Fifteen minutes. It’s the briefest time of quiet, and it is being held for everyone at Midd (faculty, staff and students) every weekday morning from 8:30-8:45 a.m. in the Crest Room in McCullough. Five members of our community, faculty and staff, take turns hosting this quiet, out-of-the way, circle of silence. No experience is necessary. No performance is required. No grade or credit is given. Just arrive, sit, and get on with your day.

In a culture that constantly encourages, and often demands, that we keep doing more, the immeasurable value of pausing is often ignored. Here, the five hosts of Weekday Morning Sitting Meditation share personal reasons for setting aside time to slow down: 

Leila McVeigh (Bio)

The role of mindfulness in my life is multilayered. In day-to-day living, mindful practices support my nervous system and a healthier relationship with reality, both inside and out. I can observe the space between what I expect of myself and how I actually am, then work on acceptance and compassion. Thinking about world problems can leave me tied up in knots if I’m not watching myself. Coming back to the present gives me a more manageable amount of reality to face. I can choose the next right thing to do, instead of getting overwhelmed from trying to do “all the things.” Meditating in community on campus gives me a little infusion of calm and hope that often lingers through the day. 

Danielle Stillman (Bio)

Before I became deeply involved in the Jewish spiritual path, I was deeply involved in the Buddhist path.  Mindfulness meditation is a practice that helps me be more present to joy and pain in myself and the world, and because of this to be more compassionate with myself and others.  The intentional noticing of what is informs my next steps and contributes to what can be.  Although I no longer consider myself to be a practicing Buddhist in a ritual sense, I continue to practice mindfulness meditation which I find completely compatible with my Jewish practice, and sometimes even stems from it. Despite all this, sticking to a daily practice is hard, and meditating with others is a powerful incentive to show up.  The calm energy we create together, even in just 15 minutes, is palpable and reminds me to keep practicing.

Sophia Calvi (Bio)

As a student at Middlebury 20 years ago, I began to practice sitting meditation on the regular. I found that taking the time to sit and focus on my breath, allowed me to deepen my awareness of self and taught me how to return to the present when my mind was jumping all over the place. It also supported my nervous systems through the ups and downs of life. 20 years later, I have dedicated my life to sustainability, dreaming into being holistic futures. We humans are organisms in our extended body the earth. We are all interconnected and interdependent. Mindfulness practices in group settings have deepened my soul’s knowing of our web of life.  I believe we all have access to the magic that connects us. That’s why I show up to breathe together. To remember. 

Emily Proctor (Bio)

I meditate because it helps me throughout the day to stay calm and centered.  I find that on days when I sit, I am more likely to listen and respond in grounded ways to the experiences, positive and negative, of my life.  This in turn helps me feel more connected to the people around me, which makes me happy.  I also sit because I think it feels good.  I like the feel of my breath, and I like listening to the sounds around me.  When I sit with a group, I like the feeling of simply being in the presence of other people.  So, it recharges me to sit still and enjoy these things for a bit.  I believe that even one person sitting quietly can make a big difference for the group as a whole.  

Mark R. Orten (Bio)

My formative childhood years in Appalachia within a conservative Christian tradition taught me to value contemplative rites such as prayer and fasting and singing, although not known as such to me until later. Growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, my faith commitments within a small religious community were also infused with a love and a reverence for nature. As I matured and was exposed to the wealth of contemplative practices in other traditions, I found a syncretic home in yoga and meditation and mindfulness. Pausing from all the freneticism of life and opening my awareness to what truly is there, within and around us, in every moment– quite apart from our doing— is life-affirming. Doing it with others who are on their own paths is an additional wonderful gift.    

Many reasons exist to enter mindful practice, including obtaining a sense of calm, connection, and awareness. We all come to the circle with different hopes or intentions, and in community, all experience the benefit of meditating. You are warmly invited! 

by Mark R. Orten, Dean of Spiritual and Religious Life

Welcome to a new academic year at Middlebury! For some it is a first. For others, a blessed continuation. In any case it has been eventful already! And just when it feels that we might be finding a rhythm and settling into some predictable patterns we learn the very sad news of the death of a student, someone who was known to many within and beyond the college. Whether we knew Evelyn or not, we feel the loss. We sense the grief within an institution that is, beneath it all, made up of people. You and I are connected; and when one of us is impacted it impacts us all.

