the Weight of Glory

I found C.S Lewis’ description of the difference between a mercenary and proper reward to be a very touching and accurate way to describe our earthly end. For Lewis defines the terms for which we receive our reward of Heaven as an act of consummation when he writes:

“The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation.”

Through Lewis’ examples, the way that I was able to understand the difference between a sole pursuit of the reward of Heaven and the enjoyment of the entire process of obedience to God, desiring our reward, and ultimately receiving it in consummation was through two illustrations. Regarding a mercenary reward, the purpose is purely selfish, with a cause and effect mindset where the process of achieving it is endured only to receive some sort of gain. You do a job, get the money, and that is the end of the transaction.  On the other hand, our reward of Heaven I imagined as a 3 course meal in which we are chefs who prepare the feast in which we ultimately sit down and enjoy with together with our God. Our diligent preparation and careful work towards preparing the meal is the first step of the process which is directly connected to the final outcome of sitting down and enjoying the feast with God. Unlike a mercenary reward where any arbitrary task could have been given and an unrelated reward was to be received, the work put into the feast lies in direct connection to the reward and is rather an act of thorough and righteous completion of a process. 

Just as Lewis writes that marriage is the act of consummation for love and that a developed relationship is part of the process and joy leading up to marriage, for the marriage would not be a reward if the relationship had not required work or  joy in the first place, so our “consummation” with God and our reward of Heaven can only be one completed act when we have developed our obedience to God.

Getting to Heaven and being with God is my ultimate priority, but the only way in which the reward will be received is if the right and true preparations are made to prepare our reward to be rewarding and finally find our consummation with God.

Thank God He’s helping us out with this entire process.

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to Heaven.  I hope all of you who are mature Christians will agree on these things…we must be sure to obey the truth we have learned already.”

Philippians 3: 12-15

Edumacation

Our perspectives of the institution of "school", our centers for education, regularly change throughout our lives. When I attended kindergarten I enjoyed myself, playing with the many toys and engaging in such activities as apple picking and spelling my name with three letter O's. When I became older and entered middle school I viewed school as an obligation that needed to be completed, a nuisance beside playing sports and discovering the opposite sex much like our very own Professor P.

 Later on as I moved to China and attended high school, I discovered a completely different perspective towards education. I observed many students who endured 14 hour school days from Monday to Friday, with the students still required to attend many other classes on Saturday and Sunday as well. Every student was required to take every class subject, often 2-3 times a day on different days of the week. I couldn't believe the intensity and ruthlessness of this rigorous lifestyle that left the Chinese students stressed and exhausted at the end of each day. Seeing the hardship that the Chinese went through compared to the relaxed and encouraging environment of learning which I enjoyed in Canda became a hallmark for some of the major differences which I observed between the West and the East. I silently asked myself how these young Chinese students could function with so much pressure without having the chance to enjoy their youth. I still wonder at that.

Reading "Our English Syllabus" strongly reminded me of that time in China and the thoughts I had. A part of the essay that especially stuck out to me was where Lewis writes on the difference between education and vocational learning. Lewis writes:

"The purpose of education has been described by Milton as that of fitting a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously all the offices both private and public, of peace and war.

While

"Vocational training, on the other hand, prepares the pupil not for leisure, but for work; it aims at making not a good man but a good banker, a good electrician, a good scavenger, or a good surgeon. You see at once that education is essentially for freemen and vocational training for slaves."

In my opinion, Lewis could have been directly describing the differences between the education systems of the West and China and he would have been absolutely correct. From my experiences, at least for junior, middle, and high schools, the main focus of the education is to train and help to develop independent and creative individuals of society. The students are instructed in educational morals, the arts, and are encouraged to be creative and to pursure one's dreams, goals, and talents with the end result of becoming a "good man" as Lewis puts it. China, on the other hand, is exactly the opposite whereas the main mode of attaining knowledge is through memorization. The students are not encouraged to ask questions, are not encouraged to be creative, and are taught to live in practicality rather than on whims and desires. Instead, the students are instructed to read, remember, and then recall all of the information that was provided in class and their learnings methods are very procedural. I cannot think of a better example of vocational training in Lewis' terms than the Chinese educational system, for the students priorities lie precisely in finding good and stable work.  On a side note perhaps this may explain why not only Chinese, but Asian people are so talented in Math, a memorization of formulas and procedures, as well as rarely putting up their hands to answer the questions of their professors.

As I've observed these two very different perspectives and methods of education, I cannot help but question how the differences between these two methods of education will manifest themselves for this next generation as the West has it's priorities in education to be consistent with Lewis' preference while China has done the exact opposite. Very curious indeed.

Engaging God's World Ch.1

            At the age of 14 I moved from my hometown of Toronto and moved to a city in China where my mother began her calling as a missionary. The change was a drastic one for my entire family. We were of Korean descent blended with Western culture living in a densely cultured city in China. My personal struggles were hard to overcome, dealing with culture shock, sickness, and loneliness. On top of these struggles were the challenges of finding my place in between cultures in China, as I attended a Korean church, went to a Chinese school, and formally learned Chinese with international students. I ultimately learned to cope and manage my struggles even as my new cultural experiences broadened as I continued to Australia and spent a two year period in a number of different nations.

