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Earlier this semester, I was privileged to join others from our APU family in the ribbon cutting ceremony to dedicate Shalom Café on our main campus in Azusa, honoring our beloved 16th president, my cherished mentor and friend, Dr. Jon R. Wallace.
 
While many use “shalom” idiomatically to mean either “hello” or “goodbye,” whenever “shalom” rolled off Jon’s pen or tongue, it carried its fuller intent: peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility. This simple but powerful word encapsulated his vision for our university.
 
I share this desire for our beloved faculty, staff and students, and am committed to engender shalom (wholeness) wherever I can.
 
As we engage the Advent theme of “peace” this week, I pray that we will pursue wholehearted living in everything we do…and to include others in this quest…even those quite different than ourselves…in order to see us become the type of Christ-centered community that would reflect the very nature of God’s own love, embracing the imago dei in each and every person we meet. Only then will we experience shalom as God intends.