The Pursuit of Knowledge

Day 5 Theme: Education

Today we visited Princeton University. I was semi-sick and felt like a walking zombie so I have almost no memory of what happened. But I did pick up bits and pieces along the day from the four incredible professors we spoke to. We started off by reading about the problems with the "shopping" mentality of students in college today. We pick schools like we're shopping for the best university and then we pick classes the same way. You can just drop classes in the first couple weeks with little to no repercussions if you think that they're going to be too hard or you don't like what the professor has to say. This is a huge problem in learning. How are we to learn if we avoid the hard work and avoid the things we don't want to hear?

I haven't really considered higher education before this trip. I definitely am considering it now. There are so many topics and subjects that I want to learn more about. And just because I'm doing a bachelor's in marketing doesn't mean I need to continue studying that in the future. So many people that we've talked to this trip are just brilliant and put in the time and energy to wrestle with questions and pursue knowledge. I've always been set on graduating and starting a job somewhere. Finding a city to work in and just living my life around that decision. But I'm thinking that that life would be unfulfilling. I might take some time to travel and work and start paying student loans and then try and go back. Learn more. Constantly fight with what I don't know.

One thing Bo Lee said was it's okay to be angry at God. That was a continuous theme throughout the day. Jacob wrestled with God. We can wrestle. I'm not currently angry with God, but I think it's important to remember that we shouldn't just dismiss our feelings. I think I have a lot of anger towards not being able to study everything I want to study. I have all these questions about other subjects and I feel like because I'm not a theology major or sociology major or pre-med etc. that I'm not allowed to ask them because they're either basic questions that people learn on day one or they would need in depth study to actually find an answer to. I want to know things but I also don't usually just accept answers point blank as being true. The truth will stand up when questioned. I think my beliefs stem more from innate knowing than authoritative knowledge. Which can be good because that's how we should learn. Learn by questioning. But if I don't take the time to find my own answers, I go on questioning with no hope of enlightenment.

I want to promise myself to give further education a serious education. To promise myself to read more. To read in my free time, to constantly absorb knowledge. To promise myself to ask all my questions and find the answers I want.

Here are some questions that I want to explore:

What does the Bible/ God / Christianity really say about abortion? About drunkenness? About premarital sex? About LGBTQ community? About life after death? About how the world was actually created? Does the Bible, God, and Christianity say the same thing or different things? I'm assuming a different things at least for "Christianity" but what about God and the Bible? Isn't the Bible God's word? If what I innately believe to be true is different than what the Bible says than what do I do? Are my innate beliefs really just what was impressed upon me by culture and growing up? What about other religions? If everyone believes that they are following the true God then is there one God manifested in several different religions? Or are tons of people just blatantly wrong? And if they're wrong then what meaning is in their religion?

If love is the meaning of life, what happens if you don't find true love in one person? Can life still be meaningful alone? Is love the meaning of life? Why do we have physical churches? Why do we have religious structure? If we follow Kierkegaard's teaching and kind of the idea of the way the disciples lived, then shouldn't we just gather in the Lord's presence with others? Do we need religion at all? Can't we just have faith and love?

Why did God create us? People always answer that with justifications for why we exist. But if God is God then wouldn't he not need us? Then why make us? If he didn't need us then is there a point? Is humanity just about making a purpose out of the random insane time we've been given here? Do we have a purpose? If we make our own purpose, find our own meaning, and do that, then are we taking away from some higher calling that we were designed for? If we were designed for a higher calling then why humans? Why not just answer the calling Himself?

I feel like I'm missing some key arguments and points of view in all my questions. But that's why I want to explore. And just because someone tells me an answer to a question, even if I don't have a rebuttal, it doesn't mean I'll believe them.