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Moving to Music
Not Yet Written: Greetings and welcome to all! From within the College of St. Catherine community to our guests from the Twin Cities, Minnesota, from around the nation, and from Canada and Haiti, greetings. You honor this College and me with your presence. To the civic and community leaders from St. Paul and Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota; to Archbishop Flynn and other leaders of the church, I greet and thank you for being here. To my family and friends, greetings and thank you for encouraging me to choose a life that brings me joy and the wonderful satisfaction that comes with doing work that I love. To my IHM sisters-Mary McCann and the Leadership Council; my IHM friends;-scholars, teachers, social justice and pastoral ministers, musicians, and artists-you embody all of what we imagine for women at the College of St. Catherine, greetings and welcome. To delegates and colleagues from the academic community-from Minnesota's private colleges and our public university and college systems; to delegates from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities; to the Women's College Coalition and others, I greet and welcome you. Special greeting to my colleagues from Marygrove College, President Glenda Price and my former colleagues. You are my lifelong friends, born of years of hard work together pursuing a mission that engaged our most passionate belief and commitment. Welcome and thank you for being here. Greetings to my colleagues and students of the College of St. Catherine, as well as alumnae who display the rich fruits of your education in so many ways and places. I greet and thank the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, women of extraordinary vision and commitment; the Board of Trustees, women and men of parallel vision and dedication. You honor me with this appointment. You honor me with your trust. I'm glad you invited me. I'm glad I said, "Yes." I love being here. Greetings as well to the sisters viewing this ceremony through satellite transmittal to Bethany and the Provincial House. To Professor Julie Belle White-Newman and Trustee Gini McCain; to Ellen Elhard, Karla Winter, their committees and all who helped plan this grand College celebration. You have managed the paralyzing array of detail, which underscores events like this, with style and skill. The College of St. Catherine and I will always be in your debt. Special gratitude to our O'Shaughnessy production staff and my friends, old and new, artists who helped me transform a key element of this message into a visual metaphor for key elements of its content and lent substantial talent and creativity to its execution. Since I arrived last summer, I have worked hard to know you, to understand the College of St. Catherine's rich traditions, and to plumb its deeper regions before setting it on a course for the future. And while College officers mapped out a daunting plan of orientation for me, innumerable distractions along the way-unplanned and off the edges of the calendar-sucked me in with startling force and fixed me firmly in this place. Distractions like: Nasrin Jewell, crafting a thoughtful and creative integration of St. Catherine's social justice mission with our undergraduate academic program in response to the strategic planning committee's invitation; * A large and influential network of women in the Twin Cities deeply engaged with St. Catherine's spirituality programs for women, with Wisdom Ways, with our leadership forums, and our campus ministry programs; Cecilia Konchar Farr, cross-legged on the floor at a crowded budget administrator's meeting, her exuberant love of the Core-as it is affectionately referred to here-easing a tense discussion of resources (or lack of them); * Occupational, physical, and holistic therapies faculty way ahead of the curve in thinking about new evolutions in the preparation of practitioners for their healing arts; Some 300 community members engaged in analyzing a strategic direction for the College; faculty and staff offering the president a delightful array of coupons for massages, healing stones, chocolate, good bread, good ideas, e-mails, a lifetime supply of challenges, problems and suggestions, and occasional biscuits for her dog; Or felix distractio-coffee with Ed Sellner at Brewberry's-hearing about Celtic soul friends and hoping he could be mine; The skillful weaving of classroom instruction and support by Learning Center staff to help students overcome formidable anatomy and physiology barriers; Language faculty-sharing bon pain as well as the bread of deep love for their disciplines; Community meetings where the hierarchy is leveled to seek illumination in difficult struggles; Christina, student body president, wise and committed beyond her years; Ginger, as enthusiastic, involved, energetic as any eighteen-year-old; or Carrie or Sara; or Laura or Shila-each displaying excellence transcending the edges of her own discipline; Chatting with Nancy at the Minneapolis campus bookstore and thinking, "Here's another nice student," until I hear her reflect on her transformation from postal worker to social worker; Sarah with daughter Lydia in tow; the Nepalese or the Ethiopians; the Indians or the Kenyans moving to rhythms and wise knowings of their own cultures; knowing there are many more like them. All-and many more imbedded in the very womb of this place-distractions from the official "orient the new president plan." Encountering distractions and finding within them the actual purpose of our carefully prescribed plan. Pure gold they are and sure sign of more. The paradox of distractions is really the substance of what we are about, distractions which leave me very glad I came and each day more confident we can risk moving to music not yet written.
But what confluence of deep story, of present-moment confidence, and imagination stirring would prompt us to risk moving to music not yet written? What would encourage us to rely on what we do not know? What strong memory can brace up weak legs of ambivalence and coax them into rhythmic steps toward the future? |
