Univ Record 2018

of the past. And it gives him the confidence that he needs in the present, as he faces his
approaching death.
Then there is the context of these words in Choral Evensong, where we have
encountered them throughout the year. So if we pause to consider the structure of the
service, we may note that the Nunc Dimittis comes after the second lesson, from the
New Testament, where we read of Jesus, and the significance of his life and death and
resurrection. Thus its place in the service offers us an opportunity to reflect on what Jesus
has done, and what the risen Jesus may continue to do today. Simeon looked forward to
what God would do through his son. We can look back, and using Simeon’s words, we
can commit ourselves to God and to his unfolding purpose both for us and for the world.
And so to our context tonight, when we have the opportunity to begin to say goodbye
to many of those with whom we have heard or sung these words. None who leave, I hope,
need see their imminent departure in such final terms as Simeon did, as he prepared
for his death. For all of us who come here as students know that our course will last
only a limited time. And that part of its purpose is to prepare us to move on and to do
something else. So just as Simeon expressed himself ready to depart, I hope that those
who leave will feel the same. Ready to depart, and confident in the knowledge that we
will be welcomed back. The nature of our relationship with the College will change when
we leave, but there is certainly no reason for it to end.
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. Simeon faced the future with hope, for
he was confident of the God in whom he placed his trust. For some of us too, confidence
in our faith is one of the things that we will bring with us when we leave this place, and
move on to somewhere else. Not because we don’t have doubts, or questions. But because
we can live with them, knowing that God has carried us through hard times as well as
through good. And that faith gives us a framework in which to understand the world,
and to find meaning and purpose in our lives. A light by which, and a lens through
which, we can navigate our way through life.
Not all of us share that faith, of course. But all of us I hope can point to other
resources, other sources of strength, that each of us will take with us when we leave. For
whatever you have studied, or whatever you will continue to study next year, I hope that
the process of studying has helped you, and will help you, to grow as a person. That it
gives you not only detailed knowledge and understanding of the particular discipline that
you came here to read, but also the wider ability to assess and to analyse information in a
critical way. That it enhances your ability to reach informed, intelligent and independent
decisions about any range of problems or issues that may be set before you. To recognise
nonsense when you see it. That it helps to form your character, and helps you to become
the sort of person who has a contribution to make. The sort of person who will draw on
what you have learned here in the service of others. And draw on them also, if this claim
makes sense to you, for the glory of God.
But there is more to being a member of a college than studying, and there are other
important ways in which each of us may grow and learn when we are here. So perhaps
the most important thing that anyone can take away is not a thing at all, but one or more
relationships that will continue to be of importance in the future. Not a list of contacts,
or people who might serve as means to an end. But people who can relate to you, as you
relate to them. Because implicitly or explicitly you accept each other as you are, and
together you have learned, or are learning, or will learn, what it means to give and receive
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