Video: Peter J Gomes STB ’68 Distinguished Alumni Honors: Journeys of the Soul

June 21, 2024

Sahar Shahid, MDiv ’17, and the members of the HDS Alumni/Alumnae Council are pleased to invite fellow graduates and the School community to celebrate Peter J Gomes STB ’68 Distinguished Alumni Honors and our theme of Journeys of the Soul.

This year, we seek to honor those who, across various systems of belief, delve into the soul's journey in this life and beyond and are committed to practices that foster connection with the transcendent. Read about this year's honorees here.

This event took place on May 9, 2024.

[AUDIO LOGO]

SPEAKER 1: Harvard Divinity School.

SPEAKER 2: Peter J. Gomes, STB '68 Distinguished Alumni Honors, May 9, 2024.

JASON ADAM SHEETS: Hello. Welcome, everyone. My name is Jason Adam Sheets and it is my pleasure to welcome you all to the 2024 Peter J. Gomes Distinguished Alumni Honors. As we begin today's program, I would like to start by sharing Harvard University's acknowledgment of land and people. Harvard University is located on the traditional and ancestral land of the Massachusett, the original inhabitants of what is now known as Boston and Cambridge. We pay respect to the people of the Massachusett tribe, past, and present, and honor the land itself, which remains sacred to the Massachusett people.

As a poet, researcher, and educator, and proud Harvard Divinity School alum, I am honored to have been invited here today to participate with you all in celebrating our five honorees, five luminaries, who as the theme of today's ceremony implies, contemplate the wide array of knowledge that can help shed the limitations of earthly perceptions and connect humanity to the transcendent.

When I consider that I am a spiritual being having a human experience and not a human having a spiritual experience, I can't help but think that the human deficit, but spiritual advantage of every person on this planet is that every person will spend their lifetime having to learn how to relate to every other person who is not them.

And how do we best relate to one another when there are over 8 billion realities on this planet? How do we best relate to one another from within our continuum of personhood? We relate to one another through the ore of experience, through the poetics of experience, and through how we respond to such. Professor Diana L. Eck, our 2024 friend of the school, Gomes honoree and founder and director of the Pluralism Project, reminds us that relating to one another from within our individual and shared spheres of experience, that pluralism is an ethic centered on the real encounter of commitments, the synergy of what we encounter also encounters us.

As a poet, my work requires that decode, interpret, or reimagine the encounter through the lens of a poetic concept of encounter that dictates. To live a poetically charged existence, one must demand from life a mosaic of dynamic, human and non-human experiences. Journeying through the ghosts of the things one's meant to befriend, to collectively forge the agreement with death that life requires, measuring on a scale of joy and suffering by the weight of one's participation in the truth of things.

Each of our honorees indeed lives a poetically charged existence. For example, Stephen Jenkinson says, the unadorned madness of a death-phobic culture invites me to dance and I dance. So for reasons known only to the rhythm of our experiences as set by the music of our beliefs or our beneath, as I like to call them, we find ourselves here today memorializing the Divinity of something worth dancing.

The late Reverend Professor Peter J. Gomes said, to lose poetry and to lose magic to lose mystery is, in my opinion, to lose meaning. He was right. For the meaning of something like poetry can only be found in the mystery of its magic. Poetry teaches us how the eye and you multiply, how the otherness between the two contains multitudes, and how if we're not careful, one will consume the other, leaving only I. When we become spiritually tired of living in a world of I's, we initiate change by celebrating those who commit their lives not to themselves, but to us.

Even the otherness between these two words is remarkably telling. How even saying the word I feels as if we're biting down on something. How it takes our jaws more effort to say I than it does to say us, how US feels soothing and right. While we have committed to encountering the celebration today, a celebration of five magnificent journeys of the soul, and let us acknowledge a collective journey of the one soul there in that language.

