Convocation Address
Right Reverend Vashti Murphy McKenzie
Bishop of  the African Methodist Episcopal Church

      It seems to me not long ago when my mother was living and she would always sit in the congregation so whenever I would stand to speak, she would cry and I said, “Mom you’ll have to stop doing that because people will think there’s something the matter.” And now I have watched the next generation stand, and so, I too cried.
      To Dr. Swygert, to members of the Board of Trustees, to members of this esteemed faculty, to the student body of Howard University, President Cramton Auditorium, and in satellite positions around the campus, to my sorors of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, to our national president, Gwen Boyd who sits on the stage, to my other brothers and sisters who wear different colors, we’re on the same tree, same root system, we just wear different colors, we’re still related one to another; to these Howard tots who come and share this glorious moment, these marvelous young people who sit and sleep and sit and pay attention as best as they can; to my husband, my partner in life and ministry; to elected officials and former officials who come; and we have shared many occasions when we were here in Washington, DC at WYCB radio; to countless friends, and colleagues and classmates, members of the clergy; we have all come together just to shout Amen one more time.
      And, Dr. Swygert you have honored me and blessed me beyond measure to allow me to come home and to rejoin and be a part of my Howard family.
      Howard University holds a special place not only in the life of my family because my Grandmother was a member of the class of 1914, my Grandfather taught at Howard and there they met here. It is not only important to my family because many of my cousins have matriculated here, my aunt, Frances Murphy also taught here but it’s also important to me because I chose to come to Howard University because I wanted to learn and grow and be trained in an atmosphere where certain words were familiar. Words like justice and liberation and empowerment. Where I could be who I am and celebrate my history and my heritage and not be put to shame. I wanted to be trained and learn and grow in an atmosphere with other men and women who were like-minded so that together we could serve in our communities.
      I’m so glad to be able to stand before you this morning and share with you that there are graduates of the Howard University School of Divinity who pastor in churches all around Payne Memorial.
      And so when there was a need to address the financial institutions in our city, I was able to go to Howard graduates and say come let’s put together the collective banking group of Baltimore.
      When we needed to address the work of helping people get into jobs and pass the barriers and limitations that society has placed in their way, I was glad to be able to go to Howard graduates and say come let’s rise and do this together.
      So I thank you for giving me an opportunity to learn and grow, to achieve and make my share of mistakes. I was just truly honored to be able to study under great scholars like Dr. Cain Hope Felder and Dr. Gene Rice; to be able to sit in homiletics class and learn at the feet of Dean Crawford; to come to understand Christian Education from Dr. Delores Carpenter; and to be able to study ministry from Reverend Joseph Taylor because he was doing ministry at the same time he was teaching ministry.
      And so it wasn’t just what he used to do, it was what he was doing right there. And so just to be able to be in Dr. Taylor’s class was a joy. And so thank you Howard you have contributed much; I shall never forget you.
      And on my ministerial staff at Payne Memorial, which will be soon my former ministerial staff, there are three graduates from the Howard University School of Divinity and two of them are here today, won’t you stand, Reverend Angelique Mason and Minister Adriene Breckenridge. In the 18th Episcopal District there are four students who are studying here in the United States and I wait for the day when I will be able to send students from the 18th Episcopal District to matriculate here at Howard University. And so if you will just give me your attention for a moment, I will try to share a few things with you. It seems to have been perhaps maybe twenty or twenty-five years ago when the nation’s pulse quickened at the extraordinary exploits of the crew and passengers of a ship called the Minnow, who were on a three-hour tour, who were shipwrecked on a desert island and we laughed and marveled at the high jinks of the Professor and Maryann, Gilligan and Skipper, too, Ginger the actress and the millionaire and his wife. And now in our 21st century dot com reality there is another cast and another crew intentionally deserted on an island only God knows where in the South Pacific to outwit, outplay, outlast in the ultimate challenge “Survivor” and the last one standing would receive a million dollars. Anybody hear about it? And its amazing in less than two decades we have gone from Gilligan, Ginger and the Skipper to Susan and Kelly and Rich, from a time in which the good guys finish first to a time in which the bad guys finish first.
