“What’s Your Life Worth?”

https://news.stanford.edu/2016/06/11/prepared-text-2016-stanford-baccalaureate-address-katharine-jefferts-schori/#

Following is the text of the address, “What’s Your Life Worth?” by the Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, BS ’74, head of the Episcopal Church until November 2015, as prepared for delivery at Stanford University’s Baccalaureate celebration on June 11, 2016. What is your life worth? Have the years you’ve spent here learning, discovering and developing relationships that will last a lifetime been worth your while? Has it been worth your parents’ emotional and financial support – and the investment your professors, teachers and coaches have made? You leave this place with expectation and hope that your lives will be worthy. The world around us often judges “worth” in terms of monetary value, but the deeper roots of the word are related to “becoming” and the turning or bending of transformation, with the sense that the worth of something is judged by what it can become. It may be what the plow turns, or a verse of poetry, or sports competition (Stanford vs. Cal), or a legal encounter (Brown v. Board of Education). The Latin root behind that turning, vertere, also yields the turning of conversation and the conversion of heart and mind – for when we turn toward one another and engage the other’s full worth and possibility, all parties can be transformed. Worth is also derived from an Old English word that means a place to return, the“home place” that Robert Frost insisted is where they have to take you in1 – the place where your worth is finally acknowledged. We should also note that worship means recognizing and affirming what is ultimately worthy, literally its worth-ship. What is your life worth, and what is worthy of your life’s full energies? The wisdom of the ancients – our ancestors across the globe – would have us attend to what is truly worthy, and shape our lives in that homeward direction. We heard Isaiah’s vision [Isaiah 65:17-25] about a destination worthy of his people’s whole-hearted attention and labor – a “city of peace” (which is the deep meaning of the name Jerusalem), inhabited by joyful people, living in plenty with no hint of oppression or servitude, at peace through living in right and just relationship with their human neighbors and the rest of creation. That vision of deep peace, in a whole and healed world, shapes the prophet’s work and life, energizes his voice and action, and continues to lure his people into a new and more hopeful future. The prophet speaks out of passion, which is at least a two-splendored thing. Passion is both the animating force that drives him toward the realization of his dream – in this case, what he understands as God’s dream for creation – and passion is the cost he suffers for speaking, motivating and enacting that vision. Passion is both the frenetic joy in the company of your beloved and the cost of relationship, whether learning to put up with personal foibles or surrendering that piece of your heart at the grave. Fyodor Dostoevsky said the only thing he truly dreaded was that his life wouldn’t be worthy of his suffering.2 What is your life worth? Where and for what or whom will you spend your passion? You’ve tasted many and varied flavors of passion in the time you’ve been here – including the elation that comes of investing your whole being in game or sport or sharing the gloried experience of those who do. Stanford hasn’t seen two Rose Bowl wins in four years since I was a student here in the 1970s! For most it may be reflected glory, but nonetheless draws the community into a greater whole. What is that worth? You’ve discovered the boundless gift of relationships with those who come from diverse contexts across this nation and across the globe, and you have most assuredly found both shared experience and occasionally confounding difference. OpenXChange3 has been just one way to constructively explore and build on those impassioned encounters. We don’t have to look much past Twitter or the latest news cycle to know how urgently this world needs greater skill and investment in conversation that affirms the worth of difference, and dialogue that will engage that difference creatively. The multidisciplinary learning and research President Hennessy has so passionately espoused here is a powerful expression of the creative possibility of diversity. None of us has the answers to all the world’s challenges, though each of us has a unique offering to make – and together, we have far greater possibility to find a homeward way for this fragile planet and its lively cargo. The passion that students here have brought to questions of justice, whether the violence of policing in American cities, Middle East peace, faculty diversity or fossil fuel divestment, has given you a taste of the complexity of finding constructive and creative solutions. The awakening of that passion is a gift – both the vision of a transformed future and the suffering that are its essence. It will be an abiding gift. The very ability to engage your passion in this community is the result of Leland and Jane Stanford’s willingness to answer the pain of their son’s death by letting their hopes for him be transformed. Our own willingness to invest our full selves in a passionate dream, and to bear the cost necessary to its realization, even the pain of our own transformation, is perhaps the most worthy possible use of one’s life. This remarkable community continues to model that passion for transformation in organic ways that shape its graduates. The encouragement to engage diverse ways of knowing and worldviews was part of Stanford’s birth – welcoming both women4 and men with the goal of educating “useful citizens.” The arts and humanities continue to be essential to that goal, even as this institution celebrates its extensive and innovative history in science and technology. All those varied worldviews are essential to the flourishing of humanity and this planet – to the worth of the global home we share. St. Paul’s Cathedral in London hosts a remarkable example of passionate transformation, in a provocative recent video art installation. Bill Viola’s work is titled Martyrs, a word that means witnesses, those who will claim a creative vision with passion enough to hope for greater life despite the threat of death. Four human witnesses begin in quiet, their peace soon disturbed by increasingly relentless elemental assault by earth, air, fire or water.5 It evokes the question we began with – what is your life worth? For what are you willing to die or spend your passion? None of us can fore-know the full cost of claiming and pursuing life-giving dreams, yet it is the passion we invest that makes them meaningful, possible and worthy. What is your life worth? Tackling the profoundly interconnected impacts of climate change on the ability of human beings to feed their families, sustain their ways of life in peace or bear children for health rather than calamity? Is it worth working to ensure the ecological sustainability of this planet through innovative power generation or habitat restoration? Developing more creative negotiation tools and peace-making strategies so that human beings might study war no more? Or teaching children, neighbors and ourselves the deep worth of diversity? What about confronting entrenched attitudes and systems that continue to maintain some categories of human beings are less worthy than others, whether they are the objects of gender violence, racial profiling or generational poverty? Studying the inner workings of genes and cellular functions, in order that illness might be relieved? Unknitting the complex life-cycles of the stars – birth, destruction, black holes, new elements, re-birth – to yield even greater awe and wonder? Honoring the worth of another by attending deeply and creatively enough to “hear a person into speech,” as Nelle Morton6 put it? Composing music and making art to help express the longing of human souls for meaning in this mortal coil? Whatever worthy witness you choose, pursue it whole-heartedly, like Prince’s reigning/raining passion for purple, or the wit and wisdom of Muhammad Ali, who learned to “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” and reminded us that [one] “who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” Keep count of that courage when the cost seems too high. Remember the companions who walked these halls with you; lean on each other in the coming years. Encourage the Nerd Nation web of relationships to expand and deepen and grow new synapses beyond this bubble, for none of us ever goes anywhere on our own hook or steam alone. The world needs nerds – and farmers and tree huggers and dreamers and every other partner you can find. Tend and test that web, for it will never become resilient and life-sustaining without life-giving challenge and passion. Take the Tree with you, too, as an icon of organic community; learn from the diverse denizens hosted in its branches and among its roots, and let El Palo Alto become a tree of life for the world you go out to serve. Remember the Farm that formed you and help the world turn furrows for fruitfulness. Windhover’s7 gifts and inspiration will accompany you, if you search new skies, for the “dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon” rides the rolling winds abroad as well as here – and as your worthy life endures, and persists through pain and joy for dreamed-of ends, the furrow turned will yield abundantly, and ash will become the blood-red gold of passion lived and offered for the world.8 Go well, go in community, let your passion lead you, that the world might become that turning place where each one is met in dignity and known as worthy. Then will joy abound. Go live a passionate and worthy life!

