Graduation, and what Valpo means to Lutheranism

It seems like last week when I pulled my car up into its usual spot in the student parking lot at Islip High School for the last time as I walked, dressed in cap and gown, to the school to graduate. And here I am four short (long?) years later and in one week from today I will graduating once more. My time at Valparaiso University has been weird. One might classify it as a love/hate relationship. My heart clearly does not reside in the midwest, and yearns for the coast (says the guy going further inland to St. Louis in September). But regrets are not something I carry with my in regards to my college career. And by that I do not mean "no regrets" in the sense that many people mean it where they live recklessly and cannot distinguish up from down. There are definitely things I did I wish I had not, and my life would not be worse off. But in the context of regretting going to Valpo, I do not. The friends and connections I have made here will do well for me the rest of my life. And even though it pales in comparison to Long Island and the surrounding area, this Vale of Paradise has a lot going for itself.

Do some things annoy me about Valpo? Absolutely, no question. But I would not mail in the experience I gained here for any other in the world. It is the place I went to undergrad and in 7 short days it will be my alma mater. Valpo will always hold a special place in my heart and I thank God for coming here. The most valuable thing I have taken away from attending here has been the dialogue and interactions with students and professors. This campus in northwest Indiana is truly one of a kind, and is vitally important to the Lutheran Church in this country. Nowhere else do members of the LCMS and ELCA come together like this. Although much of my criticism of the ELCA still remains, and with good reason (see human sexuality task force) it is true that one often fears what one does not know. Growing up in a heavily Roman Catholic populated area I did not fear Catholics because I know Catholics, many of whom who are family and friends. And comparably I did not fear Jews, some of whom are family members and friends, because I know Jews. I also did not fear agnostics and atheists because coming from the "intellectual northeast" I know agnostics and atheists, some of whom are family members and friends.

But I cannot say that I knew anyone in the ELCA. Because of this I sinfully and wrongly lumped the "ELCA" in general into a camp of revisionist liberals looking to do whatever they want. At Valpo I have come to know the ELCA, many of whom are professors or fellow students or friends, so I no longer fear. It is true the ELCA has plenty of revisionist liberals, but it is also true that they have many moderates and many people who are more traditionalist and are outright traditionalists. In a growing pluralistic world and society Valpo is an extremely important place. It will get itself into trouble because of the task of balancing liberal arts and Lutheranism, but Lutherans are masters of the balance. It is my hope and prayer that Valpo will continue to be a place where the ELCA and LCMS can come together to have dialogue and to seek understanding. It is also my hope at the same time however that God's truth would prevail in all church related matters at Valpo.

I think this can be accomplished, and I certainly hope it will be.

"What a long strange trip it's been."