The following words, spoken by our colleague Catherine at her retirment are worth sharing with faculty, friends, and students, both old and new........shared with her permission.
Faculty-Staff Recognition Dinner, March 17, 2011
Retirement Speech - Catherine Eddy
What to say at the end of the evening at this Recognition Dinner? I thought I would talk about what makes Concordia a special place to work. When I came to Concordia as a sessional instructor back in 1985, I didn’t know any Lutherans–they weren’t thick on the ground in northern New Brunswick–and I had never heard of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. I gathered that it was theologically conservative, and I was doubtful that an institution affiliated with it would be a welcoming environment for a woman academic belonging to the United Church–particularly since the secular universities where I was educated and began my university teaching career showed noticeable anxiety and sometimes even hostility to women in the academy, especially if they had any power. Being hired by Judy Meier–the first female dean I had encountered–was reassuring. And as I got to know my colleagues, I found them consistently honest, trustworthy, intellectually curious, and open. It seemed to me that every time I suggested something, people would say, “That sounds like a good idea, Catherine. Why don’t you do it?” You have to be careful about these ideas–who knows where you will end up?
We talk a lot about how we offer our students a liberal education, to help them become the best that they can be–to liberate their God-given potential. That in itself has been a wonderful opportunity for me, to work with students and help them learn and grow. But beyond that, Concordia has given me a liberal education–Concordia has enabled me to grow and has liberated my potential. If I haven’t become quite the best that I could be–being human and fallible–at any rate, I have had the opportunity to learn and achieve so much more than I ever could have imagined. It has been a huge opportunity for me to get to know so many interesting people with
such a range of gifts, and to see how each one contributes to the whole. And it has been very rewarding, as well as a lot of fun, to work as part of a team with such fine people.
I know that my experience, of receiving a liberal–a liberating–education from working at Concordia, has been shared by most people here in this room. Here we are at the Recognition Dinner, celebrating the very different achievements and contributions of so many different people. In Romans chapter 12, talking about the community of believers, Paul says that they rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who mourn. Well, at Concordia we do both of these things, and the purpose of our Recognition Dinner is to rejoice in the many diverse gifts and contributions of members of our community. That’s what the passage in Romans goes on to talk about–how we have diverse gifts and roles which all form necessary parts of the body of Christ.
Looking for those gifts, honoring differences, being open to possibility–that’s Concordia,and that’s what gives me so much confidence in the future, as Concordia builds for Tomorrow on the basis of its new mission, values, vision statements. Here in this room are some people for whom this is the first or second Recognition Dinner. Sometime in the spring of 2036, two or three of those people will be standing up here, reflecting on their long careers at Concordia,amazed at the opportunities they have had, looking forward in hope for the next twenty-five years and all the surprises those years will bring. If I’m still around I’ll be here, nearly ninety years old.
I look forward to cheering on Concordia and all of you.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
A new Blog
Life at Concordia is never dull. Each day is filled with new ways in which our God reveals his grace and creativity. As chaplain I am blessed to be part of a community of students, believers, strugglers, doubters, faculty, staff--quite a mixture--yet united by the common ground that is Concordia. Over the years I have had opportunity to be somewhat creative and I hope to share some of the writings in this blog. To God be the Glory and Thanksgiving. Garry
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