Just checking in after a week... Thanks much to all those who read, and all the more so to those whose comments helped underline and elucidate themes from the essay. I look forward to the conversation continuing in the coming months!
"the good life is a curious life" and "study as worship"
Surely Adam and Eve were curious about all that was contained in the world that God created them in, and learning about it, taking in the goodness around (and within) them would have pleased God. Curiosity warms the chill of indifferent, distracted living. It's one of the things that makes relationships so wonderful. It keeps us childlike as we grow.
Thank you for posting such thought-provoking ideas!
Thank you, Dr. Gehrz, for this thoughtful and thought-provoking reflection. I particularly appreciate the reminder that contemplation of the bygone, imagined, and spiritual worlds is worthwhile in its own right, not merely as a means to some "lesson" or other payoff. Unfortunately, given the economic pressures students anticipate facing after graduation (or, in many cases, face already) such leisurely contemplation can seem like an unaffordable luxury. That's why I'm grateful for the work of Christian study centers and other organizations that make contemplative study available to wider audiences and in more unconventional ways.
Looking forward to reading the rest of the essays on this year's theme!
I especially appreciate the broad implicit point that the study of history, art, literature, and so on, cannot involve only the uncovering of power hierarchies (as is the habit of some), but must also entail the imaginative encounter with people, ways, and societies very different from our own. Well done.
A thoughtful, clear, and challenging essay; thanks very much. As usual, when one separates what must be an integrated whole into categories for purposes of clarification and discussion, the danger lurks that the reader might prioritize one category over the other or worse, believe that one category is important and the others irrelevant. You have made it clear that, if higher education in America wants to succeed in forming members of society, who are able to contribute to the betterment of that society (to say nothing of themselves!), then it must pay attention in its work to all three, realizing that they are interdependent and all vital to thriving human life.
I loved the mention of the beauty of science for its own sake.
Nevertheless, as important as education is beyond its utility, the beauty is no more in the journey than in the destination. Both can indeed be beautiful, but the soul knows better and needs something infinitely more important than the tools and minds of the fullest, most robust education. Without the essential satisfaction of the soul directly by and in its Maker, it finds no rest. And it should not and can not. For the Maker in his Word tells the soul as much. The soul must be the center of its education even as the Maker is its.
The author, of course, recognizes this, but it bears repeating.
Just checking in after a week... Thanks much to all those who read, and all the more so to those whose comments helped underline and elucidate themes from the essay. I look forward to the conversation continuing in the coming months!
Two lines stand out to me:
"the good life is a curious life" and "study as worship"
Surely Adam and Eve were curious about all that was contained in the world that God created them in, and learning about it, taking in the goodness around (and within) them would have pleased God. Curiosity warms the chill of indifferent, distracted living. It's one of the things that makes relationships so wonderful. It keeps us childlike as we grow.
Thank you for posting such thought-provoking ideas!
Thank you, Dr. Gehrz, for this thoughtful and thought-provoking reflection. I particularly appreciate the reminder that contemplation of the bygone, imagined, and spiritual worlds is worthwhile in its own right, not merely as a means to some "lesson" or other payoff. Unfortunately, given the economic pressures students anticipate facing after graduation (or, in many cases, face already) such leisurely contemplation can seem like an unaffordable luxury. That's why I'm grateful for the work of Christian study centers and other organizations that make contemplative study available to wider audiences and in more unconventional ways.
Looking forward to reading the rest of the essays on this year's theme!
I especially appreciate the broad implicit point that the study of history, art, literature, and so on, cannot involve only the uncovering of power hierarchies (as is the habit of some), but must also entail the imaginative encounter with people, ways, and societies very different from our own. Well done.
A thoughtful, clear, and challenging essay; thanks very much. As usual, when one separates what must be an integrated whole into categories for purposes of clarification and discussion, the danger lurks that the reader might prioritize one category over the other or worse, believe that one category is important and the others irrelevant. You have made it clear that, if higher education in America wants to succeed in forming members of society, who are able to contribute to the betterment of that society (to say nothing of themselves!), then it must pay attention in its work to all three, realizing that they are interdependent and all vital to thriving human life.
I loved the mention of the beauty of science for its own sake.
Nevertheless, as important as education is beyond its utility, the beauty is no more in the journey than in the destination. Both can indeed be beautiful, but the soul knows better and needs something infinitely more important than the tools and minds of the fullest, most robust education. Without the essential satisfaction of the soul directly by and in its Maker, it finds no rest. And it should not and can not. For the Maker in his Word tells the soul as much. The soul must be the center of its education even as the Maker is its.
The author, of course, recognizes this, but it bears repeating.