It's important to note that we have also committed to encountering and celebrating the existence of destinations and the desire these destinations have for us to reach them. And yes, we know that living is more about the journey than it is the destination. But just like good and evil, hot and cold, and darkness and light, one cannot exist without the other. And just like good and evil, hot and cold and darkness and light or any other duality we can glean, we know that collectively our work as performed through these bodies on this planet at this time depends not on knowing where the destination of our work lies, rather that a destination simply exists.

And that whatever our good work takes others or wherever our good work takes others and us, it should always take us by tender surprise. Something tender, then will leave. Should the sunset sideways in the midst of our scattered parts?

Let us hook a fish from a clear river of stars. Watering clockwise, thought flowers sufficient as becomings belong to the shape of living things. Let us tend to the song of the sunken stones. Let us quietly color olive or cherry. That which we long to outlive. Something tender then will leap. A secret rabbit in silvery time eyeing.

We have only this much in common. We came, then became keepers of things. We set fire to wrecks of dire roses and flicker like ever-burning lamps fueled by the charm of a deeper system. We pluck wild pearls from the quick ends of branches as desire becomes that which turns widely to diminish. That which becomes an alter, becomes altered, becomes a quiet turning between two mirrors. Let us wonder if the painter of worlds will spill a river thing once more from where we have hidden ourselves in the making before the parts that have already been. Thank you.

[APPLAUSE]

MARTHA KAY NELSON: Thank you, Jason. I'm still working on that, that thing about how the I's is harder to say with our mouths than us. Don't think about that very often. Well, good afternoon to all of you. I'm so delighted you're here. And on behalf of the Alumni Council, we are happy that you are here for the Gomes honors in 2024. I'm just going to take a moment to take in the room and have a couple of breaths. Feel free to join me. See if we can land here on a very full and rich and blessed day.

I want to give thanks for the directions that hold us, the elements that sustain us. I want to give thanks to all of our ancestors and to invite the wise and well ones to draw closer with us today in this room that they may support our endeavors and our celebration of each other and of the Gomes honorees.

This each year is a momentous occasion. It's where we come together for a remarkable celebration of achievements and journeys within the community started by the HDS Alumni Alumni Council in 2012, the Gomes honors. It serves as a beacon of recognition for alumni and friends who have demonstrated exemplary dedication and contributions to our school and to our world. Just a word about myself. I, again, my name is MK Nelson, and I am an MTS '05.

I'm also an alum of the staff. I came here working with M. Browdy in the SRP office for two years, then became a student. I've been doing Alumni Council stuff for a while. And I'm the vice chair. Unfortunately, our chair, Sahar Shahid, was not able to be here at the last minute. She has international travel complications in England. She sends her blessings and her love on the occasion, and we will miss her.

Each year, the Alumni Council chairperson, Sahar, she selected honorees based on a guiding theme. And this year's theme, Journeys of the Soul highlights individuals committed to illuminative experiences across various belief systems. We honor those who explore the soul's journey and cultivate connections with the transcendent through their life and their work. Their extraordinary achievements.

Through them, our honorees embody the values and mission of Harvard Divinity School urging us to contribute in meaningful ways to a world in desperate need. For 2024, we recognize Stephen J. Jenkinson, Melinda Mott Krokus, Elizabeth Revere, Helena Sjöholm, and Diana L. Eck. Each of them embodies the spirit of excellence and service that defines the HDS community.

As we gather today, we also want to reflect on the legacy of Reverend Peter J. Gomes, whose spirit of inclusivity, compassion, and intellectual curiosity continues to inspire. Reverend Gomes was one of a kind. That is the understatement of the century.

[LAUGHTER]

His wit and wisdom, his honesty and insight reverberate far beyond the confines of this campus. In fact, even my 88-year-old father, a Calvinist through and through has a copy of Peter's The Good Book on his shelf. Peter's unwavering commitment to justice inspired and continues to inspire generations of students and faculty and staff alike. Throughout his tenure, Reverend Gomes fearlessly tackled some of the most pressing issues of our time, providing trusted leadership and spiritual guidance to all who sought it. He was not just a leader, he was a moral compass, pointing us toward a better, more equitable future.

