So often, the headline news spotlights start-up companies where the excitement is in the beginning of a new venture. What doesn’t get much attention at all is the end. Doesn’t it matter how we end, too?
Difference or diversity, even religiously or faith-wise, is embraced as a reality of the world of which Duke is a part.
With so much having already been said — on all sides — about tomorrow’s election, I am taking my cue for this column from the Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama.
What King and others teach about, and model, is the intersection of the spiritual and political realms. The spiritual is political and the political is spiritual. Again, this isn’t about political partisanship. It is about engaging in society in meaningful ways, rather than attempting to escape or ignore it.
For the times in which we live, lament is on-time speech. If we remember all of the lives taken by international wars and natural disasters, it is time to lament.
In genuine open dialogue and conversation, the Divine can manifest. Dialogue is not only a sociological phenomenon; it is a spiritual one. Conversation can be an invocation for the Holy.
Engaging in research at a major university like Duke is a key mechanism for discovery. Having to do research implies that one doesn’t have all of the information but desires to learn more. The practice of research in any field is a way of saying, “I don’t know, but I want to know.”
Celebrating may seem out of touch with “real life” with the ongoing injustices of war and innocent bloodshed, but a deep wisdom reveals otherwise.
As we come to the end of this academic year, and as you look toward the summer and beyond, take a song with you on the journey. It is a gift for your soul.
Anyone can be a teacher by teaching with their life.
