A Crazy Rolla-Koh-Sta of Events
- Capital Fellows
- Sep 16
- 4 min read
By Koh-William Fleming
A week into work. Crazyyyy. Me? In a job? I discovered the joys of working with people who love the work that they do, and was encouraged by the office environment, which to me is so alien. After a weekend that vaporized into thin air and in the midst of wading through a rocky Monday, like many before and around me, I found myself asking questions about vocation. Here are a few good ones: What have I been made for? How do I know my calling? How can I serve God in my career? In preparing for Dr. Fullilove’s upcoming class, I found myself stumbling through Flannery O’Connor’s Christian Realism, a brief piece portraying the lens through which one can better understand her thought and writing. Curious, I waded deeper and found myself swimming, entertained in an internal conversation as I attempted to integrate faith and vocation. For O’Connor, perhaps ‘realism’ extends far beyond illustrating reality ‘the way things are’ and meant describing the spiritual reality beneath the fabric of material reality.
Christian Realism, in my mind completes a fuller picture of human nature, as “faith” can become “reason” where humanity is created in God’s image, “reflect God’s own presumed concerns, people desire justice, want to develop virtue not vice, and seek diligently peace.” Reinhold Niebuhr, whom I found coined the term Christian realism, discusses this tension between redemption and hope tugging; against total depravity and the reality where human nature is entrapped in evil, and limits the full effects of justice and just society. Though the answers to the questions I asked in the beginning will continue to marinate in my mind, to me, Christian realism creates a moral framework rooted in christian values and teachings. Contrasting the anarchic state of insecurity that drives realism, the Christian realist approach for me, integrates a moral agency to the actors, emphasizing community relations and justice as well. Amidst running from internal dialogue, wrestling with THE BIG QUESTION (plural) for so long, I truly wanted to make an effort to deeply challenge myself to turn around and face them throughout the duration of the fellowship. This time however, I am not alone. Last week, Quentin painted a beautiful picture of how I have 14 wonderful friends who have my back, for whom I truly could not be more grateful for: in the wonderful vodka sauce penne (without the vodka) that LJ and Izzy prepared for us, or the small group with the fellows lads. Reflecting upon these questions has made me increasingly excited and earnest about how to frame work and faith in my mind and action: Hasker, an American philosopher, put it most bluntly:
“[Faith] integration is concerned with integral relationships between faith and knowledge, the relationships which inherently exist between the content of the faith and the subject-matter of this or that discipline; such connections do not have to be invented or manufactured. But they do need to be ascertained and developed; unless this is done, faith and knowledge may appear to be, and for practical purposes may be in fact, alien and unrelated to each other…”
Thank you for indulging in my brain splurge, if you’ve made it this far, I hope you’ve had an amazing week!
Koh-William Fleming is a member of the Capital Fellows class of 2025-26. He is from Tokyo, Japan, and is a graduate of Covenant College. This year, he is working at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities in Arlington, VA.
Pictures From The Week
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About Capital Fellows. Capital Fellows is an advanced leadership and discipleship program for recent college graduates. Through graduate courses, a paid internship, one-on-one mentoring, and many leadership and community service opportunities, fellows develop and apply their gifts in real-world situations while learning to integrate a Christian worldview into all areas of life. Capital Fellows is a unique opportunity to live and work in the Washington DC area and to be an active member of a supportive community that seeks to serve the city with the love of Christ. It is also a unique opportunity to get hands-on experience in the workplace while deeply exploring God’s design for us as workers and contributors to human flourishing.
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