In homage to this upright legacy, the design of the Gomes Honors Award is symbolic. The compass represents the myriad paths and journeys undertaken by honorees, each unique yet interconnected within the circle of our community. As we celebrate the achievements of our honorees today, let us also honor the enduring spirit of Reverend Peter Gomes, whose souls wake ripples still.

WILLIE DWAYNE FRANCOIS III: Good afternoon. I have the distinct honor of introducing a legend, someone who is a history-maker. Well, before, she took this historic post. She was already making history. I am not Brandon Crowley. Dr. Crowley is under the weather, and I am filling in for him today. And it is peculiar for me to fill in for Brandon. I've known him since I was 18 years old. He taught me most of my bad habits.

[LAUGHTER]

But it's also a unique experience to stand in for Brandon to introduce our dean, because the day that we heard that Dean Hempton was retiring, Brandon was the first person I called. And Brandon then called another one of our Morehouse brothers and then another one of our Morehouse brothers. And there were four of us on the phone trying to decide who would be the next dean of HDS.

[LAUGHTER]

And our dean does not know this, but we only came up with one name. And we prayed for that name for about 30 minutes. And that was you, Dean. And so, no, we don't take credit for you being here. But it is.

[LAUGHTER]

I'm sure there's a committee somewhere that can celebrate that. But you did have four Morehouse brothers who were praying that your name would be the name to lead our school. And so she is obviously a leading ethnographer and scholar focused on African-American religious experiences. During her 16 years at Harvard, in addition to faculty appointments, she served in a variety of leadership roles, including interim Dean of the Committee of the Study of Religion, a member of the Provost Academic Leadership Forum, and a director of the graduate studies and chair of the admissions committee for the Department of African and African-American Studies.

She went on to Emory. I actually believe her first year at Emory was my last year of doctoral studies at Emory. But while she was at Emory, she was elected president of the American Academy of Religion. And you can find her 2021 presidential address on religion and inequality on the internet. I'm assuming you can Google that, and it comes right up.

In addition to her leadership across higher education and the fields of both anthropology and religion, she has also authored and co-authored several books, including colored television, American Religion Gone Global and Between Sundays, Black Women's Everyday Struggles for Faith. The latter, I have assigned in almost every class I've taught in the last four years. We are fortunate to have a leader like we have one who has expertise guided by curiosity and care for humanity, a dedication to teaching and to empowering learners to feel as if they are teaching, a deep connection to faith, and a respect for multi-religious education, something that this yard is known for.

And we are grateful that you were able to pull yourself away from the wonderful weather of Atlanta and all of its magnetism to brave the cold of Cambridge, to bring some warmth, to bring some love to HDS. It is you have what I think Zora Neale Hurston could have been talking about when she said, those that don't got it can't show it, and those that got it can't hide it. And we are grateful that the it you have cannot hide.

ZORA NEALE HURSTON: Wow, what an amazing introduction. After that, I feel like I need to say something profound.

[LAUGHTER]

Willie James Francois was one of my students. And he is somebody's preacher, as they like to say. If you have not heard him preach, I heard him preach one time. And afterwards, we were talking. And there was a group of people. And I said yes, he's one of my students. I taught him everything he knows. And they said, did you teach him how to hoop, too? I said, well, let's slow down, slow down. I didn't do all of that. But thank you so much for that wonderful, heartfelt introduction.

And so welcome, everyone. What an absolute joy to celebrate Harvard Divinity School's alumni and friends with everyone here today. As I've gotten to know, the HDS community, I've heard that this annual celebration named in honor of the inimitable Reverend Peter Gomes is one of the school's most beloved traditions.

And I appreciate the way you spoke so warmly of him. I didn't have an opportunity to know him personally. I knew him in at a distance. But I did attend his Memorial service. And his Memorial service was like none other than I have ever experienced.

The stories that people told about him were just so heartfelt. But they made you roar with laughter. And so I thought, wow, people don't always remember what you say, but they do remember how you make them feel. And clearly, he was a type of person who gave people great joy, even as he challenged them to think deeply. And so I am honored to be here to celebrate the Gomes honorees with you today.

