The Sun Rises Today, Again

The sun rises every morning. I do not rise every morning; but the variation is due not to my activity, but to my inaction. Now, to put the matter in a popular phrase, it might be true that the sun rises regularly because he never gets tired of rising. His routine might be due, not to a lifelessness, but to a rush of life.

The thing I mean can be seen, for instance, in children, when they find some game or joke that they specially enjoy. A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony.

It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore.

G.K. Chesterton

Joy

"All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves."

Blaise Pascal

The Lion of Judah

"Our own struggle makes us patient with others who are on the way. We believe that all the wrestling to understand what the Bible teaches about God is worth it. God is a rock of strength in a world of quicksand. To know him in his sovereignty is to become like an oak tree in the wind of adversity and confusion. And along with strength is sweetness and tenderness beyond imagination. The sovereign Lion of Judah is the sweet Lamb of God."

John Piper in "What We Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism"

Wisdom

"Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom."

Charles Spurgeon

Graduation 2011

Last Friday, I graduated! How do I even begin to talk about my past four years? These past four years have been the most intense four years I've yet to have spiritually, emotionally, mentally, familial-y, and the list goes on.

I came to USC with tons of hopes and ambitions, but deep down I knew that none of those hopes or ambitions meant anything without a proper context. I had an extremely shaky understanding of who I was and almost no real understanding of what I was living for. At the time, I was questioning almost everything I had grown up believing and wondered frequently if I was merely a product of indoctrination. I wondered if those things I had grown up believing were merely fanatical beliefs or if they were indeed firmly rooted truths and if they were the latter, where should I even begin to look to affirm those truths?

I think it was the longing to understand the deeper things of life that drew me to philosophy. As it turns out, I never found the answers to those deep things in my study of philosophy, but rather studying philosophy provided me a different mode of thinking and reasoning that helped me to filter what I let guide my life and my beliefs. I learned the importance of the Socratic insight to "follow wherever the argument leads you." I took a course in Reasoning & Logic that helped me to understand the basics of sound reasoning and logical thinking. I took several courses in Ethics that affirmed to me that there is something very unique about being human in regards to justice and fairness and that for since as long as humans have lived, there has never been an Ethical Theory that has been capable of ending injustice and human-induced suffering. Those things I learned in Ethics affirmed to me that sin is in fact a very real thing and no human institution nor amount of philosophical reasoning has ever been enough to eradicate the sinful nature.

The ever present amount of evil and suffering in our world and indeed even in my own life, helped me to see that if left alone to figure out the mess we've made as a species, we'd be utterly defeated.

In my biological coursework, I was given the unique insight to see and study the complexity of life at the micro-level. Each course, whether in chemistry or in physics, affirmed to me that the order of the universe could not have spontaneously arisen. The more I studied life at this level, the harder it became for me to deny some intelligent being back of it all.

God very much used my coursework to lead me to where I am today. I believe that what I've gained from my knowledge and experiences at USC was a gift from God, intended by him to shape me into the person I am. He gave me those opportunities and the knowledge as tools to know him more deeply and more truly.

I'm so thankful to God for these past four years. I cannot even begin to count the number of blessings and trials that led to blessings that the Lord provided me with. Above all else, I thank God for helping me to see the immeasurable worth of Christ, in whom, I now find all of my meaning and all of my purpose. There are so many things still lurking in my heart and still looming over my desires and ambitions that I know I have not yet given to the Lord, but again I thank God that even in my insufficiencies, Christ is all sufficient.

I thank God for the friends and family that he provided me with along the way. Only the Lord knows that I would never have made it through so many countless hours of studying into the late hours of the night without my friends and family. I thank God that he provided me with friends in whom I could confide in and learn from and grow with and that he gave me a family who has supported me since Day 1. When I began at USC, I thought that I could do it alone and all within my own strength, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Thank you Lord, for putting patient and loving individuals in my life, to help me to grow into the woman that you've called me to be.

Insanity

Lord, I want to be free. I want my desires so changed into accord with reality so that I can do what I want to do and never regret it. That's what I want. And so I'm going hard after Jesus to change me, because many of my desires are stupid.

It occurs to me to say, Father, that we Christians would be utterly insane to envy people who pitch themselves out of the window of sin—on top of a skyscraper—to enjoy a vapor's exhilaration of the freefall of greed, or the freefall of drugs, or power, or fame, or sex, or job success—and then death. We would just be insane to envy the world. Forgive us for our folly.

And right now I plead with you that everyone in the hearing of my voice would wake up from the dreamworld that says this kind of freefall is freedom. Catch us. Snatch us right now I pray.

