{"id":1491,"date":"2021-08-11T16:56:28","date_gmt":"2021-08-11T20:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redchairblogs.wpengine.com\/holymoly\/?p=1491"},"modified":"2021-08-11T16:56:28","modified_gmt":"2021-08-11T20:56:28","slug":"farewell-blessing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2021\/08\/11\/farewell-blessing\/","title":{"rendered":"Farewell Blessing"},"content":{"rendered":"

My farewell Chaplain\u2019s Corner is bittersweet. I am quite excited about my move to Denison University next week and broken-hearted to leave the community here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both the University of Lynchburg and Denison are in the book <\/span>Colleges that Change Lives<\/span>\u2014and Lynchburg has certainly changed my life for the better.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The community around the Dell has helped me raise my daughters and supported me when I have struggled. There is something truly special about being a Hornet. (The Denison mascot is The Big Red Buzzard, so I\u2019ll leave that here.)<\/span><\/p>\n

I leave you with the Blessing I wrote for Baccalaureate last spring:<\/span><\/p>\n

May God who began this good work in you
\n<\/span><\/em>carry it through to completion.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

May you continue to hunger for knowledge,
\n<\/span><\/em>To know that one\u2019s mind must always grow.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you always be at home in the library,
\n<\/span><\/em>And have the time to participate in culture.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you spend time in conversation.
\n<\/span><\/em>And may tomorrow dawn with things yet unknown.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

May you stretch far enough to see life from another\u2019s point of view.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you be open to a perspective that questions your certainty.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you understand an uncomfortable feeling as an opportunity for growth.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you never fear offering an apology.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you be of strong enough character to ask the hard questions.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you care enough to want equity and justice for all souls.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

May you know a life of balance, taking time to enjoy life and be a person of gratitude.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you take time to love and extend a hand in service to others.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you find discipline and accountability.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you always be true to your authentic self.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you find the simple path.
\n<\/span><\/em>And whatever challenge you encounter, may it deepen your spirit.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

May your life know wholeness, and may you be well.
\n<\/span><\/em>May your body endure,
\n<\/span><\/em>May your mind be clear,
\n<\/span><\/em>May your spirit know joy.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you have the support you need for your emotional life,
\n<\/span><\/em>And when you feel broken or fragmented,
\n<\/span><\/em>May you return to wholeness again.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

May you continue to discover the gifts and talents bestowed upon you;
\n<\/span><\/em>May you have the time to listen carefully to the divine call upon your life.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you continue to discover and live your vocation,
\n<\/span><\/em>Even as it changes and reshapes across the decades.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you have a future full of Hope.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

May you know the lifelong gift of being a hornet.
\n<\/span><\/em>You will never be without community, never without support.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you use your knowledge wisely,
\n<\/span><\/em>Both the knowledge and critical thinking you learned in the classroom,
\n<\/span><\/em>And the values and virtues you learned across the campus.
\n<\/span><\/em>May your memories be strong and true,
\n<\/span><\/em>May your friendships be lifelong.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

May you always be a Hornet-Human,
\n<\/span><\/em>Open to new ways of thinking
\n<\/span><\/em>Open to new ideas.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you use your knowledge carefully,
\n<\/span><\/em>And pursue Wisdom always.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you listen fully, without judgment
\n<\/span><\/em>May you speak with compassion,
\n<\/span><\/em>May you talk with respect.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you value Diversity.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you strive to Include everyone around your table
\n<\/span><\/em>May you work for Justice, for everyone, and in every system.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you be a Leader, a true servant-leader, who always builds others up.
\n<\/span><\/em>May you change your part of the World for the better,
\n<\/span><\/em>Encouraging others to be Hornet-Humans too.
\n<\/span><\/em>Amen.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Blessings,
\n<\/span>Stephanie<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My farewell Chaplain\u2019s Corner is bittersweet. I am quite excited about my move to Denison University next week and broken-hearted to leave the community here.\u00a0 Both the University of Lynchburg and Denison are in the book Colleges that Change Lives\u2014and …<\/p>\n

Farewell Blessing<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stephanie"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1QIf6-o3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}