Opening Convocation Welcome 06
It is my great pleasure and privilege to welcome the entering class of students. I would like to acknowledge all of you, so would those of you who are just beginning your journeys at ANTS please stand?
You are joining a wonderful community of scholars and practitioners, and we hope your time here will be deeply rewarding. You represent:
Over 27 denominations, 14 states, and you come from as far away as India and the Philippines.
You range in age from 21 to 77, 16% of you are American Indians, Asian Americans, Latinos, or African Americans, and that is good news for all of us on the hill.
Some of you are planning to enter the ordained ministry; others of you are anticipating other forms of ministry. Whatever your reasons and hopes for your theological education, we are very glad you’re here, and we welcome you into this your new community.
Look around you. We are not the same. We don’t look the same. We don’t believe the same thing. This is a diverse community, and our diversity prepares us for ministry in a complex and changing world. In an excerpt from a poem called Water and Sand, poet Catherine Wang Hsu writes:
“Bring the shapeless and the helpless
Mix the water and the sands,
Make them into clay,
Carve them into shape,
Create statues to form
You, and me
Then break us apart, crush us
Into helpless pieces, and smash us
Into shapeless bits. Then again mix us
With soft water to reshape--a new form of
You, and me.
So that you
Have me in you,
And I have you
In me.”
In our lives together here we become part of each other, and in so doing our ability for effective ministry is enhanced. S\So my advice to you is to seek out those who are different. Stretch yourselves beyond the boundaries of your own lives. The difference that is here is one of our greatest strengths. If you want to make the most of your time here, learn from people unlike yourself.
And as you go forward on this journey, may your calling be more firmly confirmed, your intellectual interests broadened, your spiritual understandings challenged and enhanced, and your sense of yourself in a diverse community of believers confirmed.
We are so glad you’re here. Welcome.
Catherine Wang Hsu is a member of the Malden First Parish Unitarian Universalist.