Valpo Friends:
Throughout the Season of Lent, these sacred days between Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, I have been reminded of the power of habits, and more specifically, the importance of ensuring our habits are helpful.
For Lutherans and numerous other Christians around the world, the Season of Lent offers a time for examination, learning, and renewal, or in other words, this is an opportunity to reconsider our habits. As we pause to appraise the tendencies of our daily lives, sometimes we choose to give something up, whereas other times we choose to keep something going or take something on, with the trust that such intentions and actions help us to live faithfully in our world. In many ways, Lent is when we pause to pay attention and better consider the rhythms and patterns that form us, for the reality is, habits – while often first formed by us – eventually do tend to form us. Whereas some claim that “practice makes perfect”, the truth of the matter is that “practice makes permanent”, and we tend to become that which we continually do.
In addition to our personal habits, we also recognize the influence of our public habits, which are distinctively evident in colleges and universities. Throughout the cadence of an academic year, we in higher education participate in various ceremonies, orientations, faculty and staff meetings, student programs, academic courses, and alumni gatherings, and we also have regular communication patterns, budget reviews, philanthropy campaigns, prospective student days, course withdrawal deadlines, and final examination days, and over the course of time these patterns are not merely shaped by us, but they actually shape us, for better or worse. Whenever someone utters, “we’ve always done it this way”, they are revealing a public habit, which should invite us to consider whether or not the habit helps or hinders our ability to fulfill our educational mission. While some (hopefully most!) of our higher education habits are worthwhile, an honest examination would reveal that some (hopefully few!) are not, which invites us at Valparaiso University – like the Season of Lent – to choose what to give up, keep going, or take on, with the trust that such actions will help us to live faithfully in our world.
My favorite book (other than the Bible!) is “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg, I recommend it to as many people as possible, and I have found this excellent text to be especially meaningful in recent months. Duhigg explains that roughly 40% of our actions are the product of a habit, which means our brains are essentially on autopilot a significant portion of our waking hours, and we often act without thinking because of neurological shortcuts that were created and sustained over the course of time. As Duhigg writes, habits “…shape our lives far more than we realize – they are so strong, in fact, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else, including common sense.” While there is much to be shared about Duhigg’s timely book, what I find most beneficial (and exciting!) is that habits can change. When we understand what sparks and sustains our behavior, and as we discern our ultimate sense of mission and identity, we can harness the ability to redirect our habits to better ensure our habits are ultimately helpful.
In many ways “The Power of Habit” resonates with the remarkable ministry of Jesus, which provides us with numerous valuable lessons from which to learn. While Jesus surely taught profound truths, he also altered a community by announcing and cultivating habits – both personal and public – that shaped the lives of his disciples and countless others. Through regular practices such as prayer, teaching and learning, fellowship, service, generosity, and shared meals, Jesus invited those around him into sacred rhythms and patterns of life that reflected the love and grace of God. While these habits were personal, they were by no means private, as they made a public impression that would impact billions of people over the course of thousands of years. Although Jesus lived long before our current versions of peer-reviewed research on neuroscience, theology, and sociology, from the Gospels it appears that Jesus understood how the power of habits – both personal and public – can change lives, reform communities, and renew our world.
Over the past weeks I have been visiting with various Valparaiso University alumni, and as we have discussed the past, present, and future of our campus community, I have been receiving ideas about which of our habits to give up, which habits to keep going, and which habits to take on, with the trust that such intentions and actions can help us to live faithfully in our world. In addition to wonderful conversations here in Northwest Indiana, thus far I have enjoyed visiting Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Arizona, Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, New York, and Massachusetts, and in the months ahead I hope to be in various other locations around our country, in addition to hosting an online conversation on the 1st of April. Through it all, these conversations have been dearly informative, deeply encouraging, and genuinely fun, as our alumni share a heartfelt passion for Valparaiso University, an honest awareness of our challenges, and a strong desire for us to flourish far into the future. Thank you to all who I have already met, and thank you in advance to all those who I have yet to meet (and hope to meet soon)!
As we continue to build momentum here at Valparaiso University, I wish for all who are reading these words to know that I have been paying attention to our habits. More specifically, I have been paying attention to our personal and public habits, and discerning which habits are helping us to fulfill our mission and embody our identity. Over the past months I have examined various areas, ideas, and accounts related to academic affairs, student affairs, admissions and enrollment, retention, budget and finances, facilities and campus operations, information technology, research administration, marketing and communications, advancement and alumni relations, legal affairs and compliance, human resources, community partnerships, campus security and public safety, career services, board governance, athletics, and much more. While I have sought to absorb a significant amount of information from an assortment of sources, I am largely focused on seeking to understand what personal and public habits will help us at Valparaiso University to live faithfully in our world. For example:
- What habits will help us to deepen our Lutheran roots and expand our public reach as a personalized, comprehensive, values-based, and mission-driven community of teaching and learning?
- What habits are most helpful for us to invite, prepare, send out, and sustain the next generation of students?
- What habits will advance our ability to form leaders who will serve both church and society?
- What habits will assist us to embody excellence through a commitment to scholarship, freedom, and faith?
- What habits will help us, each and every day, to build lives for good?
As we approach the gravity of Good Friday and eventual celebrations of Easter Sunday, I invite all of us to pay attention, reflect, and discern how we all can live faithfully in our world. Whether you are considering the rhythms and patterns of your daily life, or whether you are contemplating the past, present, and future of our beloved Valparaiso University, I believe the key questions remain: What habits should keep going, what habits should be taken on, and what habits should be given up for us to live faithfully in our world? While asking such questions requires courage, answering such questions involves humility, and acting upon the answers to such questions demands resolve, I fully believe we are up to the task, for I fully believe we were made for this task. Throughout this important time of examination, learning, and renewal, we can hold tight to the promise that resurrection is real and renewal is already taking place in our midst, which means – like the space between Good Friday and Easter Sunday – we have nothing to fear and ultimately everything to receive.
May you and all your loved ones receive the fullness of good health and hope, these sacred days and always.
With gratitude,
The Rev. Brian E. Konkol, Ph.D.
President, Valparaiso University