      For in the summer of the year 2000, it birthed a few phenomena in our visual community. One of the stunning successes of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and everyone wants to, the mercurial rise of Regis Philben, the departure of Kathy Lee Guifford, and the surprising blockbuster success of “Survivor.” All summer long we watched Kelly, the snake and Rich, the nudist and Susan, the sour grape and the ex navy seal and so forth and so on, who intentionally stayed on a deserted island that only CBS has ever heard of in life. And there they were without food, and creature comforts, there were no formal shelters, no telephones, no cell phones, no fax machines, no talk radio, no TV news, no text books, no exams, no cafeteria food, no boom boxes, no rap music. Almost sounds like heaven, doesn’t it? And the goal was to outwit, outlast and outplay in this ultimate challenge and the last one standing would receive a million dollars.
      “Survivor” had all of the soap opera tendencies, you had to come back next week to see who was going to be booted off the island. And everybody had their favorites, the character that you love to hate and there was something to laugh about, something to cry about just a little nudity to suit our 21st century, enough revolting scenes to keep you on the edge of your seat. And there are those who would say that “Survivor” is symptomatic of American life.
      That here we were able to watch a group of people competing and backstabbing, whining and complaining, scrambling and scheming, evil underhandedness, gamesmanship, one-up-man-ship to win everything and anything, especially a million dollars.
      There are those who would say that this is a raw glimpse of human kind at its worse. Well, of all of the 40 million people who watched “Survivor,” how many of you in here today? It’s alright to raise your hands, with 40 million people, somebody is in here. How many of you watched?
      Raise your hand. It’s alright, it’s true confession time, how many watched, how many watched? Come on raise your hand. Let me share with you the fans of “Survivor,” that I was not impressed at all.
      Nothing about the summer series impressed me at all, not the games, not the give and take of relationships, not the underlying emotional psychic beating. No, I was not impressed. I could understand why 40 million people were going to watch because they thought that they were going to be some kind of survivor.
      They want a Survivor Series, I have a Survivor Series for them. Let’s see how many people watch this Survivor Series, come on, let me put you in an empty row house in Southeast Washington, DC. no wallet, no food, no food stamps, let’s see how long you survive.  I have a Survivor Series for you. Let me put you into a homeless shelter and see how long you survive.
      You want a Survivor Series, let me put you stranded you in Harlem New York for a little while. I have a Survivor Series for you.
      Let me put gang colors on you of the opposite gang and put you in enemy territory and see how long you survive. Grow up in an open-air drug market and let’s see if you are able to grow up sane and in your right mind. If you haven’t noticed, you are the star of your own Survivor Series.
      We have survived racism and sexism and classicism and car-jacking, and thefts and break-ins and muggings and fire and blackouts and abuse; we’ve dodged bullets, we’ve put up with insane policies that have been constructed to keep us down and keep us back. Yeah.
      You want a Survivor Series. I know where there are some rats are in urban America that you can cut up and eat at anytime. There are some big fish that can be hunted down in the underworld. I have garbage cans for you to root through so you can get some food; and how about begging for coins in the intersection of anybody’s freeway in urban America.
      Yeah. I have some Survivor Series for you. In fact, I have a few survivor games of my own. Let’s try this game, let’s put a black man under 30 in an expensive car and send him up 95North.
      You want a survivor game. Let me place you as a teacher in the urban core of America and see how long you are able to teach Rasheed and Wonecka and Wawecka and Shanaynay. Let’s see you survive that. Or better yet, let’s bring them to Howard University and see if they can survive exam week. Or pledge anything. You might be able to survive on a deserted island, I don’t think you’ll be able to survive hell week. Come on, somebody say Amen up in here.
