When Way Opens
By Mallory
Before a global pandemic, before a continued journey of infertility, before a baby entered our lives, before I knew anything about pastoral care or chaplaincy, when my now spouse and I were dating, Katelyn and I were traveling one weekend. I was driving and the topic of seminary came up. I was hesitant because the only seminaries I knew where I would be welcome were residential only and not in the South or were otherwise unaffordable. She began a google search and stumbled upon Earlham School of Religion, a tiny Quaker school in Richmond, Indiana.
ESR ticked a lot of the boxes I was looking for, even though I knew nothing about Quakerism. They are open and affirming, they are ecumenical and not solely evangelical, they offer a hybrid option, they have a wide array of degrees, and they are intriguing. I’m a second born, so not knowing the outcome hasn’t stopped me from doing unhinged things before, like hopping on a plane to Africa and leaving my family for two years on my first international trip. Why not just apply to seminary and change the trajectory of my life? Easy peasy. When I toured ESR, there was a sense of calm, a sense of something – what that something was I wouldn’t find out until later.
Before the pandemic, my spouse and I visited Memphis Friends Meeting a few times. I was drawn to the stillness, the quiet, and the little bit of weirdness. MFM offered another unhinged option – leave the world of evangelicalism behind and be still and know. And then COVID happened. And I turned my focus to work and to school and the myriad of other things that kept popping up.
But something kept pulling me in. I had come from an evangelical background, but I wasn’t sure most days what I believed about Jesus (still don’t), the Light, the Divine Undercurrent, the ground of Being-Itself (as Paul Tillich describes). This something kept pushing me into the Way that stood wide open and called me forward. It called me forward into a community where I’m proud to bring my daughter and not wonder what’s being taught. It called me forward into a community whose values align my own. It called me forward into a community that sees the strengths of each other and offers space for those things.
As the years passed, I popped up online for MFM meetings for worship, popped in when it went hybrid, and popped into the meetinghouse itself more and more. Through all these changes, Quakers remained faithful to themselves and to the Light — still and quiet. Maybe joining them was a little weird for me, even a little unhinged, but that never stopped me before. I feel right at home.