And I pray this in the liberating name the one who said, "You will know the truth and truth shall you free. If the son shall set you free, you will be free indeed." Amen.

-John Piper

At the Cross, God's Love For Men Meets His Wrath Towards Sin

St. Augustine on the Cross:

God’s love is incomprehensible and unchangeable. For it was not after we were reconciled to him through the blood of his Son that he began to love us. Rather, he has loved us before the world was created, that we also might be his sons along with his only-begotten Son—before we became anything at all.

The fact that we were reconciled through Christ’s death must not be understood as if his Son reconciled us to him that he might now begin to love those whom he had hated. Rather, we have already been reconciled to him who loves us, with whom we were enemies on account of sin. The apostle will testify whether I am speaking the truth: ‘God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us’ [Rom. 5:8]. Therefore, he loved us even when we practiced enmity toward him and committed wickedness.

Thus in a marvelous and divine way he loved us even when he hated us. For he hated us for what we were that he had not made; yet because our wickedness had not entirely consumed his handiwork, he knew how, at the same time, to hate in each one of us what he had made, and to love what he had made.

the pygmalion effect

Teach For America has us do a 5-week training course, which they call "Institute" before we're sent off to our placement regions. They've also assigned some pre-Institute work that I recently decided I should probably start to work on.

So far, it's all been really interesting material. It's making me reexamine my own preconceived notions about children of color and children who come from low-income backgrounds. I'm sure the personal reflection I've done has only uncovered the tip of the bias-iceberg in my being; I'm almost certain I won't realize how deeply rooted some of my biases are until I actually confront some of them in a real-world setting, e.g. the classroom.

Something I wanted to share was an excerpt by educational researcher and sociologist, Sonia Nieto, referring to a study conducted by Rosenthal and Jacobson, which completely changed (or should have changed) the way educators approach their teaching style:

The term self-fulfilling prophecy, coined by Merton in 1948, means that students perform in ways in which teachers expect. Their performance is based on subtle and sometimes not so subtle messages from teachers about students’ worth, intelligence, and capability. The term did not come into wide use until 1968, when the classic study by Rosenthal and Jacobson provided the impetus for subsequent extensive research on the subject. In this study, several classes of children in grades one through six were given a nonverbal intelligence test (the researchers called it the “Harvard Test of Influenced Acquisition”), which researchers claimed would measure the students’ potential for intellectual growth. Twenty percent of the students were randomly selected by the researchers as “intellectual bloomers,” and their names were given to the teachers. Although their test scores actually had nothing at all to do with their potential, the teachers were told to be on the alert for signs of intellectual growth among these particular children. Overall these children, particularly in the lower grades, showed considerably greater gains in IQ during the school year than did the other students. They were also rated by their teachers as being more interesting, curious, and happy, and thought to be more likely to succeed later in life.

In thinking over this excerpt, I took things beyond just educational expectations we set for children and began to wonder how often I limit myself because of my own low expectations for myself or even worse, how often I limit those people in my life because of my low expectations for them (or complete lack thereof). The weight of this strikes me pretty forcefully because I am usually such a pessimist (something I've really tried to work on these past several years). Now I'm wondering how often my pessimism has not only been just irritating, but how often my pessimism has led me to expect the worst of people and hindered their true capacities for personal growth.

In relation to all of these thoughts, I do want to mention the idea of genuineness--the teachers in the Rosenthal and Jacobson study really believed that these "gifted" students were bound for success. Their belief that these students would succeed was a genuine one that led them to act in a certain way. I don't want to merely profess to believe that I have high expectations of my (future) students and the current people in my life. I think this is an important distinction because unlike belief, profession of something is no guarantee to action. In fact, I would say that merely professing, especially in regards to something like this, would do more harm than good.

Identifying realities like these is the "easy" part; it's the changing part that's difficult.

design in a banana

This semester in Philosophy of Religion, we've really been getting down in the nitty-gritty of arguments for (and against) the existence of God. One of the classic arguments (and a personal favorite, probably due to its influence in my own life) for is the argument from design (also known as the teleological argument). In a very, very tight nutshell, it is based on the examination of the nature of the world around us. One of its main premises is that the world is too complex and too orderly to have been produced by chance or random change. It's this argument that hits me in the face every time I sit down to study for any of my biology courses, every time I look out a window, every time I'm riding home on my bike late at night, when the moon and stars shine on above me, and countless other "every time..."

In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul sums the argument up as follows:

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened." (Romans 1: 19-20).

Paul argues from design, saying that the entire natural world bears witness to God through its beauty, complexity, design, and usefulness. No one should complain that God has left insufficient evidence of his existence and character; the evidence is all around us!

