Francisco Burgos, Executive Director
August 26, 2021
During the past months, I have been reflecting about how to offer an ecological vision of Pendle Hill as we prepare to welcome a new residential student program. Of course, this reflection must consider the reality of COVID-19 and its variants, especially regarding how we provide a safe and welcoming environment for our community and guests. Undergirding these considerations and preparations is a practice that I am calling “essential care.”
What is essential care? It is not just the act of giving attention, but of embracing care as a way of being in the world. This relational practice of essential care allows us to touch everything we are and can be. Exercising essential care brings us to wholeness as we develop awareness about ourselves, others, the Earth, and our social systems; we become able to open ourselves to the necessary transformation that care requires from an ethical, spiritual, and ecological framework.
At Pendle Hill, we are doing our collective best to practice essential care in every aspect of our personal and institutional life. As a Quaker institution, we serve our sojourners and groups with simplicity and a strong sense of connection and mutual care. In many ways, this is a concrete step toward re-creating community in a loving way.
I invite you to experience the impact of essential care at Pendle Hill by visiting our campus or participating in one of our many online programs. I am delighted by all that our staff have accomplished to be prepared to welcome you and that we have done this from a place of love. Our preparations include many safety protocols to support visitors’ wellness as they undergo their personal journeys on the Pendle Hill campus.
We are ready to welcome you, and grateful to have you as a member of our holy experiment, practicing essential care with one another.
Peace,
Francisco
Francisco Burgos
Executive Director