Reflections on Katharine Jefferts Schori's Nine Year Term Coming To a Close

Katharine Jefferts Schori's term as Presiding Bishop coincides with my journey as an Episcopalian. I was baptized into the Episcopal Church in April 2006 at age 37. As a new convert, I kept watch with enthusiasm on anything to do with the Episcopal Church. Bishop Katharine was elected in June 2006. I was instantly intrigued by her. I remember the day of her election. CNN's website announced that a mainline denomination had elected it's first female leader. Her background in biology, and her love of flying were among the traits I found appealing. She affirmed that religion and science can coexist together, which is something I also believe. Then, I heard her preach, and I became a fan for life. When I first set eyes on her at installation at Washington National Cathedral via video, I knew she was different than her predecessors. The "sunrise" vestments of bright purples, pinks and green that she wore were a good indication of this. During her nine year term, she would face opposition and infighting and groundbreaking as well. I know there are those who think she is a divisive figure. I beg to differ. She is a figure who was faced with dividers. Her 9 year term was full of peaks and valleys, and full of theological statements. She authored books. She guest preached. She traveled a LOT. In my own 9 years with the Church, experienced many peaks and valleys too. I was baptized, confirmed, served on a vestry, attended my diocese's convention, entered the discernment process to enter the diaconate, withdrew from the process of entering the diaconate, authored and preached sermons, became hurt by and left a parish, joined a new parish and found a new church family, and completed a B.Th (theology degree). Over the years, I met several amazing people- clergy and lay alike. I've visited about 30 Episcopal churches. I've made friends, and lost friends either by circumstance, or by death. Many tears, but a lot of joy too. And today I am both sad and happy. Sad to see the "KJS Era" end, but happy for her as she begins a new period in her life. It was in 2009 that I first came face to face with Katharine Jefferts Schori. She was a guest Celebrant at Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia. I remember looking right in her eyes as I received communion from her. The choir was singing "Let Us Break Bread Together." It was magical. After the service, she signed my copy of "A Wing and a Prayer" . I was struck by her humility. It was soon after when I launched my "Unofficial Katharine Jefferts Schori Fan Page". This page will still be kept active even though her term has ended. I would meet her 2 more times, and both of these times were also magical. I almost look at her with a childlike awe when I see her. It may be hard for some to understand how much she means to me and it is kind of a challenge to convey it. But I will say she was, and is, a major figure in my spiritual journey. I would branch out to turning my attention to other spiritual figures: I launched a blog called "Chicks in Pointy Hats" which celebrates all women bishops, along with its companion Facebook page. I would read books by Spong, Nouwen, and others. I would study other faiths. I would go see Pope Francis in person and chalk it up to one of the greatest experiences ever. In closing, I would like to say Thank You to Bishop Katharine. Thank you for your presence and your inspiration. Thank you for signing my book and posing for pictures with me. I look forward to seeing what you do next whether it be writing, speaking, guest preaching, teaching- or just plain enjoying yourself and your family. God bless you. ‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’

