Continued from last week’s post: On our present sufferings, part 2
“’You’, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.” –Francis Crick
I don’t believe that we humans are purposeless assemblies of 7 billion billion billion atoms (yes, someone did the math). I don’t believe that human existence is due to random chance. At the same time, I don’t believe that I or any other human must figure out all the answers or all the “whys” of this life to attain peace. I just think we need to figure out the “who.” But, I’m getting ahead of myself. This week, let’s talk about the desire engrained in each of us to figure out the “whys” of this life.
I think we humans are all designed with a healthy desire to study, research, search out, and seek answers for pretty much every area of life. I think great joy can be found individually and societally in searching out the mysteries of God and God’s creation. Despite many pitting the two against each other, science and religion aren’t supposed to stand at odds with one another as if one is wrong and one is right. I would argue that Christianity encourages pressing into the inner workings of creation and the deeper mysteries of God in a scientific way. At a minimum, Christians shouldn’t be afraid of scientists who question religion. As my friend’s grandfather once told him, “If it’s the truth, it can handle the questioning.” In fact, many of our nation’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning were founded by people who desired to mesh religion with science and academia. To them, it was pro-religious rather than anti-religious to search out the science of God’s creation. Additionally, it wasn’t considered anti-science to have faith in the existence of a divine creator…or, for that matter, to have faith in Jesus Christ as the savior of the world. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at some of our nation’s oldest and most respected institutions of higher learning.
Harvard University. Harvard’s original motto was Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae which translates “Truth for Christ and the Church.” Fun fact: 10 of Harvard’s first 12 presidents were ministers. (Source: Wikipedia, The Founding of Harvard College by Samuel Eliot Morison.) Here’s Harvard’s archived copy of The Laws and Statutes of Harvard, 1655: https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:51409343$2i. (Note #2 “Everyone shall consider the main end of his life and studies, to know God and Jesus Christ and answerably to lead and honest, sober, and godly life.” and #3 “Everyone shall so exercise himself in the reading scriptures twice every day…”) Also worth noting, the previous page of the manuscript references John 17:3, Proverbs 2:2-3, Psalm 119, and Psalm 130.
Yale University. Check out Yale’s coat of arms. There you’ll find the Hebrew words urim ve’thummim. Here’s an excerpt from an article in the Yale Alumni Magazine:
“The 1726 Yale college laws, reflecting such devotion, characteristically ordained that: ‘Every student shall consider ye main end of his study to know God in Jesus Christ and answerably to lead a Godly sober life.’ To the ancient Hebrews, the Urim and Thummim reflected the oracular will of God. To the Puritans who shaped early Yale, that oracular will was represented by Jesus. Their seal proclaimed it!”
Princeton University. Look at Princeton’s shield. From Princeton’s website: “Princeton's shield is adapted from the central image of the University Seal, the corporate signature of the trustees that is embossed on diplomas and printed on official documents. The shield depicts an open Bible inscribed with VET NOV TESTAMENTUM, to signify the Old and New Testaments, above a chevron that represents the rafters of a building. An optional ribbon below the shield bears the University motto, DEI SUB NUMINE VIGET, or ‘Under God's power she flourishes.’”
College of William and Mary. From William and Mary’s website: “On February 8, 1693, King William III and Queen Mary II of England signed the charter for a ‘perpetual College of Divinity, Philosophy, Languages, and other good Arts and Sciences’ to be established in the Virginia Colony.” Note that “divinity” is listed first.
Columbia University. Columbia’s motto is “In lumine Tuo videbimus lumen” … which is a Latin translation of Psalm 36:9.
Dartmouth College. Dartmouth’s motto is “Vox clamantis in deserto” which is latin for A voice crying out in the wilderness. Christians will recognize these words immediately as they originate from Isaiah 4:3, Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4, and John 1:23. This motto isn’t surprising, really, as Dartmouth was founded by a minister intent on educating Native Americans. (source: Admission Sight)
University of Pennsylvania. From University of Pennsylvania’s website: “Penn dates its founding to 1740, when a plan emerged to build a Philadelphia charity school that would double as a house of worship.”
Brown University. Brown’s motto is “In Deo Speramus,” which is Latin for In God We Hope. Fun fact: Brown’s motto is believed to be the predecessor to our national motto In God We Trust. (source: Wikipedia)
Obviously, times have changed a bit at these universities. I won’t get into that here. You’re welcome.
Here’s my point; and, I’ll close with this: as our family continues to suffer mightily, I find peace in Christianity in part because it neither views life as ultimately pointless nor does it view life on this planet as some sort of Matrix-ish escape room-type game that must be figured out before you die. Life isn’t so much a puzzle to be solved with angst, frustration, and skepticism. No, life is a mystery to be explored with childlike delight, wonder, and awe. There is purpose infused in the seven billion billion billion atoms that make up each of us. There is a plan for us. There is justice for us. There is redemption for us. And, though justice and redemption isn’t dependent on my skills, ability, or knowledge, life is set up in such a way that joy comes when I use my skills, ability, and knowledge to study, research, think, apply, and learn. So, I’m all for building schools, diving into physics, and exploring the cosmos.
To put it another way…
I began this week’s rambling with this belief: that desire is engrained in each of us to figure out the “whys” of this life. To me, it appears life is set up in such a way that engaging with that engrained inner desire—the desire to discover a creator and understand creation—cultivates joy and peace. I’ll leave you with this quote to ponder as it continues to resonate with me:
“We all are born into the world looking for someone looking for us, and we remain in this mode of searching for the rest of our lives.” — Curt Thompson, Psychiatrist
To be continued next week…
Thank you for this, and these words resonated specifically:
“mightily, I find peace in Christianity in part because it neither views life as ultimately pointless nor does it view life on this planet as some sort of Matrix-ish escape room-type game that must be figured out before you die. Life isn’t so much a puzzle to be solved with angst, frustration, and skepticism. No, life is a mystery to be explored with childlike delight, wonder, and awe.”
I think as we get older (and troubles, sorrows,disappointments and decay inevitably accumulate) this is something that one must make an effort to remember. It’s easy to become cynical, which I think is another word for thinking we are smarter than we really are. But we can still feel the delight, wonder and awe, it just takes more deliberate effort sometimes.
Thanks again
As usual, well written. Thank you for sharing.