{"id":1077,"date":"2017-08-23T16:02:50","date_gmt":"2017-08-23T20:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redchairblogs.wpengine.com\/holymoly\/?p=1077"},"modified":"2017-08-23T16:02:50","modified_gmt":"2017-08-23T20:02:50","slug":"opening-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2017\/08\/23\/opening-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"

For our opening Chaplain\u2019s Corner this semester, I decided to adapt the prayer from the Opening Staff and Faculty Breakfast last week.\u00a0 Good luck to everyone as we start the 2017-18 Academic Year!<\/em><\/p>\n

Prayer for Opening Breakfast 8-16-17<\/strong><\/p>\n

In such a time as this where diversity can divide us \u2013 violence wounds us \u2013 and higher education struggles on so many levels \u2013 we gather again this fall because we are committed to our mission of education. Our Disciples founders believed in learning \u2013 in the intersection of faith and reason to shape minds and lives that Lynchburg students might change the world. I believe that is still why we do what we do:<\/p>\n

\u2013 and no matter if your faith is the Christianity that the original donors took for granted, or the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob<\/p>\n

\u2013 whether you are shaped by Buddha or Confucius<\/p>\n

\u2013 whether you celebrate Denali or Eid<\/p>\n

\u2013 or whether your faith lies in our basic humanity, we celebrate wisdom and the creative thinking in this space<\/p>\n

We know we do that best when we work together.<\/p>\n

My prayer, in the name of all that is holy, in the name of all basic goodness, in the name of all we are created to be, is that this academic year may be one of safety, one of student engagement, one of student success, and one of student growth.<\/p>\n

And that this year may be a year of community:<\/p>\n