My sister made mention of a funny, yet telling incident of how design frequently hits us in the face. She said that the other day, Dad was eating a banana in the kitchen, when he looked down at the banana while peeling it and said, "Should be have a God; no one can make such a good dessert."

My dad still waivers on the issue of the existence of God, but very frequently, says things like this. For me, I frequently have my own seasons of doubt and questioning, but among several other things (not the least of which is the sheer grace of God), the world around me leaves me unable for any extended season, to truly deny the existence of God. And I think, if people would really take the time to examine their own hearts and sort through their own thoughts, they couldn't either.

pot roast

note to self: NEVER buy ready-made pot roast.

molasses

In one of my ethics courses, we're reading Immanual Kant's, Ethical Philosophy. I've always found Kant to be the most difficult philosophical writer to get through. Today in class, Professor Willard aptly compared reading Kant to "trying to run in cold molasses that is up to your hips." For now until forever, I'll have that imagery burned into my mind while reading Kant.

"Satan would have us prove ourselves holy by the law, which God gave to prove us sinners."

Andrew Jukes

a kingdom that cannot be shaken

"Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe."

Hebrews 12:28

The Gift of Life

Tonight we had a celebration! Tonight we celebrated and rejoiced in the fact that a year and a half ago, Jennie was diagnosed with a grade IV glioblastoma, and today she is finished with chemotherapy and is alive and doing well. Jennie is doing so well that she's actually graduating in May after being out of school for nearly a year!!

I think it's been easy for me to miss the sheer amazingness of it all--to miss the bountiful blessings that God has so generously poured out. The Lord has used Jennie tremendously in my life; he has used her to show me and to reveal to me so many things. Through her life and through her tribulations, I have learned of the immense frailty of this life. I have learned of the immense evil and suffering of this life. And I have learned of the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Jennie's life has caused me to reflect on my own life more than any other life aside from that of Jesus Christ. You have moved my heart in ways that only Jesus can and will ever truly know. This is a post for you, Jennie! I love you and am so thankful to God for you!

The Quotable Chesterton, selected and edited by Kevin Belmonte

I was able to enjoy this anthology of G.K. Chesterton when I needed some kind of a break, but without committing myself to sit down and read for extended periods of time. I’ve never read any of Chesterton’s other material, but this anthology of quotes has definitely convinced me to. Chesterton had a way with words and I can easily see how he so strongly influenced the life of C.S. Lewis (a favorite author of mine).

The Quotable Chesterton alphabetizes his quotes from Academia to Zola, Emile. Each quote comes complete with original source citations, which makes it easy to look up the context of the quote or more about the topic if you're interested. I felt this book of quotes was a good way to introduce Chesterton to anyone contemplating reading his work; it gave me a feel for the depth of his understanding as well as his sense of humor.


I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

A Pearl

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

Jim Elliot

Who Do You Want To Be?

Tonight I went to a talk by Dallas Willard that is a part of the University Religious Center's series, "Who Do You Want to Be?" Willard's talk was one of the best I've ever heard him give and I've definitely heard my share. (I've had him as a professor for two philosophy courses and am taking two more philosophy courses with him this semester).

In brief, he spoke a little bit about himself (which was such a joy because he so rarely does it). This set the backdrop for the focus of his talk, which was his two cents on how to discover who we want to be. As an added bonus, he talked about his two favorite things (and mine), truth and beauty. I've provided a link that you can click on to listen to the lecture and question and answer session that followed. It's an audio clip that is well worth your time.

Good Judgment

Good judgment is the result of experience. Experience is frequently the result of bad judgment.

Frederick Brooks

Milk

Anyone who spends a lot of time with me knows that I love to drink milk. I love that it's cheap, it's filling, it's chock full of protein and other wonderful nutrients, and it's oh-so satisfying. I typically drink about a gallon of milk a week. And I've never, NEVER had issues with not being able to digest it.

About 3 weeks ago, I noticed that I was super bloated. This might be TMI, but I quite literally felt like I was so full of gas that I would fly away. I thought it was just a random upset stomach, something resulting from some concoction of things I'd eaten. Sure enough, I started to notice that every time I would drink a cup of milk, I'd get that recurring balloon-like feeling. I've diagnosed myself as being lactose-intolerant. I've also made the bold switch to Lactaid, milk with lactase (a natural enzyme that breaks down lactose) in it. I tried it for my first time yesterday and was quite disappointed by the taste. I guess I'll just have to get used to it.

Goodbye normal milk; you've been so good to me. I will definitely miss you.

Habit

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier--not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do has increased."

Ralph Waldo Emerson