Why Study?

Again, another post summarizing my thoughts ahead of a short talk.

There were words to what I love to do. To learn things, to teach myself. Auto-didact. Polymath. Jack of all trades. Amateur. Homeschooled. That was then. After finishing my degree, I could look forward to work. And then - family, children and finally death. I was not entirely interested with that path.

Being a teacher of sorts, I deal with students who ask almost all the time "Why study?" It is not usually a direct verbal question of course (only one so far has come up to me and asked, "Teacher, why do we have to study?"), but through actions and little slips of tongue. 

Tomorrow is a holiday. Cheers (and not too many moans) result. These people are excited there is no school. Fair enough - everyone could use a good break now and then. But really, why would we rather play than study? Sure, studying is rarely ever as fun as playing (although it can definitely be). 

Again, the question is why study at all? There are two types of  reasoning behind this question. One practical and one philosophical. "How is this useful?" I am asked again and again. The asker holds up a math problem, or a diagram of planets. I explain that even if this has no actual practical use in life, it's still "good to know". They walk away unsatisfied. Really, would our lives be any poorer if we did not know that we can determine the chemical composition of stars by their colours? 

That is the practical aspect, and I will try to address that. Firstly, I wholeheartedly support the idea to teach young students as many things as possible in our universe from the start - from the common to the esoteric. Besides enriching our lives, this wide knowledge allows us to focus on the things we actually do like. Would we know that cells are fascinating unless we first study them? That finding out the hypotenuse of a triangle is a delightful exercise unless we actually do it? 

Well no. We do not know unless we do. Students often have "pre-destined" careers in mind, usually as a  result of strong suggestions by their parents, peers or others. Doctor, lawyer, engineer. They even have their dreams. Astronaut, musician, veterinarian. Sometimes they pan out. Often they don't. But we won't know what we really want to do unless we know about it. 

And of course the obvious - by studying we get knowledge to do jobs that pay better and hence, live better lives.

Then the philosophical aspect. We study, we work, we die. The end. In many worldviews, this is the case. Under a Christian worldview (which I and the place where I teach operates under), this is not the case. Our lives here are not the end but the beginning. We learn now to have a head start on the life to come. We do not forget our old lives when we begin our new ones, but remember - precisely so that we learn and avoid the mistakes that we made.

Why study? I once asked that question. Then I opened a book and learned about how our universe began from an infinitesimally small singularity, how life has died and lived and died a thousand million times over, about kings from a distant past who conquered half the earth, about a God who sent his only Son to die for humans, and in so doing I learned about me in a way I could not had I not access to knowledge, the light of which shines deep into our souls to illuminate our existence.

Things I Have Learnt

An old home.

I have learned that while God may be silent His servants are not. (God is silent to many; for others he speaks and lives in them)

I have learned to love and never hate. (This, to the surprise of many, comes easily to me)

I have learned that I will sin, and sin again and again. (And that means I have yet to truly learn what sin is)

What would I like to learn?

To pray more. To talk more. To mean more.

Simple things. I hope.

Update.

I sure have been busy. No time to write and I realize that my time is limited, after all. Opportunity cost is something I very much have to keep in mind. Do this, and you are not able to do that. Still.

I also realize that I am walking towards the fork in the road. To where shall I go? The wide or strait? The well trod or not taken?

A managing director of a hotel once told me how an employee he interviewed asked if she could take less pay in return for less working hours. He explained that for his generation, that would have been unthinkable. Money > Time.

And perhaps it is with this new generation, me included. We are more well off (thank you, parents) and so would rather trade money for time.

I worked in two MNCs. One almost the complete contrast of the other. The first was populated with a (mainly) older workforce. They were the definition of workaholics and would give me frowns when I left at 7 sharp. They would put in 16 hour days and a few could even be found there on weekends - voluntarily, without any overtime. This company had a truly dedicated workforce (as for me, hahaha).

The other was composed of younger people - mostly around my age. They would work their hardest to work the least. The management (which always changed) always looked upon what they saw with frustration. Almost everyday they would call a meeting and yell at everyone. Nothing changed.

So two different cultures - was an age a factor? I don't know and won't generalize. Still, I am of the latter generation. I would rather be at home, sitting and reading a book (or doing nothing) than toiling away in front of a computer earning overtime.