      Yet survive is what we do. The fact that we are here and living and breathing and walking and talking and able to speak with some kind of intelligence means that we have already survived the trips and the traps and the tragedies of our times.
      Surviving is what we do. Here we are standing upon the precipices of the 21st century and yet we still have to ask ourselves how are we going to survive in an era of unprecedented change.
      The evolutionary drip drop of incremental ships in some of the fundamental aspects of life is reshaping our life-style. A virtual tidal wave of change is pounding the shores of what used to be on the beach of no longer as the sands of time flow through the hourglass of our universe on a predictable course with the millennial transition.
      How are we going to be able to survive with the unpredictable shift of our gender roles, which are slowly eating away. There used to be a time when tenure and age and bloodlines and family heritage and social status was honored above competence and character and performance, not any longer, it is the other way around.
      We have become more self-centered and materialistic and driven by play rather than be driven to work. Time has replaced money as the currency of choice. Oh yes, here we are in systems that promote a non-commitment and non-sacrifice. Price has replaced product loyalty. Diversity has become a valued experience in the education system and workforce.
      Glory to God! And how are we going to survive in the 21st century? In less than 30 years we’ve gone from quantity to quality, money to time, commitment to flexibility, group to individual, trusting to proven integrity, satisfaction through work to satisfaction through leaders.
      Yes, the times they are changing. Here we’re going, living from day to day when the ultimate challenge is just to live sane, secure, safe, and serene in the 21st century. We are living my brothers and sisters in an era challenged and characterized by unprecedented change. The knowledge available to us today will only be 30 percent of what will be available in ten years. There exists a whole new set of conveniences and expectations. We’ve gone from telegraphs to telephones, slide rule to calculator, snail mail to e-mail, oh yeah, we can fax anything all around the world. Change is breeding more change.
      Progress is breeding more progress and if you resist it and if you refuse you will be trampled in the rushes we’re going to need to survive. Patricia Russell McCloud writes, life is a lot like an escalator, you can go up you can come down but you cannot stay in one place. How are we going to survive? If you will allow me, may I reference a piece of ancient literature? To perhaps find some answers through our post-modern world? Since I am who I am and you knew who I was when you asked me to come.
      Allow me to refer to an old letter that was addressed to a group of people living in a place called Ephesus. Now Dean Crawford you know I would give the full exegesis if I was in the sanctuary setting; but since I am not in the sanctuary allow me just to brush by just a few verses to arrive at the salient points in the passage of scripture that I do refer. In this circular letter there is an occasion of a man by the name of Paul who had some survival issues of his own and he referenced himself as being an ambassador.
      Now understand Mr. Ambassador that an ambassador is someone who represents one’s government in the court of another government, is that correct?
      Alright, just want to make sure you understand the footnotes of my process. And then as an ambassador, he represented the kingdom of God in the kingdom of darkness; and so, therefore, he was to speak the desires and the wishes of God and sharing the Lord’s wishes and commands and words as a message communicated of one of reconciliation to a world in rebellion against God.
      And then, not only does he refer to himself in this letter as an ambassador he speaks of himself as an ambassador in change. In other words, in order for him to tell the good news and the urgent news that the world needed to hear he was bound and he was shackled and he had some survivor issues.
     When you go back and look at the record, you will find that Paul was beaten and persecuted and hounded and trapped and in prison just for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, he continued to be an ambassador for Christ. He continued in his embassy committed to him by the Lord. And so instead of being hostile and depressed about his circumstances, instead of being indignant, instead of backing up and backing away, instead of backing out of his commitment because of his horrible experience, he continued his work. In spite of all of the odds, in spite of the many challenges and the obstacles that were facing him, he continued to do his work, not because he was doing something wrong, but because he was doing something right.
