I had the pleasure yesterday to attend the welcome and orientation for new students at the United Lutheran Seminary in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. As a returning student, I was invited up on stage to introduce myself and offer any insight I might have for the incoming seminarians. My advice was to take advantage of the classes that might initially seem to be out of one’s comfort zone. My most inspiring courses have been the ones that revealed new (to me) perspective and understanding.
After the returning students finished their introductions, it was time to meet the new students. After the first five or six people, a young man stepped up to the microphone and made his introduction in Spanish. He then said “Now you know how I feel in most of my classes.” He went on to say, “I am Dominican. I am black. And I am gay. And I cannot wait to share the love of Jesus Christ with all of you.”
We could not have scripted a better illustration of Paul’s description of the body of Christ. I feel so blessed to be part of an institution that is extremely diverse, but one in which we are all united by the most important factors: a love of God through Christ Jesus and a calling to serve God’s people with all of our varied backgrounds and gifts.
For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.– Romans 12:4-5 (NRSV)