When I first started here in the WMF Omaha office, Daphne (my director then) made sure I took time for formational reading and growing in issues awareness.
So I read, I watched, I learned. I came to understand why we have a field in Sierra Leone and learned stories of the civil war that destroyed so many lives there — many of them children. I soaked up information about the sex trade that affects so many of our friends. I would often be found at my desk with one of our staff member’s prayer letters up on my screen, tears streaming down my face.
Sometimes the tears were mournful, tears of solidarity. Sometimes they were overwhelmed — there-is-just-so-much-wrong-in-our-world tears. And occasionally they were tears of hope.
As time went on and my tasks increased, I had less time for issues awareness. And, honestly, I didn’t have much desire to pursue it. I had grown numb. Maybe you’ve experienced a similar feeling. It’s disturbing. It’s like part of you has died — the part that empathizes with the rest of humanity. It’s like your connection to the world has been severed.
Since then, Meg Wheatley’s book Turning to One Another has inspired me:
“A few years ago, I was introduced to the practice of ‘bearing witness’ … a simple practice of being brave enough to sit with human suffering, to acknowledge it for what it is, to not flee from it. It doesn’t make the suffering go away, although it sometimes changes the experience of pain and grief. When I bear witness, I turn toward another and am willing to let their experience enter my heart.” (86)
Every time you read The Cry or watch a video on our website, you are participating in the practice of bearing witness. On behalf of the entire community, I want to say thank you for joining us, for connecting with us in this way.
It has been an honor for me to be a part of this community for four years and to share in the telling of our collective story through The Cry. And, as I have discerned that it is time for me to move on from WMF, I will forever be shaped by this time in my life, and I will carry with me the story I’ve been a part of.
My prayer as I close this letter is that you and I may continue to remember to open ourselves to others, to be willing to bear witness.
Mandy Mowers