HAROLD ATTRIDGE, dean of the Yale Divinity School and professor of the New Testament
Idea: Start your day with a hymn
Behind many of the specific ideas to improve the lives of human beings around the globe, says Mr. Attridge, are the "daily habits of the mind, the heart, and the hand." Part of religious leadership is to learn to develop and integrate such habits, and to proclaim them.
This is why Yale Divinity School integrates scholarship with a vibrant program of worship in which well-attended services are held daily. "The music played and sung in those services comes from all corners of the globe," he says. "One of our students' favorite hymns these days is from South Africa: 'Njalo' or 'Always.' Its lyrics proclaim that "always we bless, always we give, always we pray."
The song encapsulates a part of what a divinity school is about: shaping our daily habits so that everything we do, from our thoughts to our emotions to our actions, contributes to the flourishing of human communities and individual well-being.
"Perhaps the song could offer a message for the new year," Attridge says. "The world would be a better place if all of us would think each day of ways to bless one another, especially those opposed to us; if each gave a little more to relieve poverty, hunger, and disease; and if each offered a daily prayer for peace and justice."
