A New Chaplain at Yale, cont.
Rabbi Susan Laemmle, Ph.D.
Rumi’s words apply to this fine occasion of installation—as the wings of Yale as an institution, of its students, and of its new chaplain all, as it were, open to new flights of possibility. Our lips taste the sacredness of which Rumi speaks, as we drink from ancient wells as well as contemporary sources of nourishment.
Rumi’s words also describe the work to which Sharon Kugler has been called—the work that those of us who serve as deans of religious life and university chaplains throughout our country endeavor to perform. Writing some eight hundred years ago, Rumi captures the spirit of the work, which is the spirit of religious pluralism and spiritual renewal.
When speaking of my own work at the University of Southern California, I have been known to say that our “bottom line” is not God, but meaning. Can you see how Rumi’s words spread a sacred canopy over such meaning-making work? His words help us see how the supportive “something” that enables a hesitant undergraduate eventually to soar; the kind “someone” whose generosity makes it possible for a struggling graduate student to complete the dissertation and emerge grateful; the what or whoever it is that, to echo William Blake, cleanses the doors of perception so that what was boring or hurtful suddenly appears infinite—all these carry us into the realm of the sacred.
In the 21st century, the vocation of university chaplain/dean of religious life is more needed and valuable than ever—but also more demanding. Firmly rooted in a particular religious tradition, the chaplain will encourage the rich multitude of faiths, outlooks and searchings that characterize a global campus like Yale. She or he will get people from all these quarters talking to and learning from one another. And most demandingly of all, the chaplain will cultivate and model a fruitful interchange between academic disciplines, values, and leadership on the one hand, and their spiritual counterparts on the other.
Though not an easy one, this is a richly rewarding role—a role that my friend and colleague Sharon Kugler is certainly up to—through strong preparation, wide experience, and natural gifts. All that she needs now is our support and our blessing. I take the liberty of offering two blessings, the first excerpts from a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke and the second, the traditional priestly benediction from the biblical book of Numbers.
From Rilke to Sharon:
Just as the winged energy of delight
Carried you over many chasms early on,
Now raise the daringly imagined arch
Holding up the astounding bridges.
Take your well-disciplined strengths
And stretch them between two
Opposing poles. Because inside human beings
Is where God learns.
And from the Bible for Sharon:
Yeverechecha Adonai v’yishmerecha:
May God bless you and keep you.
Yaehr Adonai panav aylecha veechonecha:
May the Eternal show you favor and be gracious to you.
Yesah Adonai panav aylecha v’yasehm lach Shalom:
May the Holy One’s presence shine upon you, and grant you peace.
And let us say, Amen.
~~~
Rabbi Susan Laemmle is Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California.
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