Board Member Spotlight: Wanda Flowers
Wanda Flowers is one of the Interfaith Center’s newest board member and first Buddhist member.
Wanda is Chief Employment Council for Sunoco, and she carries her Buddhist values with her daily. She said, “For me, as a Buddhist, I strive to focus on myself as an individual - on what I need to change - so that I can be a better human being, and so I can see the ‘Buddha Nature’ and everyone’s potential as human beings.”
Flowers takes responsibility for creating a positive reality for herself. “Nobody else needs to change for me to become happy. I need to change for me to become happy,” she said. She brings this outlook to her corporate workplace; an environment that others might assume would not nurture one’s spirituality. She said, “My mission is to do what I can, to be focused, to see all the positive ways that I can contribute to the work place.”
Just as Flowers is committed to her own religious ideals, she is also highly supportive of engaging with those of other faith backgrounds, and creating religious understanding. She explained that when she first met Interfaith Center Executive Director Abby Stamelman-Hocky, they launched into a conversation about their individual religious traditions, making it clear to her immediately the importance of the Interfaith Center.
“The Interfaith Center is a place where you can share the beauty of life and the joy of living,” she said. “Here, where we can engage in dialogue, we can get beyond differences and see one another as we truly are.”
Flowers sees this dialogue as important for the world. In describing the Interfaith Center and its work, she said, “It’s proof to me that it’s possible to have different philosophies, while also having respect for someone else.
The interfaith work makes that a reality—because we talk to each other as human beings.” Flowers spoke further, “My goal is to create a world of hope. Because we engage in dialogue and we work to make this world a better place—we do create an atmosphere of hope, and it’s life-affirming.” |
