Dean Emilie M. Townes’ Fall Convocation remarks, as delivered on August 26, 2022
each opening convocation, we have begun by remembering those who have died since we were last together in May and to celebrate the new births during this time as well
today, we remember
those killed in mass shootings in
highland park, il (july)
uvalde, tx (may)
tulsa, ok (june)
buffalo, ny (may)
butler township, oh (august)
and more
professor dr. terrance dean
reverend dr. autura eason-williams
please call the name of others who have died or been born since May of this year
blessed be
the saying comes in many forms:
be with someone who makes you look forward to tomorrow
everybody deserves someone who makes them look forward to tomorrow
everybody deserves someone who makes them look forward to tomorrow. Be that someone for someone
be someone who makes someone else look forward to tomorrow
being with you always makes me look forward to tomorrow
how to look forward to tomorrow
it’s nice to have someone who makes you look forward to tomorrow
just the thought of being with you tomorrow is enough to get me through today
look forward
looking forward
as we look back, we look forward to tomorrow
and eventually, it morphs into sayings about hope
the desire, the admonition, the encouraging word to look beyond today is not a surprising thing from era to era and society to society
particularly when we are living in a maze of ugliness
that seems to greet us at most turns in our living
and would have us call it quits with hope
and slip into a mind-numbing cynicism that might even become a withering nihilism that settles into despair that breeds ruthless armadas of hatred
i hope that you are here today and will remain here for the time it will take to complete your program because you think that there is a better way to be with each other and the creation that surrounds us
that you are willing to take the leap into learning and to open yourselves up to new ideas, new perspectives, new histories, new words…just overall new stuff
for part of what we do in theological education is make a commitment—faculty, staff, and students—to be open to the journey of bringing together head and heart, body and spirit, intellect and intuition, reason and experience as natural dance partners and not warring states of being
we, my friends, are trying to bring humanity back as we enter our classrooms, talk in the common room, gather in the atrium, sit in worship, travel here and back, hang in al’s pub, and more
because there is more in this world that calls out the good, if only we have the skills, will, strength and vision to do so
rather than only point to the bad and tell the big lie that the bad is the status quo
and the good news is that we do not do this alone
God is in the midst of us and will not be moved
as you and i seek to move beyond a sterilized, codified, and cul-de-sac faith
to one that challenges the head, heart, body, and soul
that encourages us to lean into mystery
to learn from intellectual rigor
to bring the two together so that we can share what we are learning with others rather than hording it in the narrow harbors of our souls and intellect
looking forward means that together, we craft a community of learning
made up with peoples of all racial ethnic groups
both cisgenders, trans, fluid, nonbinary, intersex
varied lifestyles and abilities
different political and theological agenda
from all levels of the class structure
documented and undocumented
all ages
and on and on into the richness of our living and laboring
looking forward means that we become a community of learning that strives to be active witnesses to a more humane and better way to live into a world that needs a strong word, willing hands, invigorating spirituality, and moving bodies that will act and not just pontificate
because we refuse to believe that maudlin loathing is divine commandment
and we live our lives as a ripening into wholeness
and not a current event
or spiritual two-step
or round house of academic arbitrariness
or momentary bout of holified indigestion
i encourage all of us to be theologically fabulous and get God up doing a standing ovation in creation
by refusing to accept what is, as the best there can be
by shaping our worlds as models for justice and hope and love and deep spirit
and we hold ourselves accountable to remembering that we owe one another respect and to treat others with dignity
for if we deny justice, hope, love, and spirit; we are, in effect, telling those who go without them that they are worthless
and none of us. . .none of us…has that right
although some of us have the power and privilege to do so
as we begin this new year, we are being called to be the ones that seek wisdom, welcome change (or at least endure it), grow in grace, spread care, celebrate—really celebrate life—and not be the ones who are the poster children for a melancholy status quo
so, welcome to this new year and the great gift of possibilities, of looking forward, that you will find here and beyond
let’s open our hearts and minds to the wideness of God’s mercy
and tackle the hard issues and injustices of our day with fierce determination
a rock steady sense of hope
a laser pointer of love
and an ornery unwillingness to live in indifference whose only companion is a conscience that is soundless
let’s make some noise and get busy with it
blessed be