I spent the better part of the last two days looking at this seal. It was projected on the ceiling-to-floor curtain that hung as the backdrop to the stage in the Covenant Fine Arts Center at Calvin College in Grand Rapids.
I was at Calvin attending a conference entitled, "The Missional Reading of Scripture." Dutiful conference attendee that I am, I "zoned out" on the speaker and "zoned in" on the web browser on my iPhone. My expansive Latin vocabulary includes "Et tu, Brute?" but not "Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere." I needed some help. A few taps on my phone and I had the translation:
"My heart I offer to you, O Lord, promptly and sincerely."
The Calvin seal is a great motto -- and a great prayer! It is a prayer for Friday and for everyday . . . for every student, every teacher, every mom, every dad, every worker, every boss, every pastor . . . for everyone of us engaged in the mission of God.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10
Today, we are on a mission from God. So I'm offering afresh my heart to the Lord, promptly and sincerely. How about you?