Religion comes from a word that means “connected.” At its best it can also become one of the ways in which we express and experience our connectedness. Mature religions are conduits of this interplay of our lives that emphasize and enhances healthy interdependencies. It gives shape to our “inter-being.” Many worldviews and philosophies that are not religious, per se, also give expression to core convictions and ultimate values that are lived out in human harmonies that can look like hearty religious community and spiritual practice without subscribing to their traditions.

All of this is supported by the Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life at Middlebury. Whether we’re sipping tea and watercoloring at the ‘anti-program’ known as The SlowDown, or saying Jumma prayers, or passing challah at Shabbat, or baking with the Quakers (can we call it ‘quaking’?), or singing with InterVarsity (Revival), or retreating with Newman (R. Catholics) — we’re celebrating our connectedness, among other things. We’re re-membering one another, including those we have lost recently like Evelyn, and we are making the sense we need for the time being of going on with our lives. Together.

May you find those connections this year, whatever they may be. May you belong. May you be embraced and be included even as you embrace and include—and celebrate—the lives of others, just as they are.

(Noemi Zendejas Rodriguez ’26 reflects on her weekly experience at the Scott Center’s SlowDown program.)

The SlowDown helped me get through my first semester at Middlebury. As a first-gen student, I didn’t fully know what to expect at a college like Middlebury. All I knew was that I had to do my best.

The workload and expectations were thrown at me without a warning. I was trying tofigure out how to stay on top of everything while taking care of my mental and emotional well-being. Besides the academic rigor, I was also adjusting to new people and the environment. It was a huge transition that was slowly dragging me by the feet. However, I learned about the Scott Center after arriving here and visited when I was able to. I felt very at home and welcomed, like a weight lifted completely off my shoulders.  I felt overwhelmed with this huge transition, but the SlowDown helped ease all the new adjustments I was facing.

Every Tuesday, after my first-year seminar class, I head to the Scott Center ready to feel some stress relief. My focus/thoughts shift from worries about assignments to enjoying the moment with coloring, having tasty cookies and tea, and chatting with others. The people at the SlowDown create acomforting and delightful environment. Music usually plays in the background adding to the heartwarming environment. Afterwards I feel ready to get back to everything ahead of me: my assignments and the rest of the week. 

I’m excited to try new activities such as knitting and making bracelets. I would recommend this event, and the Scott Center, to anyone, especially those looking for a place where they can feel at home and at peace.

Nathaly Martinez ’24 was one of eleven Middlebury InterVarsity Christian Fellowship students who attended this nationwide conference in December, and reflects on her experience here.

It was at the New England InterVarsity Fall Retreat that I first heard about Urbana 22. It was advertised as a guaranteed life-changing experience with speakers from all over the world. God delivered.

Faith has always been an integral part of my life, but yet my closest friends did not know about it. For the first time, I felt a boldness in my faith I had never experienced before. For the entirety of the trip, I was constantly reminded of the presence of God. On the plane ride there I could hear stories of faith throughout. The woman that drove me to the hotel I would be staying at, Debora, shared her testimony with me and I was not even at the conference yet. The car ride to McDonald’s on the first night was just a group of students hungry for God and chicken nuggets. There were Christians at every corner of downtown Indianapolis willing to strike up a conversation about God and it was the most refreshing feeling.

The first morning, wanting to take advantage of all Urbana had to offer, I woke up early for morning prayer which became a routine during my time there. Here, we were led into guided prayer, which gave me a new appreciation for how I could make my time with God intentional. My days were filled with so many different ways to seek God, Morning Prayer, Service at the Gathering Hall, Small Group Bible Study, a million and one seminars throughout the day ranging from Migrant Ministry & Migrant Justice to Discerning your Call, Prayer Rooms, Intercession Prayer, Prayer Ministry, and Coaching Spaces.

One of my prayers to God before embarking on this journey was that I would find others who had a similar faith background as mine so I could feel encouraged in my walk with God. So I took intentional steps to find my community by signing up for a Spanish Bible study group. When I arrived at table 165, there were only two other students and our group leader while other groups had upwards of seven people. Nevertheless, God is good. That same day God brought two new members to our Bible Study Group, Pabel from Perú and Yeny from Venezuela, a couple in their late twenties who met at Urbana and got married! Slowly, the community I was looking for kept growing and growing even in the short time I was there.

