Going! Going! Gone!

 

As the current, but not for long Chair of the Division of Theological and Historical Studies at Tyndale Theological Seminary near Amsterdam, the Netherlands I would like to share a few thoughts.

 

You all know that I like science fiction both to read and to watch. The movie Ghost in the Shell came out a couple years ago. Ghost in the Shell is a Japanese anime (cartoon) series of graphic novels and anime movies, however in this iteration it was done with live actors and CGI.

 

The main protagonist is Major Mira Killian, the Ghost in the Shell, who is played by Scarlett Johansson. Mira was murdered and then her brain was put into a cyborg body. The main theme is how she tries to understand who and what she is.

 

At one point in the movie she is discussing this with the scientist Dr. Oulet, who “created” her. Outlet is played by actress Juliette Binoche. To keep Mira on focus with her task of fighting terrorists, the scientist has regularly “wiped her memories” and given her false memories to motivate her. Mira has some flashbacks, but cannot figure out what they mean.

 

Dr. Outlet says to Mira:

 

“We cling to memories as if they are what defines us, but what we do defines us.”

 

I was struck by this statement. There are layers of irony in the film, but on face value this statement is pregnant with wisdom.

 

We cling to our memories, our successes, our accomplishments as if they define us, and they do to a point, but we always face the danger of falling into defending who we are by our past accomplishments. In a publish or perish academic institution one must, well, publish or perish.

 

In the sort of institution Tyndale is, as Cecil Stalnaker, our long time Missions professor, used to call it, a mission school, the roles of the faculty and staff constantly change. This can be due to shortages of personnel either administrative or academic, as it was in the past. In the past everyone carried several administrative jobs as well as academic jobs. We all pitched in and did what we needed to do to keep the school going.

 

As the faculty and staff have expanded there is no longer the need for us to do several administrative jobs or to carry a heavy load of courses. We can divide and conquer now.

 

For me this time has been in many way enjoyable. I have been able to focus on a few courses I excel in and feel passionate about and to develop some electives which I like.

 

Another thing I have tried to do is to mentor my successors. I count Szaszi Bene to some degree, Rahman Yakubu, and Solomon Dimitriadis,as some I have tried to encourage and even Bob Landon as a former student. I hope that all of us who are going, going, gone sooner rather than later are focusing on helping younger colleagues get their feet and find their place.

 

However, every era comes to an end. Throughout the past twenty years I have survived several changes of presidents, vice presidents, academic deans and even colleagues who unfortunately came and went for a variety of reasons. Each time we reinvented ourselves. 

 

Accreditation was a great accomplishment, but like many things it is not a “once and for all” accomplishment. It is moving target as we are assessed and given requirements for change.

 

“We cling to memories as if they are what defines us, but what we do defines us.”

 

The past is the past. It may be a foundation, but it is gone. What we do now is what defines us.