Matriculation

Today the new students at EDS were matriculated. I went through the same process last June. This formal worship service not only welcomes the new students into the academic family of EDS, but also defines their commitment to study as belonging to God.

The dictionary defines the verb, matriculate, as enrolling in a college or university as a candidate for a degree. Most schools consider students to be matriculated when they start going to school. As many other religious institutions do, EDS has a religious ceremony. The act of matriculation, rooted in traditional universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, is an opportunity to recognize the new students as members of the academic community.

At EDS the students state their "desire to be enrolled ... in the Episcopal Divinity School." The returning students, along with the faculty and staff, renew that they continue to be responsible to the service of God in both ministry and life. The new students then step up and sign the book that contains the signatures of previous new students.

The service was a wonderful opportunity for me to recognize that my studies were important to God as well as to the community. If each of us as we began our work in the world had the opportunity to formally sign a book and pledge our lives to the pursuit of knowledge and justice, would we consider our work to be less of a chore and more of an endeavor? Would we approach our daily lives as adventures? Would we see the skills that we bring to the world are in fact talents blessed by God?

What a difference we could all make in the world if we considered our life works to be a blessing and promise from God!