Baccalaureate

My brother Daniel graduates from Drew University tomorrow with an MDiv. Despite the fact the I got the very same degree from Duke, our two experiences were s different--and these differences are highlighted by the closures--Baccalaureate, Graduation, etc.

I'm sitting waiting for Drew's Baccalaureate...interfaith, sparcely attended, held in a gym, kicked off by. Women's a-cappella group singing Sarah McLauchlin's "Arms of an Angel". Now, o guess for a universit-wide service this is appropriate. I realize we were a bit spoiled at Duke.

Our Baccalaureate was ours alone. It was full on Christian--the kind of high church Methodism (Anglican envy almost) that characterizes the Div School at Duke. Everyone attended--as opposed to the next day's university graduation, when only a few of us robed. (Oprah wasn't the speaker then...perhaps more of my classmates would have braved the graduation heat).

For me this just reminds me how much these places shape us. From longing for stone work in a church to searching the bulletin hard to find a hint of Scripture reading. Duke, like any seminary, shakes us up and spits us out, for better or worse molded by the community and life we've shared there.

Daniel seems quite at ease at this Baccalaureate. It is the experience he's had here-one that opens his heart to all the differences around us. And who knows. Maybe someday I'll drag him down to Pastor's School at Duke, and he can get all drawn into the organ, robes, etc.

Oooo...here we go though...any service that starts with Mark Miller processing with a drum is going to be good...stone walls or not...