The Hooding Ceremony!

Many people have never seen it. Even fewer have had it done to them. But this past week, as part of his graduation from his doctoral program, our son Nathaniel went through a hooding ceremony wherein his academic advisor placed an academic hood over his neck such that it draped down along his back, showing by its colors his area of study and the completion of his degree. The ceremony signifies the culmination of doctoral studies and the transition of the student from candidate to colleague. Of course, Kim and I are very proud of Nathaniel and felt privileged to be there to witness his hooding. 

The most interesting part of the hooding ceremony to me is the thought that, one’s academic advisor and mentor is conferring on the student the status of a colleague. In other words, the student goes from being one who is under to one who is equal. It is meant to be a visual representation of the fact that the advisor has done their best to pour knowledge into the student and that the student has done his or her best to learn from their advisor. As the student has spent time with their advisor, being guided by them in their academic pursuits, allowing the advisor to critique their work and at times push them towards excellence (and sometimes making their life miserable!), the student grows and learns and is brought to a whole new level of academic knowledge and achievement. He or she is then released to stand on level ground with the rest of the academic community. 

It makes me ask, shouldn’t that sort of relationship and process be found in each of our lives? We may not be pursuing doctoral degrees, but we all need mentors who will lead and guide us in personal growth and towards excellence. And each of us ought to be pouring our lives into someone who is coming behind us. Especially we who call ourselves followers of Jesus, we are called to be students—his students and students under the tutelage of those whom God places in our lives to help us learn and grow. And we are called to be men and women who will invest ourselves into others, leading them into the life that God has for them. 

The Apostle Paul, in writing to his student Timothy, reminded Timothy of those from whom he had learned the scriptures and who it was who had nurtured him in the faith: his grandmother, his mother, and of course, Paul himself. I get the sense, Timothy had been one of Paul’s best students. Paul then writes to Timothy (who is now serving as a pastor himself), “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Timothy 2:2 – NIV) Notice the pattern: a student becoming a teacher, whose students themselves eventually become teachers. And the cycle continues! 

All this leads me to ask some questions: (1) Have I been learning from the right people? Whom have I allowed to influence my life?; (2) Have I been a good student, doing my part to learn from those whom God has placed into my life to help me learn and grow?; (3) Have I yet reached the point wherein I can begin to pour my life into someone else? And if so, am I doing so, or am I just keeping what I have learned to myself? 

Not many of us will go through a hooding ceremony, yet each of us is called to be student and then a mentor. May we see the cycle fulfilled through each of our lives. 

Have a great day! 

- Pastor Tim Harris