      And I believe that we can identify with Paul’s plight. For all too often we are beaten and persecuted and maligned, not because we have done something wrong, but because we are doing right. And so I entered into a conversation with God and asked the Lord, please explain to me how Paul was able to survive. And I asked God, not because I needed to personally know myself, and I needed to know personally myself; but, I said there are some people who are going to gather at Howard University for the convocation 2000, and I believe that they are also interested in knowing how Paul survived. And if they know how Paul survived, then it also might be an encouragement in our own survivor story.
     The first thing that God shared with me was that Paul was able to properly handle his challenges. He was able to handle his obstacles in a productive way. You must understand that for Paul the conditions were not perfect, things were not right, circumstances were not favorable, problems existed all around him. Yet, he didn’t use his problems as an excuse not to do what he knew he had to get done. He functioned as a servant of God and when you think about it, there’s always something in the way. Just like Paul, there are problems existing all around us. There’s always some obstacle in the way, always some handicap, there’s always some disappointment, there’s always some difficulty.
      Look around you, things are not perfect, things are not right. We are living in an unfair world and it would be easy for us to use the difficulties of our reality as an excuse for us not to do a whole lot of things. But Paul, ah yes, saw the problems all around him but he did not focus on the problems, he kept his eyes focused on the task. That didn’t mean that he ignored the problem, the chains were real but he prayed and he asked, continually, others to pray for him. Ah, he lived for eternity rather than time. He was able to look beyond his bondage and look beyond his chains and ignore his obstacles and handle his handicap properly. In other words, Paul says, “well if I can’t do this, I can do that.” And so, beloved, there may be some things that you cannot do and if you constantly focus on your I cants, you’ll never arrive at your I cans. Well alright, if you can’ t move then write, if you can’t walk then talk, if you can see then hear, if you can’t work then volunteer, if you can’t sing then sew, if you can’t read, learn, if you can’t stand then sit, if you can’t run take one step at a time; but for God’s sake do something. Don’t you understand that you are the best that our ancestors can produce and we are counting on you to take us higher and further than we’ve ever been before; and in order to do that then you must be prepared. How can you hope to achieve and obtain on a wish and a whim. If you want to get somewhere then prepare yourself now for the place that you desire to go. I’m talking to you.
     The second thing God shared with me was that Paul kept his obligations. Survival then meant that he was able to look beyond his variance to do the things that needed to be done, and not use his problems as an excuse, and then he was able to keep his obligations. Paul had a desire for others to know the love of God just like he knew and he wanted others to know the grace of God and the power of the holy spirit. And so he was empowered by God to fulfill this determination to share Jesus Christ with a lost world come hell or come high water.
      In other words, Paul developed the “have to” attitude and I love the “have to” attitude because the “have to” attitude makes me get out of bed every morning, the “have to” attitude makes me live every day as if it was my last, the “have to” attitude help me to stand up against those who would consistently say “No” when I was living a very “Yes” lifestyle. And if you develop a “have to” attitude, it’s not much that can hold you up and stop you ‘cause all you need to stand and say, “I have to” and as long as you “have to,” you’ll never throw in the towel, as long as you “have to,” you’ll never quit, as long as you “have to,” you won’t go home depressed, Baby, no you won’t, you know you won’t. As long as you “have to,” you won’t wilt in the heat. As long as you “have to,” you will always find strength for your legs. As long as you “have to,” your mind will continue to click and to think and to work. As long as you “have to,” you will continue to climb the stairs that faith has built and open up the windows of hope and see what the world says impossible; but because you “have to,” you know that all things are possible through Jesus Christ. You have to forgive, me I slip into preaching every now and then. Y’all just flag me down if I try it again, alright.