With the inaugural celebration taking place in 2013, the Gomes honors have helped recognize outstanding alumni and friends of the school for more than a decade. My deepest thanks to the Alumni Council for their imagination and implementation of the signature event to honor exceptional community members, both individuals of distinction and by reflection, their impact on the world. I want to say a few words about this year's Gomes honorees.

But before I do, I'd like to thank our Alumni/Alumnae Council Chair Sahar Shahid, again, who is not able to be with us today, and our vice chair, MK Nelson, as well as each member of the Council who helped make this day possible. All that you give back to our Alma mater is appreciated truly beyond words. I also want to thank the HDS staff, particularly our Alumni Relations team, Chandra, and Kristin. I saw them earlier, and all those who make events such as these come to life. Please know how much I appreciate all that you do for the school.

This year's Gomes honors theme Journey of the Soul seeks to recognize those whose life and work delve into the soul's journey in this life and beyond. The Alumni/Alumnae Council put quite a bit of thought into this ethereal theme. And I would like to share how they describe the journeys of the soul. Quote, we are in pursuit of a wide array of knowledge that can help shed the limitations of our earthly perceptions. We seek to honor those who throughout various systems of belief and dedicated to lifting the veils that obscure our ordinary state of being and illuminate expanded experiences.

The Transcendence and Transformation Initiative at the Center for the Study of World Religions was part of the inspiration for this theme. This initiative, as they describe it, affirms, quote, the existence of the sacred, different levels of reality seen and unseen and different modes of access to them. They seek to draw understanding from people asking some of humanity's deepest questions, where did we come from? What are we doing here? Where are we going? And what is the meaning of it all?

To this year's recipients of the Gomes honors, Stephen, Melinda, Helena, Elizabeth, and Diana, we celebrate the ways that you have studied and advanced practices that foster connection with the transcendent. We deeply value your commitment to exploring the soul's journey in this life and beyond. Today's award ceremony shines a light on exceptional HDS community members, storytellers, teachers, creators, healers, and leaders who also use their energy and education as forces for good in the world.

Thank you again to our honorees, guests, alumni, faculty, staff, and students for being part of our celebration today. It brings me great joy to recognize these extraordinary individuals. Congratulations again to all of you. All of our awe-inspiring Gomes honorees and to all of our alumni and friends who bring the mission of Harvard Divinity School to life.

And now, it is my privilege to invite three of our very talented students, Stephanie, Leah, and Nicole, as they grace the stage with their rendition of Swoon and Wander. Thank you.

[APPLAUSE]

[HUMMING]

(SINGING) I'm conjuring waters

Flow with all your soul

Rushing rivers to bathe the human toil

I'm calling on our songbirds

Call out your perfect lines

Sing to us lullabies to mark the passing time

I'm conjuring our bell towers

Chime into the winds

Let it heal you and circle with your kin

[HUMMING]

So sing and swoon and wander

The rushing of the wind

Come gentle, come surrendered

The storm comes as a friend

I'm conjuring waters

Flow with all your soul

Rushing rivers

To bathe the human toil

I'm calling on our songbirds

Call out your perfect lines

Sing to us lullabies

To mark the passing time

I'm conjuring our bell towers

Chime into the winds

Let it heal you and circle with your kin

So sing and swoon and wander

The rushing of the wind

Come, gentle, come surrendered

The storm comes as a friend

So sing and swoon and wander

The rushing of the wind

Come gentle, come surrendered

The storm comes as a friend

[APPLAUSE]

LORI DIPRETE BROWN: Hello, everyone. My name is Lori Diprete Brown. I'm a member of the alum council and a graduate of the Divinity School. I graduated in 1988 with a joint degree in MTS and an MS in Public Health. I understand more students are doing that kind of combination now. And it put me in such good stead to do work around global health and human services with a holistic and rights-based lens, a pluralistic mindset.

