Installation Invocation: Dr. Gary Miller

The Installation of the Chancellor
Dr. Gary Leon Miller
The University of North Carolina at Wilmington
April 20, 2012
Prayer of Invocation
Rev. Dr. Gary Blaine
I have fished the Gulf of Mexico,
watched squalls dance across her face,
raked clams, scallops and blue crab
off her sandy bottom.
I have swam and sailed her warm waters,
pushed along by the winds of God.
I have played in the surf of the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans,
accompanied by dolphins and sea lions,
watched with caution schools of
stingrays, sharks, and Portuguese man of war,
kissed always by the spirit of God.
I have snorkeled in the Caribbean,
hovered over colonies of sea urchins,
speared grouper and grabbed spiny lobsters,
stared down the undulating teeth of
silver barracuda and lemon sharks,
cooled ever by the breath of the Sacred One.
I have rolled a #5 line with a blue dun dry fly
into the Nantahala River gorge,
paddled the Manatee and Chattahoochee rivers,
crossed the mountain streams of the Appalachians,
sauntered the banks of Thoreau’s beloved Concord River,
nudged by the zephyr of Deity.
Blow now Holy Wind,
rise up from Cape Fear and the Outer Banks,
ruffle the waves of Masonboro Island,
splash across the campus of the
University of North Carolina, Wilmington,
stir the tidal pools of imagination
Brood upon the waters of thought and possibility,
sough the estuaries of research and experiment,
roil whitecaps across the bayous of the mind,
brew a nor’easter when our faculties are too content,
push the currents of intellectual freedom past the barrier reefs of
political ideology and religious temerity.
Holy Breath of Creativity,
bless this man, Gary Leon Miller
with the courage to sail the perilous seas of thought.
Keep his hand steady at the helm, his sails trim;
ballast in his soul for draft and stability.
Grace him with the good sense to find safe harbor
in deep humor and profound friendships.
Blow Spirit of Life.
Lift us up on the wings of Seahawks.
Dare us to soar into Thy future
in the great Ocean of Being.
Amen.