Principal’s Perspective: Convocation and Gratitude

Here we are, following Convocation 2024, and I am still feeling the joy of celebrating our graduates. 
 
This is the season of convocation and folks at Emmanuel have been thinking of little else these past weeks. It got me thinking of the word “convocation.” Its verb form is “convoke,” which means to summon or call on someone to be present. Many of our students at convocation were summoned to be at Emmanuel and spent a few years studying, learning and preparing for their vocation. Now they are summoned out to be in the world to serve. 
 
Etymologically speaking, convocation is related to vocation. In the Christian tradition, vocation is related to what we refer to as “a calling,” which assumes that someone is calling and someone is listening. 
 
Those who know me will not be surprised that this makes me think of another word in Korean! Gratitude,  감 사, gam-sah is the pronunciation of two ideograms, 感謝, which literally means hearing one another’s thankfulness. 
 
We are so thankful to all our students—especially this year’s graduates, who worked so hard to complete their programs. We are so thankful to all their teachers, their family, friends and their communities who supported their pursuit of theological education. 
 
My heart is also full of thanks to everyone who donated to the Annual Fund this 2023–2024 fiscal year and who continue to support Emmanuel College through your financial contributions. Your generosity helped exceed our goal and enabled us to award more scholarships than in previous years. 
 
May we all continue to practise gratitude, hear our own hearts and the hearts of others, and to be convoked to a life of purpose and of learning. 
 
Thank you, gam-sah hamnidah, 감사합니다!  

—Principal HyeRan Kim-Cragg