Under the Baobab Tree

September 15, 2006

“Why did God create human beings?” goes a traditional Jewish saying. “Because God loves stories.” Human beings are filled with stories for God, stories that delight, stories that grieve, stories that amuse, and stories that bewilder. And we love to share our stories with one another.

African peoples have long been known as storytellers, and they often gather to tell their stories to one another “under the baobab tree.” The baobab tree is native to the hot dry savannas in Africa and northern Australia. It is a beloved tree, especially because most of its parts can be utilized in some capacity. It is remarkably sturdy and long-lived, some surviving for more than 2,000 years. The baobab has an enormous trunk, which grows to approximately 75 feet tall and 60 feet around. People gather under its shade as a meeting place to discuss community matters, relate the news of the day, and share stories of their own lives as well as of their peoples’ larger and longer histories. Is it any wonder that the baobab is considered a “Tree of Life” by many cultures on the African continent?

Christians around the world are also known as storytellers. The community of Duke Divinity School is filled with stories — stories of the ways God is at work in our midst and in the world, transforming ministry in settings near and far. Sometimes the stories are of the ways God is transforming us, enabling growth, new insights and greater capacity for richer conceptions and practices of ministry. Sometimes the stories are of the ways God is using us to transform others, bearing witness in our teaching and learning, reading and writing, field education and discipleship, to the life-giving character of Christian life as well as ordained ministry. In addition, we often tell stories with one another of the ways in which all of this is bound up together — we find ourselves being transformed as we bear witness, learning in the midst of our teaching, discovering new insights as we plan boldly, encountering Christ in breaking bread together.

One of the privileges I have in serving as dean is to be able to experience and listen to diverse life-giving stories of transforming ministry: stories of innovative programs that are creating “tipping points” of momentum in other people’s lives and for other initiatives across the country; stories of gifted and passionate students whose growth and witness blossom during their experiences in Duke’s classrooms, spiritual formation groups, and field education; stories of faculty and staff whose leadership, especially in preaching and teaching, is exemplary in communities near and far; stories of faculty’s writings that win awards, inspire others, and provide crucial leadership within their fields as well as more broadly; stories of the difference Duke Divinity School is making as we seek, in all that we are and do, to be faithful in our service to Christ — in the church, the academy, and the world.

In the coming weeks and months, I will be sharing with you some of those stories. I do so because there are more of them than can be contained in our regular publications such as Divinity magazine, the school’s website, our videos that describe particular programs, or on occasions where I or other Divinity leaders are privileged to be visiting you or your community face-to-face. I do so because there are also extraordinary stories that all of us can draw on to nurture our excitement, confidence, and hope for Christian ministry as exemplified by the diverse activities of Duke Divinity School. And I do so because telling stories is a lot of fun and a great way to cultivate a sense of the community that binds us in fellowship with God.

In addition, I hope that, by sharing some of our stories, you will be inspired to share with me your own stories of Duke Divinity School — whether it is the importance of a book or article you read by a Duke faculty member or a sermon you heard one of us preach, the impact a field education student or student pastor has had ministering in your community, the significance of one of our programs in nurturing your own discipleship or in helping to shape your thinking, or perhaps a sense of the importance of Duke Divinity School’s involvement in the life of Duke University and in higher education more generally. Please be in touch by emailing Chris Brady, special assistant to the dean.

Of course, the stories we share with one another will also illumine areas we need to continue to work on, difficult issues with which we need to wrestle, and strategic directions we need to discern. There is much to do whenever we gather. There will be occasions to discuss community matters, relate the news of the day, as well as to tell stories. I hope you will find these reflections useful, stimulating and engaging — see you soon, Under the Baobab Tree.

The baobab tree serves as a meeting place for many villages to discuss community matters, relate the news of the day, or tell stories. Baobabs are a protected tree in South Africa, and they are said to be “World Trees” or “Trees of Life” by many of the cultures on the African continent.