And I think one thing that I learned here was tell me more. And that question has served me very well in life. So I'm very grateful. And I've been wondering a while. So that was a good song. And it's nice to be back after. It's probably been 10 years or so.

And I teach at the University of Wisconsin in those fields. And I'm also an oblate of the Holy Wisdom Monastery. So there's a lot of different ways in which my work weaves together with things that I learned here. So the process, the honorees, it was a wonderful process. And you'll be getting an email sometime asking you to nominate candidates. And take that email seriously. And we hope to be flooded with names in the future. As we were this year, we had a great slate.

Last fall, the group embarked on a journey extending an invitation to alumni community to join us in celebrating the diverse array of talents thriving within the Harvard Divinity School family. This is the culmination of this profound journey where we will honor individuals who have illuminated diverse experiences across belief systems under the theme, Journeys of the Soul. And today, we gather to honor the recipients of the Gomes honors. We reflect on this culmination of this collective effort.

It's been a privilege to all of us to serve on the selection committee. And the names of those members are Sahar Shahid, Leila Kohler-Frueh, who's here, and Willie Dwayne Francois, who you just met. And together, we've been connecting over months and discussion. That was a really educational and deeply enriching process.

As the representative of this year's Gomes honors committee of the alum council, I'm delighted to recognize the individuals chosen as the 24 alumni honorees. Steven J. Jenkinson, MTS 1981. Melinda Mott Krokus, MDiv 2004. Elizabeth Revere, MTS 1995. Helena Sjöholm, MTS 2002.

And because the Harvard Divinity School would truly not be the place it is without the work of many, we believe that the Gomes honor should also include an individual who, though not an alum of the school, cares deeply and contributes greatly to its mission. As such, it's our great pleasure to recognize Diana L. Eck, PhD '76, friend of the school, distinguished scholar, and devoted advocate for interfaith understanding. Please join me in congratulating all of the honorees.

[APPLAUSE]

No, I'm going to share a bit more about each of these year's honorees and invite them to receive their awards. And I'll have some help with Willie and Kay joining me up here. So, first, Stephen Jenkinson. Stephen is recognized for guiding individuals through grief, exploring life's thresholds and connecting humanity through ceremony and storytelling. A culture activist, ceremonial artist and author, Stephen's work has touched countless lives through the orphan wisdom school and the Nights of Grief and Mystery Project. His commitment to helping people navigate the complexities of life and death is truly remarkable. Stephen, please rise and join us at the podium.

Stephen Jenkinson, for your profound contributions to our understanding of life's transitions and the human condition, we recognize you today as a 2024 Gomes honoree. Congratulations.

Thank you.

[APPLAUSE]

Our next honoree is Melinda Mott Krokus. Melinda is honored for her significant contributions to religious literacy and interfaith dialogue through her work as an Islamic scholar and Sufi practitioner, Melinda has deepened our understanding of Islamic mysticism and its potential for fostering inner peace and social justice. Melinda, would you please rise and join us at the podium?

Melinda Krokus for your dedication to promoting cross-cultural understanding and spiritual growth. We recognize you today as a 2024 Gomes honoree. Congratulations.

[APPLAUSE]

Our next honoree is Elizabeth Revere. Elizabeth is celebrated for her commitment to cultivating wonder and exploring the mysteries of consciousness and spirituality. As a clinical psychologist and yoga teacher, Elizabeth has inspired others to embark on transformative journeys of self-discovery and personal growth. Elizabeth, will you please join us at the podium?

Elizabeth Revere, for your profound impact on the exploration of wisdom and consciousness, we recognize you today as a 2024 Gomes honoree. Congratulations.

[APPLAUSE]

Our next honoree is Helena Sjöholm. Helena is honored for her dedication to honoring ancestral wisdom and fostering spiritual growth as a transpersonal psychologist and Korean Shaman, Helena has helped countless individuals connect with their deeper purpose and meaning in life. Helena, would you please rise and join us at the podium?

Helena Sjöholm, for your tireless efforts to promote healing and growth, we recognize you today as a 2024 Gomes honoree. Congratulations.

