While Gen Z may have had the technical know-how to kick off careers remotely during the pandemic, it values connection and prioritizes work-life balance.
We are living in a time of upheaval. From racial equality to climate change, the clashes over how to chart a wiser and more caring path forward are stretching societies worldwide to their breaking points. Studies point to a mental health crisis. Democracies are stumbling. Change, it would seem, does not come without significant turmoil for those living through it.聽
But is that inevitable?
J. Brent Bill doesn鈥檛 think so. In his new book, 鈥淗ope and Witness in Dangerous Times,鈥 Mr. Bill explores what is, to him, something of a paradox: 鈥淚n the divides of today, it seems we either have to tend to our soul or to social activism,鈥 he tells me in an interview. 鈥淏ut that doesn鈥檛 seem right to me. These things feed each other.鈥
As a Quaker, Mr. Bill has spent his life at this nexus. For many Quakers, the witness of truth comes through the practical demonstration of divine goodness 鈥 in justice, peace, and love expressed. The Quaker tendency is to transform institutions, not convert people, Mr. Bill writes in his book. But, in a way, they are the same thing, he adds.聽
鈥淲hen we blend [spiritual health and activism], we bring a different flavor to the work,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t helps us focus on why we鈥檙e doing it. It helps us focus on the long haul.鈥
Among his insights, love is not inconsistent with rabble-rousing. We can speak difficult words, 鈥渂ut is love my first motive in what I do?鈥 he asks. Or are we falling into the trap of today鈥檚 toxic politics 鈥 chronically being 鈥渁gainst鈥 things? He says 鈥 鈥榖eing for鈥 is important, so I don鈥檛 damage my own spiritual health.鈥澛
Here is where prayer becomes more than 鈥渢houghts and prayers鈥 but a way to drive change 鈥 starting with oneself, he argues. 鈥淧rayer is in many ways about changing ourselves and learning to listen.鈥