiasm, I was also worried about stepping away from the classrooms and intimate communities I had thrived in and moving to Washington, DC.
I felt grounded by a sense that FCNL was an important place for me to be in this moment.
These worries were about how I would live within this new and unfamiliar space – not simply my professional pursuits. I felt grounded by a sense that FCNL was an important place for me to be in this moment. My first week on the job, I joined our weekly Witness Wednesday Silent Reflection and was brought to tears as I felt that familiar sense of Light filling the space. The fear I was holding about this new job seemed inconsequential next to the open arms that welcomed me into this community.
In that first meeting - and throughout the months I have convened this group of insightful people - I saw each member intentionally show up as themselves and attentively care for the others gathering alongside them. Even though many of the friends who join this weekly worship are hundreds of miles away from one another, this group where “the zoom squares become a circle” has quickly become a spiritual home grounded in warm welcomes and deep reflections.
This group where “the zoom squares become a circle” has quickly become a spiritual home grounded in warm welcomes and deep reflections.
This was the first of many moments where I felt grounded by the presence of others in the work of building the world we seek at FCNL. No matter the difficulties of the present, we aim to not only look to the future but also build sustainable practices around meaningful connection.
I have had the honor to explore this experience with the six other program assistants in this year’s cohort. It’s been inspiring to work alongside these passionate young professionals, each bringing diverse perspectives from their faiths, Capitol Hill, and community activism. At FCNL’s Quaker Public Policy Institute and Annual Meeting in November, I got to share my journey on remaining true to my values while staying open to what others have to share.
On the first night of Annual Meeting, Mary Lou Hatcher shared a quote by Niels Bohr: “The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement, but the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.” We can honor and learn from our community’s diversity, guiding us towards a world that embraces and uplifts everyone. These differences can move us deeper onto Spirit’s path.
As I have become more settled in this work, I have learned that whether over a year or a lifetime, there are openings all around us to support our individual and collective gifts.
I am still learning the different ways professional, spiritual, and personal purposes can deepen together when guided by listening to that inner calling, but what has become very clear over the past year is how critical, how necessary is the call to be present, to be open, and to be attentive to the world around us.