     And then, God shared with me, see Paul was able to survive because he saw opportunity in his adversity. You see, it was through Paul’s problems that Paul received his greatest opportunities. Like when he was blinded on a Damascus road then he saw Christ and heard his mandate to seek out the lost and share with them the good news. It was when he was locked up in a room in jail with Silas that he learned to have a midnight prayer meeting and to sing and to pray and he learned that as he sang and he prayed the earth would shake and then he came out from behind closed doors not only to his own liberation but for the salvation of the jailer and his whole house, it was saved. It was when he was imprisoned that he preached to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish highest court. It was when he was imprisoned that he gave witness and testimony to the Roman Governor, Felix. It was when he had a problem he was able to give witness and testimony to the Roman Governor Festus and King Agrippa. It was when he was having problems that he had an opportunity to go to Rome and to appear before Caesar. Paul was able to see that with every obstacle was an opportunity. Every problem was a chance for something else. Every difficulty was an open door. Every downturn was a step up to something new. Every twist was a turn into greater things. Every trial was an opportunity for Paul, and so Paul was able to look at it just for what it was. Yes, it was happening to him but he used it effectively as a steppingstone to something better and something higher.
     And so, we need to look at what happens to us in life on our own little deserted islands in the middle of nowhere and use it as a bridge over and a step up and a leg up to something else. Stop complaining and whining and blaming other people for where you are; stop looking outside of yourself for somebody to ride in on a white horse and carry you off into a sunset.
      Come on, somebody say Amen.
      But learn and look around you and step up on the steppingstones on the obstacles that are placed in your way. Learn how to step up on your burdens and lift you to a higher plane.
      What will it take for us to survive in the 21st century? I’m not sure all of it but God is showing me that with every problem now I can use it, Glory to God! Every put down I can use as a way up. Every down draft I can use as a lift up. Yeah, Glory to God! And then, the Lord shared with me the last final piece for Paul’s survival. Not only was he able to handle his obstacles in a proper manner, not only was he able to help in his adversity but he also found that the worse it got the gooder God got and that’s not right English but ebonically it is correct. Paul faced his situation with more than a PMA, a Positive Mental Attitude; but he faced it with a faith that produced joy way down in his soul and because he had a faith in a great God he didn’t give way to self pity; there were no self pity parties, no neighborhood parties, no, no group pity parties, hostility didn’t over take him, he didn’t sit in silence and hope that it would all pass over.
      But Paul knew that God was still at work to redeem people from an empty and a weak existence. That God was still at work willing and able to redeem men and women from loneliness and sin.
      And so, it’s the same Paul that said, “count it all joy when you fall into diverse problems;” he learned how to be content. Did he not say, “that no matter whatever state I’m in,” and Paul has been in a lot of states. He’s been up and down and empty and full and rich and free and confined and poor and he says I have learned how to be content.
      When I am weak, God’s strength takes over and the harder things get for me than the harder God works it out. Paul calls us to rejoice even in our adversity and rejoice and again I say rejoice.
     Don’t let problems and difficulties keep you away from your obligations for making a difference in the 21st century. Don’t allow a wicked and evil world to steal your joy for the joy of the Lord will be your strength. Ah, don’t let the wickedness and evil of the world keep you from singing the song that God has placed in his heart, for God has no other plan but you.
      God has no other way, but you. God is counting on you to teach a world how to survive. God doesn’t need a television station to teach us how to survive.
      But, we can survive “because if it had not been for the Lord who was on our side, where would we be?” They have tried to wipe us out, but we’re still here. In the middle passage, they tried to wipe us out, but we’re still here. In the era of enslavement, they tried to wipe us out, but we’re still here. In the era of Jim Crow and separate but equal, they tried to wipe us out, but we’re still here.
      They tried to lynch us from every tree in the South but we refused to die, we’re still here. Every time they turn around, we keep coming back, and we keep coming back, and we keep coming back; and every time we come back, we come back stronger than we were before.
      All y’all say Amen now, just say Amen, just say Amen, just say Amen. But we get more than a million dollars at the end of the show.
      When the curtain closes, the lights go out, Nielsen is no longer rating your life and the screen goes dark and we have said all that we can say in this life, God has fixed it so that we are in possession of eternal life and that is worth much more than a million dollars.
      Throw your head back and shout, I survived …
      I survived…
      I survived!

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