Dear Friends,
She walked across the stage with confidence and a note of pride. The academic gown billowed some on her diminutive frame as she moved. She stopped to shake hands with the chancellor of the university as her name was called. Our row of supporters hooted, hollered and shouted her name. “We’re proud of you! Way to go, Sophie!” She shook hands with the academic dean while sporting a smile so big, her face could hardly contain it.
Just four years before, Sophie declared she wanted to leave the province and study at Dalhousie University. Business management would become her focus. It seems like yesterday that we packed the car with all her belongings and made the two-day drive to Halifax to start the journey. She seemed so far away. Before long, “Hali” would become her home away from home, the place to grow, to learn, to struggle, to succeed, to discern and to dream.
In the blink of an eye, convocation day arrived. One by one, the students from the graduating class took their turn to walk the stage. Behind each step they took were family and friends, teachers and tutors, classmates and floor dons, coaches and lab mates, librarians and colleagues who helped to shape them and form them along the way. And behind each supporter, thinly veiled from sight, the One who gives us breath and life, reason and skill, love and passion… God. Nobody walks across the stage entirely on their own.
Dr. Kim Brooks, president and vice-chancellor of Dalhousie University, gave a brief address. She recounted a time from her childhood. Her parents would often take her and her siblings on excursions to spend time together as a family. They would visit the zoo or a park or the beach. On one occasion, they made the long car ride to the University of Guelph, where MPP Stephen Lewis was giving an address. It was not the kind of event her 9-year-old self was looking for; but what she remembers was the passion he expressed when speaking, the stillness of the crowd when listening, and the moment when he took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves to punctuate his point.
Dr. Brooks reminded the assembly that Stephen Lewis never completed his undergraduate studies. That did not mean he stopped learning. He threw himself into the endeavour of service to others in politics, broadcasting, teaching, mediation, diplomacy, human rights, AIDS relief, writing and more. Dr. Brooks said something like, many of us live only a portion of our whole selves, a portion of the gifts that we have been given. Strive to live the fullness of your gifts every day. While Stephen Lewis may not have completed his university studies, he would receive 42 honorary doctorates for his work.
This is the season when graduates from kindergarten, Grade 8, high school, college, university and apprenticeships will hear their names called, and they will walk the stage into a new chapter in their lives. May they too live to the fullness of the gifts that God has given to them.
Yours in Christ,
The Right Reverend Andrew Asbil
Bishop of Toronto
P.S. Go Canada go!