While I did not know it yet, God wanted more from me than to just listen and be inspired. On the evening of December 30th, Rev. Dr. James Choung summed up the entire conference for me in one sentence, “A relationship with God is meant to be personal but not private.” Had I been hiding God and from God? What did I have to be embarrassed or ashamed about? God chose me and patiently waited for me, it was my time to choose Him. Towards the middle of the sermon, the speaker walked us through a guided prayer where we listened for a word from God. As I stood there with a blank mind and open heart, the only word entering my mind was surrender. I knew this was not a coincidence, so when Rev. Dr. James Choung did the call to faith I knew exactly what God wanted from me, to fully surrender, to walk with Him. When I stood up, God released all my fear, anxiety, and self-judgment, and I was overcome with joy and peace only God can bring.

Urbana started a fire in all eleven of us with the Holy Spirit being our 12th disciple guiding us through the journey. Every night, we would all cram into a small hotel room and just talk about that one speaker or seminar that spoke to us. The amount of vulnerability in that room fostered a community I had never experienced before on campus. We were scribbling down, brainstorming ways to reach our small campus in Vermont. The stories of students creating Bible study groups for their athletic teams, creating prayer spaces from their dorm rooms, and doing compassionate outreach brought a wave of inspiration for revival on campus to make safe, encouraging spaces for students to grow their faith and live out boldly their relationship with Jesus.

A D’var Torah for Parshat Vayishlach
by Rabbi Danielle Stillman

I recently spent a week in Israel/Palestine with a group of fellow rabbis, hearing from different organizations of Jewish Israelis and Palestinians who are working together toward creating a better life for everyone living here. I am spending this year living in Jerusalem, so showing up on this trip was as easy as crossing the city. In other ways, though, the trip filled me with trepidation. Even as someone familiar with the Israeli occupation of Palestine, I felt nervous about opening myself up to the stories of the Palestinians we would meet.

In this way, I can identify with Jacob, who in Parshat Vayishlach is described as “greatly frightened” (Genesis 32:8) before his impending meeting with Esau: “in his anxiety… he divided the people with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps.” Well, he should be afraid! Jacob and Esau, two estranged brothers, have not seen each other in over 20 years. When Jacob last left Esau, Jacob had tricked their father Isaac into giving him his blessing, and Esau was planning to kill Jacob. In the intervening years, there is no obvious justice for Esau losing the blessing, and now Jacob must encounter Esau in order to be able to return with his family to his home. Jacob makes significant preparations to meet Esau. He sends messengers ahead of him with gifts and kind words. He splits his camp to better protect them just in case Esau is still angry and decides to attack. And Jacob engages in spiritual preparation as well — finding himself alone on the riverbank, he wrestles with a divine being and changes his name, perhaps in preparation for this new phase of his life — and a new relationship with his brother. When the two brothers do meet, there is no attack — just intense emotion. Jacob sends gifts and goes ahead of his family, and as he approaches Esau, he bows low to him seven times. Whether he does so to admit that Esau was wronged when Jacob took his blessing, or simply because he is afraid and wants to pacify Esau, the effect is profound. “Esau ran to greet him. He embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him; and they wept.” (Genesis 33:4) Esau is eager to reunite with his brother and to receive him with love. He asks about Jacob’s family and his life. Jacob, for his part, also undergoes a profound transformation upon greeting Esau. Far from being the scheming blessing-snatcher of his youth, Jacob is interested in connection with Esau rather than material gain. When Esau asks him why he has offered so many gifts and tries to refuse them, Jacob explains: “No, I pray you; if you would do me this favor, accept from me this gift; for to see your face is like seeing the face of God, and you have received me favorably.” (Genesis 33:10) In this meeting of brothers, Jacob and Esau are both moved by the sight of each other’s faces. They reaffirm their humanity, and by extension, their relation to the divine. Following their reconciliation, they amicably decide to go their separate ways, but the trace of their renewed relationship remains. We see it later in the Torah when their father Isaac dies, and Jacob and Esau come together to bury him. (Genesis 35:29) In the grand scheme of the occupation, individuals or small groups coming together might seem like a small thing, but Jacob and Esau’s meeting shows us just how powerful personal moments of meeting and reconciliation can be. In my week of meeting Palestinians, formally and informally, any nervousness I had dissipated as my group and I were received with appreciation, hospitality, and honesty. This made it easy for me to listen to Palestinian accounts of life under occupation with an open heart and mind. Along with the power of meeting face to face, we can also learn from this parshah about the power of preparation. Jacob makes many preparations before he meets Esau. What kind of preparations, communal and individual, material and spiritual, will Jews and Palestinians need to make in order to meet and reconcile? While the political situation in Israel may feel intractable, and cycles of violence continue, the direct meeting of people who are normally separated fills me with hope. Let us begin making preparations now, in the way we talk about the other, in the way we educate our children, and in supporting these grassroots organizations which encourage meeting. Then when all of us are ready to meet, we can receive each other with respect and recognize each other’s humanity — and maybe even see the face of God there. Rabbi Danielle Stillman is the rabbi and an Associate Chaplain at Middlebury College in Vermont. She is currently spending the year with her family in Jerusalem, exploring the many possibilities for the flourishing of all the peoples in this land.