[APPLAUSE]

Our final honoree is Professor Diana Eck. Professor Eck is celebrated for her pioneering work in religious pluralism and interfaith dialogue. As a distinguished scholar and educator, Diana has deepened our understanding of the world's religious traditions and promoted greater tolerance and understanding among diverse communities. Professor Eck, will you please rise and join us at the podium?

Professor Eck, for your outstanding contributions to the study of religious pluralism and the promotion of interfaith harmony, we recognize you today as a 2024 Gomes honoree. Congratulations.

[APPLAUSE]

Today, we recognize these five inspiring members of our community. Honorees, I invite you to rise again and face the audience as we commend you all together for your remarkable achievements and unwavering commitment to excellence.

[APPLAUSE]

May be seated. And now, before we conclude this first part of our celebration, I'd like to invite student musician Yuijit Kwong for a musical performance.

[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]

We have been blessed with some music this afternoon. Thank you. Thank you to those musicians. Thank you to Lori, to Dean Frederick, the other Laurie, Willey, to the honorees, and to every person who had a part of this afternoon together. The fun will go on. Don't worry. But thank you to each of you for being here and for bringing us together.

We're going to close out today's program by way of introduction of Marcus Santos. He's a percussionist and an educator from Brazil. And he's performed alongside many renowned artists. He's won prestigious awards. But what I want to tell you is in my brief two interactions meeting him today, he has a kind of light that we all need a little bit of. So we are happy to have him here today. Come on up, Marcus.

He's going to be leading us or will follow you. He's going to be leading us down as we possess to this very room for our next event. It's going to be Divinity dialogues, where we have a chance to hear from our honorees, dive a little bit deeper into their work.

Yes. So please, as those of you who've been with us today, we know we're all riding a wave here together. But please ride that wave on down to this very room behind this blessed musician. Marcus, if you want to say a few words and then drum us on out, we'll follow.

MARCUS SANTOS: Sure.

LORI DIPRETE BROWN: Thank you to everyone.

MARCUS SANTOS: Thank you.

LORI DIPRETE BROWN: Yeah.

MARCUS SANTOS: Can I get a high 5?

[LAUGHTER]

Nice. All right, everyone. I'm from Brazil. And I'm from a town in which drumming is as popular as air, not hair.

[LAUGHTER]

But I was always interested in more and learning more and deciding to play more than Afro-Brazilian music. And I wanted to go to a place in which diversity is celebrated. And by a miracle, a series of miracles, I ended up actually coming to the United States to pursue that goal of learning music from many cultures. And I am so blessed and grateful for being here in this wonderful celebration. And doing something Brazilian now remind me of my hometown in which having folks together, celebrating and also using music as a catalyzer for joining me. So I may need your help if it's OK.

ALL: Yes.

MARCUS SANTOS: All right. Perfect, perfect. All right. Sounds good. So do you guys bring your instruments?

[LAUGHTER]

There you go. We're having. Nice. Nice. OK, so how about this? What if we start like this? When I say tune, yeah. How about tong? Tong sounds like-- Tong You tap your thighs. Yes. Tong. We're going to have fun.

[LAUGHTER]

Tong.

[CLAPS]

Ta.

[CLAPS]

I tried to trick you there. You got it. Very nice. Tong.

[CLAPS]

Ta.

[CLAPS]

Nice, nice. Let's make a beat. Do you want me to give you a beat so we can have fun for a few moments? Or would you like to give us a beat?

ALL: Give us a beat.

MARCUS SANTOS: All right. I go. All right, all right. So how about this? So you go boom, boom, boom.

[CLAPS, INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]

Back to the boom.

[CLAPS, INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]

Hey.

Let's it. 1, 2, [INAUDIBLE]

[CLAPS]

Hey, hey, hey.

[CLAPS, INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]

Hey, hey, hey.

1, 2, 3.

[CLAPS, INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]

SPEAKER 2: Sponsor, the Harvard Divinity School Alumni/Alumnae Council.