9:45: Time for Monday Chapel. Already!! I have so much to do, ugh! Well, better get going....
I rush across the street, skid across the threshold and find my seat, breathless. Phew. "This better be worth it, I could have finished that project," I think selfishly. The bell rings, echoing in the beautiful acoustics, beckoning us: stop talking, stop thinking. STOP! Deep breath, ahhhh, now comes the good part: All I am expected to do for the next 30 minutes is to be, be here, listen, perhaps sing, and reflect. My word, what a gift. Truly!
The student speaking shares some advice about choosing your battles, not wasting your time on insignificant arguments which are often about us just trying to be right. He asks us to think more broadly about other people's perspectives, and simply, as the Beatles said it best, to "Let it be." (He had us sing the song, too.) Worth some thought, absolutely.
Chapel talks come in all shapes and sizes. Some are funny, some are dead serious and really sad, and of course, some are better than others. I always love the days when I think: "Wow! This student really gets what we are trying to do around here." And other times when I feel a little jealous, but then really proud: "If I knew that piece of life lesson at that student's age, what struggles I could have avoided!!"
Whatever you learn (helpful or not), the space gives us a minute to rest, to take a break from the crazy pace of Tabor. There is always so much going on for faculty and students alike, and it is often the best part of the week to just be together, to take it all in, and to really appreciate our community and our opportunities here. I am always in a better frame of mind at the end of chapel than the breathless state I often enter.
Many alumni tell me that when they were students they did not like Chapel. They thought it was boring, didn't want to sing, etc. But many say that soon after graduation, for some of these very same reasons, they really miss it!
Today was Chapel, and you know what: It's going to be a great week here at Tabor!