In her recent post in the blog Informed Comment, Chaplain Saifa Hussain highlights a queer-affirming and sexually-sensitive approach to Islam in her review of Homosexuality in Islam: Critical Reflections on Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Muslims. As pride month closes, the Scott Center hopes to carry over this energy into the upcoming academic year and build resources for queer students of faith. Stay tuned for updates on this closer to the Fall!

Good morning.

The ancient rabbis, whose tradition I endeavor to carry on in some small way, were famous for spending their time in the House of Study.  They valued the study of scripture, which they called Torah, and they studied the laws of Judaism that govern how one should live.  They engaged in this study almost exclusively through lively debate, sharing arguments and counter arguments, bringing stories and citations as proofs for their claim. The Talmud, in which these debates were collected in written form, records both the majority and the minority opinions. The laws that we follow, and the ones that were not adopted. All of this is studied in the Jewish tradition to this day, indicating an inherent respect for pluralism.

The rabbis used to say that anyone who does not engage in the study of Torah (the five books of Moses), Mishnah (the law), and Derek Eretz (literally “the way of the land,” in other words, the right way to behave) is not part of society. 

Debating this statement, the later generation of rabbis asked, “Is study greater or is action greater? Rabbi Tarfon answered that action is greater.  Rabbi Akiva answered, Study is greater.  Everyone then answered and said: Study is greater, as study leads to action.”

In this chamber you are charged with engaging in both study and action. You are asked to learn, to listen, to open yourself to new knowledge with curiosity and consideration. And you are asked to take action. Becoming informed is not the end goal.  Once the experience of your constituents is known, you are responsible to act on this knowledge. You have the opportunity to create real, meaningful change. Witnessing is a powerful act in and of itself, but for the ancient rabbis, and for us, it is not enough.

May the decisions you make today be informed by study: by facts, by information and by people’s real experience.

It is then that the actions you take will make a difference in the lives of the people you serve here in Vermont. 

And may this study and action always be joined with Derek Eretz, the right way to behave.

“Chaplain” is a funny title. It can conjure up images of a Christian pastor kneeling next to a fallen soldier at war or sitting by a sick person’s bedside in a hospital — something you might see in a movie about a far-off time. Often, these are limited and outdated images.  

Who exactly are the campus chaplains at Middlebury, and what do we do?  We raise this question now because “College Chaplains” is one of the resources that is listed when tragedy strikes on campus or elsewhere in the world, and we are certainly all dealing with the repercussions of many such tragedies this semester. Yet we worry that the title “chaplain” itself may be a barrier to some people in utilizing us as a resource.

The college chaplains at Middlebury consist of three full-time chaplains who are trained in and practice three different religious traditions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism. We also employ part-time affiliate chaplains in different Christian denominations including Congregationalist, Baptist and Catholic, as well as a Zen Buddhist chaplain. 

However, we hope that our religious identities will not be another barrier to seeking us out. We are first and foremost very good listeners to anyone who comes our way. We believe that listening — truly listening — is one of the most powerful ways to be with someone who is struggling. And this is no small thing. We are equipped to be there in this listening capacity for anyone who wants it, regardless of their religious or non-religious background. We each work with students from any number of backgrounds. We are also equipped to work with people within the specific religions that we represent if that is desired. The content of our meetings with students is confidential unless there is imminent harm to self or others.

Our office space this interim year, The Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life at 46 South Street, is somewhat far from the center of campus.  We welcome you there, but we are always willing to meet students closer to where they are. Please email or call to find a time to meet.

Saifa Hussain (she/her/hers), the Muslim Chaplain and Interfaith Advisor, can be reached at sthussain@middlebury.edu or 802-443-5983. Mark R. Orten (he/him/his), the Dean of Spiritual and Religious life and Chaplain of the College, can be reached at orten@middlebury.edu or 802-443-5886. Danielle Stillman (she/her/hers), Rabbi and Associate Chaplain can be reached at dastillman@middlebury.edu or 802-443-5762. Find the Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life at go/scottcenter or in person at 46 South St.