Listen and Then Act

Dear Friends,

I appreciate the opportunity for Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR) to partner with the Daily Quaker Message over the past week. This week we explored how powerful a tool listening can be in nurturing our sense of oneness with Spirit, others, and the earth. In a very loud world, it can be hard to settle and listen to what Spirit asks of us. And yet we find the more room we leave for silence, the clearer that still, small voice can become. 

RSWR was first created by Friends at the Friends World Committee for Consultation’s World Plenary in 1967 as a response to a call to build equity among Friends. In a space made for listening and connecting, Friends heard one another and took action. Today, RSWR seeks to continue that tradition of listening and taking action, in partnership with Friends and women’s groups around the world. 

Sometimes known as “International Women’s Day of Struggle,” International Women’s Day is celebrated in many places on March 8th. During a recent conversation with some colleagues from India, I learned that many women’s groups in Tamil Nadu host massive celebrations where women from the group are celebrated and women in positions of power are honored guests. In that same conversation, a colleague living in Mexico shared about the large protests on March 8th, fueled by increasing violence against women in her community. Each of these acknowledgments of International Women’s Day creates space for women to listen to one another, to come together in our shared struggles, and to chart a path forward. 

It is my hope that, as we move into uncertain times, we create community spaces where we come together, where we listen, and what we hear from each other and God serves as the foundation for action. 

In friendship, 

Megan Fair 
RSWR