Last weekend, I had the privilege of making my final speech to our 2025 graduating class of seniors at our baccalaureate service, for which they chose the theme of joy. Here are a few of the thoughts I shared with them, as well as the gift I gave them.
This year I am newly awake to the reality that Jesus was born in Palestine under the occupation of an empire. And yet, throughout the Gospel stories of the Nativity, in the face of empire, people seek the light. They sing, they dance, they seek out friends and visit each other, they boldly proclaim their faith, they worship and they have babies. The world is also delightful. Somehow, we have to hold all of this together.
One of my favorite questions to ask alumni is: “Who is the person who was most influential to you from your time at Goshen?” For our older alums, the most common answer is Mary Oyer, professor emerita of music, who taught from 1945 to 1987. For many first-generation students who came to GC from rural communities, taking ‘The Arts with Mary Oyer’ opened their minds and hearts to the world — not only the world of music and art, but also civilizations and history.
I am experiencing Advent this year as a thin season. I love the image of heaven whispering. And that makes me think about all the angels at work in the Christmas stories. Angels with Mary, Zechariah, Elizabeth, the shepherds – and maybe with us.
Our campus and our broader community have been dealing with an unusual amount of grief this fall. This blog is adapted from comments I made in the special convocation on campus, “Holding Grief in Community,” on Oct. 26, 2022.
As I struggle to comprehend what is unfolding in Ukraine, I’ve had the privilege of traveling with our Vox Profundi Choir during our spring break tour along the East Coast. I revel in the energy, joy and discipline of our talented students in these venues. And it has been a profound reminder that music, art and beauty are deep sources of balm, pointing us to peace, hope and love.
I thought to myself: If we must live through this ordeal (and indeed, we must), this is the community I want to be a part of.
Last week I accompanied the Voices of the Earth (formerly named the Women’s World Music Choir) on their spring break tour in Puerto Rico.
On the morning after Easter, April 21, 2019, Goshen College Professor of Music Deb Detwiler passed away, in her home surrounded by people who loved her. We are feeling her loss deeply.
As only a road trip can do, the hearts of the musicians were opened to hospitality, beauty, peace, exhaustion, stamina; were opened to care and to be cared for, to serve the world through music.