I look at some of my peers who are earning much more and wouldn't mind joining them. Money, especially a lot of it, would be nice. I did earn good money (for a young, entry level worker), but could only describe the work as "soul crushing". It wasn't hard, just deadening.

I'm now working in a job which does pay me less, but in return I get to work less. I like it; not just the free time, but the job (actually, it's not really a job) is something I actually kind of enjoy. But nobody would consider it something permanent. I must earn more and I must start a family and so must earn even more and so on and on.

This is one justification I give to explain my career choice. Now another.

You see, I believe that our souls are immortal. Death is not the cessation of existence. And so my worldview is thoroughly shaped by this belief. Whatever we do here has - no matter how small - eternal significance.

So inevitably, when I look at the accountant or the lawyer or the aircraft pilot or even the doctor (bless all of them) I see something quite trivial. Now I am not saying that what they do is trivial (although I would say that if you do not believe in an afterlife then they are even more trivial), but for me to do that is something I find personally repugnant.

And so, while the ordinary man strives to feed his wife and child I wonder about the meaning of it all with existential dread and childlike delight.

Recap

A new year approaches and it's been forwards and backwards for me. I realize how much I (still) have to learn and grow. It's always good to be humbled and frankly, I wouldn't want it any other way.

Perhaps there are a few things I wish I had. The obvious of course, but more than that, I wish I knew what to do after this. But it's only natural.

Project Lauterbrunnen nears its due day. Ah, the joy of seeing a "big" goal finally being accomplished. Will be writing more about it soon. But I'm happy to say this - instead of saying I will do it "someday", I can now put a date to it. =)

Another big goal has to do with religion, another with science and another with both. I've barely scratched the surface of the first. The next one will be an even bigger challenge. But the last shouldn't be too hard - I think. When will I finish it? I'm thinking in the decades now. God willing, I'm projecting the completion to be right before my threescore years and ten are up.

Thinking about our Resurrection

Crystallizing my thoughts ahead of a short talk. =)
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We know that Jesus was raised from the dead. But did you know that we will be raised from the dead as well?

Some of us think that when we die, our souls will go straight to heaven to live with God happily ever after.

That's nice, but why does the Bible say that we will be raised from the dead? Why do we need to be raised from the dead?

The Resurrection is a very very important concept in Christian thinking. If there is no Resurrection, Paul says, then Jesus was obviously not raised from the dead as well. Even worse, those who have died are gone forever. We might as well eat, drink and be merry - for tomorrow we die.

But Jesus did rise from the dead. And there is even greater reason to rejoice - we too will be raised from the dead.

When will this happen?

It will happen when Jesus returns. Paul says that, "...since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died."

But what happens after we die?

The Bible speaks often of Sheol (in New Testament, Hades) - a place where the dead go after they die. However Jesus told the thief on the cross that today, he will be with him in Paradise. Paradise was understood as an intermediate (halfway stop) place where the righteous would go, before they were resurrected.

What will our resurrected bodies be like?

Just like the disciples could still recognize Jesus in his resurrected body, so too will we be able to recognize each other in our resurrected bodies. However, it will be a different body as well - one that will never die. Again Paul clarifies, "Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies."

What will we do after that?

After the Resurrection, we will live in a New Heaven and Earth. In Revelation, John tells us that he "saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband."

Notice - the New Jerusalem comes from heaven. This implies that we will be living in the New Earth! But in a way, we will also be living in heaven. For the New Heaven and the New Earth has joined together and God's presence is in the eternal city, the New Jerusalem:

"God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

And so, "when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

Finally, I don't think our new life will be "boring", as some people think heaven will be. Although this is only conjecture (meaning our best guess), there will be a lot of things to do. We will, I think, be able to do all the things we have wanted to do but never could in this life. I also don't think that the Lord made the universe with its billions of stars, planets and galaxies only to have us look at them and wonder! Who knows, we will be able to travel and see fully all of God's creation.

These then are my thoughts. I end with saying that our Resurrection is not just a future event that happens after we die. Paul says that, "We died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin."

So let's live a life of someone who has been raised into a new life, free from the power of sin.

Soli Deo Gloria. Amen!