Dean Powery Reflects on the Message ‘You Are Worthy’
“You are worthy. You are worthy of care. You are worthy of respect. You are worthy of safety. You are worthy of joy.”
That was the final message from Dr. Thema Bryant, president of the American Psychological Association, in her public conversation on “Faith, Mental Health, and Community” on October 3 at Duke Chapel. In his latest column in the (Duke) Chronicle, Chapel Dean Luke Powery reflects on the importance of that message for how people at Duke treat one another.
“There is hurt everywhere,” he writes. “But what if we walked around campus and rather than saying ‘hello’ to others, our greeting was ‘You are worthy’? Rather than hurt, this might offer needed healing.”
He then cites the biblical example of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, in which a wayward son is welcomed home by his father. “The father threw his son a party!” Dean Powery says. “Through his extravagant gestures, he showed his son that he was worthy no matter what.”
“Know that you are worthy," he concludes. "So come on home.”