Speeches
Choosing the Abundant Life: Professor Andy Harris and Instructor Mark Schmidt on Building Identity and Relationships
The Southern Virginia University community recently gathered to learn about living an abundant life as taught by the scripture, reflection, and lived experience. Professor Andy Harris and Institute instructor Brother Mark Schmidt invited students to carefully consider where they place their identity and how they build meaningful relationships, emphasizing that abundance is not a distant goal but a way of living that begins now.
“It’s easy to imagine abundance as something in the future—traveling to new places, achieving personal goals, finding a career, finding a spouse, raising a family,” said Harris, who teaches family and human development classes. “And those can all be beautiful parts of an abundant life.”
But, he warned, focusing too much on a future version of abundance can cause people to overlook the joy, belonging, and connection already available in everyday life. Drawing on insights gathered from students and colleagues, Harris explored what makes relationships truly meaningful.
“A meaningful relationship is one where you feel accepted and valued,” he said. “There is mutual respect and reciprocal care. You share your thoughts and experiences. You spend meaningful time together, and you offer both practical help and emotional support.”
Harris emphasized that these patterns mirror a universal human need: people flourish when they belong. Meaningful relationships, he said, don’t happen by accident. They grow through consistent, intentional choices, and true abundance grows from the kind of person one chooses to become each day.
“The abundant life is built on relationships—meaningful, virtuous, outward-focused relationships,” Harris said. “And it starts today. Not when you graduate. Not when you get married. Not when life gets easier. But today.”
Building on that foundation, Schmidt shifted the focus to the spiritual roots of human connection. As an instructor for the Southern Virginia Institute of Religion, he explained that our longing for connection reflects a divine pattern.
“We crave relationships because we were created by a Father who desires a relationship with His children,” Schmidt said. “Connection is essential, not optional and it reflects the very nature of God.”
He introduced the Greek word ‘teknon’, meaning “child,” describing it as someone who lives in full dependence on God and is shaped by their relationship. Schmidt explained that scripture also points to different kinds of children people can become.
“There is a ‘Child of God’ shaped by His light, a ‘Child of Pride’ shaped by ego, and a ‘Child of Wrath’ shaped by anger,” Schmidt said. “Which child do you want to be?”
Schmidt later reflected on a question he once encountered asking if God truly cares about humanity. Turning to the life of the Savior, he affirmed that God’s concern for His children is constant and unmistakable.
“Absolutely yes, God loves and cares for each of us,” he said. “It’s not on-and-off but constant. We can see his real, divine concern through the Savior’s actions. Christ touched the leper. He knelt beside the child. He wept with grief. Through those actions, God shows just how much He loves us.”
Together, Harris and Schmidt emphasized that abundance is not defined by milestones or circumstances. It is shaped through daily choices to love deeply, act humbly, and build lasting relationships with others and with God.
The event opened with student Lisa Schneckenburger performing “Hope Lingers On” and concluded with the traditional singing of “Love One Another.”