by Reverend Dr. Patrick Ferry, President CUWAA
The submission date for this little piece was due a few days before the national election. I also completed the writing before a decision was made regarding the confirmation of most recent nomination to the Supreme Court. While I was pulling this together the number of daily COVID cases in Wisconsin was disturbingly high and climbing across the state. Around the country infection rates were high and the death toll continued to mount. Additional backdrop included continued social and civil unrest with protests in various places. I also have been watching with concern as wildfires have been burning not far from my family and friends in Colorado.
By the time this finally reaches you perhaps all of these matters will be settled. The election will have come off without a hitch despite concerns that it might not. The debate about the Supreme Court appointment will certainly have been settled, and perhaps tensions will have subsided. It would be wonderful if research had significant breakthroughs, and by the time of this publication a vaccine for COVID was about to be made widely available. The arrival of winter might also have dropped the temperature on social unrest and maybe cooler heads will have prevailed. The forest fires will probably be snuffed out by a Colorado snowstorm. Yes, by the time this reaches you perhaps all will be right with the world.
A more likely scenario is that the great political, social, and cultural divides of our day will not yet be bridged. The impact of the global pandemic will not yet have subsided. Even if the flames in Colorado are doused, you may not have time to consider my prose because you are too busy putting out fires round about you. The daily press of duty and responsibility might preclude the time even to read this article. Your hands are full. I understand, and I am not offended.
The brokenness of our world leaves evidence of trouble all around us. The shards are sharp and often painful. The crises that reach more broadly may not cut as deeply as the personal ones that you encounter among your faculty, staff, students, or even within your own family. One response would be to become discouraged and consider giving up. However, it is precisely for this moment in time that the Lord has put you into positions of service and leadership.
You are at the front of your community helping students learn to navigate the complicated realities of our collective existence. Chiefly, you lead them to Jesus, who gives life meaning and purpose and who promises salve, healing, and hope for the world and for the life of the world to come. If it was easy, then maybe anybody could do the job. It is not easy, and that is why you have been set apart for the large task. Moreover, the Lord who has called you into special service does not leave you alone to figure it all out on your own. The schools that you serve are the Lord’s schools, and you yourself belong to Jesus. He has a vested interest in you and what you do and is at work in and through you to make a difference in a world that needs difference-makers.
Among the blessings that I have enjoyed in my years at Concordia, I am particularly grateful for the opportunities to connect with Lutheran high schools. I have been inspired by all of the people who work so hard and care so deeply about your significant work to help young people at such transformational moments in their lives. It has been my great privilege to be your colleague in Lutheran education. While I am preparing to step to the side from my current position, please know that I will stand alongside you in unwavering support and prayer for you, your schools, and for all who are touched by your vital ministry. God bless you all!
My guess is that things will not get any easier for us. We may patch things up in this old world here and there, but as soon as one problem is solved, there will be another to take its place. The same thing, on a different scale, might describe your days, too. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t give up hope. While your hands certainly are full, you serve the God who made heaven and earth and who has the whole world in His hands. He holds you in His loving hands, too, and will never let you go.
President Ferry announced that his retirement from the presidency of CUWAA will take effect on June 30, 2021. He can be reached at Patrick.Ferry@cuw.edu.