Find the Light Within Each Other and Ourselves

2/24/20
Liza Ewen
Acting Head of School

With all due respect to T.S. Eliot, April is not the cruelest month--February is. It is, to borrow from a Garfield comic that a student cut out and passed along to me many years ago, the Monday of months. I always assumed this stemmed from the rhythm of the school year (in February, it feels as if the school year has been going on forever when really, the second half has just begun). Still, the two Februarys I spent on maternity leave were marked by the same sinus infections and existential malaise. For years, I held the weather accountable, but this year that longstanding myth has been undone by spring-like days --which, in true February fashion, have turned sweet crocuses into further proof of global warming. Even before February officially began, I had to turn off my morning dose of NPR to muster enough strength to face the day. From the possibility of a pandemic to the final two minutes of the Doomsday Clock to the unfathomable tragedy of Kobe and Gianna Bryant, January was an extended prologue to February. There’s no consolation to be had in the ubiquitous reminder that it’s only 28 days (except when there’s 29 of them). February, no matter its length, is an unrelenting reminder of what we’re up against… in my humble opinion, at least.

And yet, like any parent, educator, Quaker, or Quaker-educator knows, we must summon the courage to dare to be optimistic. We must embrace the possibility for good in each new day, despite the odds at times, and trust in the inner light that connects us. All of us who love children and want to play a role in nurturing their minds, hearts, and futures, must see what George Fox, founder of the Religious Society of Friends and arguably the weightiest of important Quakers, described as “an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness.” Without that, we’re sunk--our reasons to get out of bed in the morning will quickly diminish, and soon we’ll be lost in an endless sea of Mondays and Februarys and winters without the joy of a snow day.

At Friends School Haverford, we teach children to see and nurture this “infinite ocean” of goodness--in themselves, in each other, and in the world. From morning meeting in their classrooms to Meeting for Worship on Thursdays, our students search for and share the good they see in themselves and each other. From taking care of classroom pets to building meaningful connections with partner classes, students learn to forge sustaining and affirming relationships. Our teachers not only nurture the innate optimism of young people but learn from it as well--each day, we are surrounded by models of hope and enthusiasm who remind us to see the “ocean of light,” even when today’s headlines leave us doubting. FSH is a place filled with laughter and kindness, love and joy, conscience, and integrity. Each morning, classroom doors open, and we come together to find the light within each other and ourselves. February may prove a challenge, but our commitment to what is good and right is resolute, and March is just around the corner.