We need each other

November 10, 2020 | By Jen Higgins-Newman, BHFH Program Manager

“We are not Friends because we are good. Indeed, we are Friends together exactly because we are not good, or not good enough. We need each other, to help each other along, in our faithfulness in everyday life, in our discipline or discipleship, in our activism.”

Ben Pink Dandelion, “Quaking with Confidence” (Friends Journal, 2009)

Dear friends, 

On November 4, uncertainty hung in the air like a thick fog. In the morning, residents made bacon and coffee and sat with each other. 

I, like many others, didn’t quite know what to do with the day. I worked on pulling together the Looking deeply at Thanksgiving program, and checked off other things on my to-do list. 

But, at 3 PM, I headed to the Boston Common to meet with other Quakers who had been organizing together during BHFH’s Quaker Preparation and Response to the Election programs in October. These Friends came together for a rally put on by our local branch of the Protect the Results coalition — ready to stand up to protect our democracy and ensure every vote was counted. 

The energy on the Common was electric even with our social-distancing — made even more vibrant and life-giving considering that most of us had not been together in person in many months. Other Friends held us in the Light from home, or joined groups helping voters ensure their votes got counted … and so much more. 

Together with these Friends on Boston Common, with the other rallygoers, and with friends and Friends taking action across the country, I felt a deep sense of community that gave me life on that day of uncertainty (and has sustained me in the days following).

We need each and every one of us, playing the role right for each of us, to create the change we seek. 

In Light and community,

Jen