"I am deeply grateful for what God has been up to in the midst of our journey together"

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori: I am deeply grateful for what God has been up to in the midst of our journey together [October 23, 2015] Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has issued the following: The Episcopal Church has come a long way in the last 10 years. We are no longer consumed by internal conflict over various social issues. We are clearer about who we are – a multinational church, with congregations in 17 nations, worshipping in countless different languages, thriving in international, immigrant, and multicultural contexts everywhere, and discovering the abundant life that comes in turning outward to love the neighbors nearby and far away. We are far more conscious about our vocation as partners in the mission of God to reconcile and heal the world, particularly shaped by the Five Anglican Marks of Mission. We are holding our identity as Episcopal Christians a bit more confidently, even in the midst of our diversity. We are also more willing to hold that identity lightly and gracefully in engaging other Christians and people of other religious traditions, searching for what we dream of in common – shalom, the Reign of God, a more just and peaceful world, with abundant life for all creation. I am deeply grateful for what God has been up to in the midst of our journey together, and I look forward to seeing how this church of the middle way will continue to lead and partner as we travel the road home, into God’s fullest dream of abundant life for all. I thank the people of this Church and beyond for your prayers over the last nine years – especially in recognition that we do this work together, never alone. May God bless the next chapter of The Episcopal Church’s engagement in God’s mission, as we go together into Galilee! The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori Presiding Bishop and Primate The Episcopal Church

Video: Jefferts Schori reflects on nine-year term as Presiding Bishop

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/10/30/video-jefferts-schori-reflects-on-nine-year-term-as-presiding-bishop/ Courtesy of Episcopal News Service

Lenten Message 2015

Presiding Bishop's Statement on healing after the death of Thomas Palermo

http://anglicanink.com/article/presiding-bishops-statement-healing-after-death-thomas-palermo

Bishop Katharine's Christmas Message for 2014

Christmas message 2014
The altar hanging at an English Advent service was made of midnight blue, with these words across its top: “We thank you that darkness reminds us of light.” Facing all who gathered there to give thanks were images of night creatures – a large moth, an owl, a badger, and a bat – cryptic and somewhat mysterious creatures that can only be encountered in the darkness.
As light ebbs from the days and the skies of fall, many in the Northern Hemisphere associate dark with the spooks and skeletons of secular Hallowe’en celebrations. That English church has reclaimed the connection between creator, creation, and the potential holiness of all that is. It is a fitting reorientation toward the coming of One who has altered those relationships toward new possibilities for healing and redemption.
Advent leads us into darkness and decreasing light. Our bodies slow imperceptibly with shorter days and longer nights, and the merriness and frantic activity around us are often merely signs of eager hunger for light and healing and wholeness.
The Incarnation, the coming of God among us in human flesh, happened in such a quiet and out of the way place that few noticed at first. Yet the impact on human existence has been like a bolt of lightning that continues to grow and generate new life and fire in all who share that hunger.
Jesus is among us like a flitting moth – will we notice his presence in the street-sleeper? He pierces the dark like a silent, streaking owl seeking food for hungry and defenseless nestlings. He will overturn this world’s unjust foundations like badgers undermining a crooked wall. Like the bat’s sonar, his call comes to each one uniquely – have we heard his urgent “come and follow”?
God is among us, and within us, and around us, encountering, nudging, loving, transforming the world and its creatures toward the glorious dream the shepherds announced so many years ago, toward the beloved community of prophetic dreams, and the nightwatch that proclaims “all is well, fear not, the Lord is here.”
May Christ be born anew in you this Christmastide. May his light burn in you, and may you labor to spread it in the darkness. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, and it is the harbinger of peace for all creation.