Convocation 2011 |
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September 13, 2011,
Volume 58, No. 03
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Below is the Invocation given by The Rev. Charles L. Howard, University Chaplain
A Prayer for Wisdom
For what do you wish, for what do you pray for so gifted a group of individuals as these? I do not ask for intelligence as their records stand as testimony to their brilliance. Nor do I ask for diligence as one cannot enter the doors of this university without hard work. I do not ask for knowledge, or broad exposure, for excitement, adventure or friendship—for they will certainly attain and experience all of these during their seasons on this campus.
I do pray, however, for one thing. The Ancients called it Hokmah, Sophia, Veda, Sapientia. We call it Wisdom.
I pray that in the face of the many choices that lay before them over the next few years, that they would choose...wisely. May wisdom lead them to choose their majors and vocations not out of their own ambition, but out of a passion to make a positive contribution to the world. May wisdom be their guide so that they would choose their extra-curricular activities not out of a desire to be the best, but rather for joy, camaraderie and a love of the game, a love of the arts, or a love of wherever their passion and talent leads them.
We pray that in all of their moments here be they in the classroom, on the field, in the lab, on the stage, in the community, or with their friends, that they would draw not only from knowledge or curiosity, but that they would draw from wells of wisdom as they make their choices.
And it is evident that they already have this wisdom within them. For they have made at least one very wise choice—they have chosen to be a part of the great class of 2015 at the University of Pennsylvania! Amen.
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