#  Benediction for the Harvard Class of 2020 

 





June 02, 2020

 

 

- [ Blog ](/news-categories/blog)
 
 

 

 ![Congratulations Class of 2020](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/thememorialchurch/files/200528commencement5.jpg)

 

 *By Stephanie Paulsell ,  
Interim Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church and the Susan Shallcross Swartz Professor of the Practice of Christian Studies in the Harvard Divinity School*  
  
Dear class of 2020:

   ![Professor Stephanie Paulsell graduation bebediction](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/thememorialchurch/files/200528commencement3.jpg?itok=pamRjKRz) 

 

Even in the midst of our joy in your accomplishments,  
we are all feeling a measure of grief.  
  
But as you graduate into a changed world,  
I pray that you will find the freedom  
that this moment in history surely holds,  
and that you seek within its possibilities:  
  
freedom from the way things were  
and the freedom to imagine new and better directions; freedom from worn-out notions of exceptionalism  
and freedom for life-giving collaborations across boundaries and borders;

 freedom from calculations that leave so many  
vulnerable and unprotected  
and the freedom to shape a society  
committed to a humane, dignified life for everyone;

 freedom from ill-fitting expectations  
and the freedom to let your lives be shaped  
by your deepest questions and your fiercest hopes;

 freedom even from what you expected your Harvard degree to mean  
and the freedom to make it mean more.  
  
God bless you, class of 2020.

 Thank you for all you have contributed to our common life  
and for all you will yet teach us about the common good.  
May you and those you love travel safely through this time.  
  
Amen.



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Pusey Minister ](/blog-categories/pusey-minister)
- [ Stephanie Paulsell ](/media-archive/stephanie-paulsell)
- [ Commencement ](/sermon-topics/commencement-0)
 
 

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