The QYLC 2012 Minute The Quaker Youth Leadership Conference 2012 ...has come to a close. See you all at Sidwell Friends next year!  The Quaker Youth Leadership Conference is an energizing tradition that brings together students from Friends high schools around the world for an intensive retreat focusing on supporting, cultivating and connecting leadership through service, integrity and community. “I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism.”
For 2012, the theme of the Quaker Youth Leadership Conference is “the Essential Tension.” Looking to the words of King, we see the tension within our own minds between conflicting thoughts or morals, the tension between individuals, each with their own way of seeing the world, and the tensions between communities. The world is filled with tension, and the call for a young leader goes beyond simply acknowledging it. The conference will explore how to deal with tension, and how to make use of it. Rather than fighting to force two conflicting ideas into one, we learn to embrace the tension and use it as a catalyst for learning and growth in our lives. |
||||
