The Rev. Joshua DuBois, former spiritual advisor to President Barack Obama held a reading of his recently published book, “The President’s Devotional” at NYU’s Kimmel Center for University Life on Nov. 11.
DuBois and the Rev. Paul Raushenbush, senior religious editor of the Huffington Post, discussed different segments of DuBois’ book at the event yesterday before allowing questions from the audience.
Yael Shy, co-director of the NYU Center for Spiritual Life, said the center sponsored the book reading and discussion because both DuBois and Raushenbush are advisory board members for the Of Many Institute for Multifaith Leadership at NYU and are passionate about the institute’s mission.
“We believe that the devotionals, prayers, reflections [and] meditations, that DuBois sent to President Obama each day during his tenure will inspire our students and those who attend the event tonight in the same way that they inspired the president,” Shy said.
“The President’s Devotional” consists of essays about DuBois’ experiences in the White House and a selection of the devotionals DuBois sent Obama daily, dating back to the 2008
campaign. The devotionals range from themes of prayer and wisdom to essays on specific events such as the Newtown, Conn. shooting.
DuBois said, when he first started working on Obama’s campaign, he never thought he would be sending the future president of the United States daily devotionals.
“I didn’t necessarily feel qualified to do that,” DuBois said.
After saying personal prayers for the senator during the 2008 campaign, DuBois sent Obama a reflection on Psalm 23 from the Old Testament. He soon received a response from Obama asking him to continue to send similar emails.
DuBois said different genres of music, including jazz and classical, inspired his devotionals, and the patterns could be found in his prose.
DuBois added that his personal faith grew as he spent more time with the scripture.
“I found my way back to the Bible in a way I hadn’t ever before,” DuBois said.
Since working for the Obama administration, DuBois founded and serves as the CEO of Values Partnerships, a social enterprise set to launch this year.
CAS senior Mikayla Terrell said her favorite part of the discussion was when DuBois talked about his struggles with his faith during his time in the White House.
“Your faith is definitely part of everything you do, but I really liked what he said about the danger of professionalizing [faith],” Terrell said.
Terrell plans on attending future events hosted by the Of Many Institute. “I think it is an incredible part of NYU that has a lot of potential,” Terrell said. “NYU is definitely embracing, more proudly and boldly, faith and religion.”
Ann Schmidt is a staff writer. Email her at [email protected].