            My experiences from my time overseas are invaluable, shaping and developing my perspectives and character into who I have become today and I am incredibly thankful for it. However, there has come a cost to the “missionary” lifestyle, which is the sacrifice of a set home, familiar surroundings, and consistent relationships. Throughout this period of my time overseas my heart has yearned for that feeling of being “settled”, to know and understand my surroundings without the suddenness of change all over again. Now don’t get me wrong change is great, although when it comes in the form of a time continuum every three months it can become quite tiresome.  After a couple years of this type of nomadic style, I really began to long for a home. I was looking to be at peace, to be fulfilled and restored to the comfort of a fixed lifestyle and home, believing that all would be well and fulfilled once I had attained this position in life.

            It wasn’t until the middle of my time in Australia that I had the revelation that though the desire for a “set home environment” was an appropriate desire, I had the revelation that total fulfillment and completion do not lie in any earthly thing.  Plantinga writes:

“What’s remarkable is that these longings are unfulfillable…but if they come, they will not fill all our niches because we want more than these things can give.”

I discovered that as I was a child of God, created for the things of God, that the things of the world, though enjoyable, were not where my completion is ultimately found. I came to know that the Earth and my life on it was only temporary and that I needed to shift my sights on the realities of my life in the Kingdom of God and that completion would be found there.  Plantinga shares my perspective for he writes:

“God has made us for Himself. Our sense of God runs in us like a stream…We human beings want God even when we think that what we really want is a green valley, or a good time from our past, or a loved one.”

As a child of God I no longer look for nor anticipate water that will forever quench my thirst here on Earth. I know I won’t find any, and even with the good things that I do attain in my life I know that in the long run I will be left panting for something more. I want my cup to be permanently filled and to finally find that sense of “home” when my time comes to meet God. In the meantime, I hope to challenge myself to work at storing up treasures in Heaven rather than treasures in the world. Shouldn’t we all?

           

Have No Right to Happiness

                In much of society today I’ve noticed the underlying theme that has captured the lives of many individuals: secular humanism. The way that I’ve come to understand it, secular humanism is basically a person’s pursuit of oneself with self-seeking gratification and achievement at the center of one’s life. I am regularly guilty of this “me” mentality of putting myself ahead of others. Like Clare in C.S Lewis’s essay, I believe that my self-seeking priorities stem from the idea that I have a right to and pursue happiness. This is a wrong idea.

                Coming from a Christian perspective with the context that we are created by God, we human beings are blessed and surrounded by the good things that God has given us. However, at the end of the day none of our achievements, qualities, or characters merit us the right to be satisfied nor fulfilled.  We have no claim to the good things in our lives and we can only be content with what God has given us for He is the source of all things, without Him there would be none of it. When we view our lives and relationship with God through this lens, our only response should be of humility and surrender to the Lord, thus our supposed claim to the good things of our lives is also surrendered. We allow God sovereignty to the personal details of our lives as we choose to be led by Him rather than our passions, desires, and emotions.

                Yet, the great thing is that God indeed loves us and wants us to be blessed and fulfilled , He desires to not only to be in relationship with His children but also to see their good natural growth within His will. As a result, many people are remain consistently blessed by Him such as those of us here at Calvin receiving an education with almost limitless opportunities for our futures. We are fed, cared for, and encouraged by a strong community of believers which is a blessing very few have in the world today. These blessings should not be taken for granted nor laid claim to, for we ultimately had no right to these blessings in the first place.

Bulverism

“…are all thoughts thus tainted at the source, or only some? Does the taint invalidate the tainted thought-in the sense of making it untrue-or not?”

C.S Lewis

I found C.S Lewis’ writings on how the source of one’s thoughts taints the ideas that follow the source or “lens” through which a person interacts with the world to be pivotal towards understanding the importance of being aware of our own presuppositions.

When Lewis writes on the source of a person’s thoughts, he brings to focus the validation of a person’s thoughts and the importance of evaluating and identifying tainted ideas. The idea that a person’s thoughts may be prematurely biased is a very important point that Lewis makes, however I believe that this idea is part of an even larger dilemma regarding how well we understand others and ourselves. Yes a person’s opinion is influenced by the source of their thoughts, however, instead of simply acknowledging that a person’s ideas may be tainted, -for everybody’s thoughts are influenced by the source of their thoughts and we should not give up on an argument because they are impelled by their sources to think differently from us- we should seek to understand the perspectives and background of the issue in order to work towards a conclusion.

In the context of a discussion between two people in which the aim is to show the other person the accuracy of their judgments, they must keep in mind that their presuppositions directly shape and mold their understanding and responses to reality. In addition they must seek to have an insightful understanding of not only what the presuppositions of the other person are, but also what their personal presuppositions are and how their presuppositions affect their thinking. When the differences of an issue have been analyzed and understood between both parties, a point of identification and acknowledgment, may be found between the two.  Through this process, pinpointing where the disagreement lies and why helps both sides to better understand themselves and each other.  As presuppositions reveal a person’s core beliefs, values, morals, even strengths and weaknesses, the potential for guiding an argument towards the heart of an issue and reaching a conclusion increases because clearer mutual understanding exists between both sides of the discussion.   

            An example of where this process would be helpful is in evangelism. An evangelist may go out and preach the power of prayer, Hell, and Heaven to an unbeliever who, after listening to the evangelist, utterly rejects the existence of each of the evangelists’ claims. The evangelist is bewildered, having seen the results and evidences that prove the existence of all three claims and believes that all reality and the world can only exist through the power of a supernatural being who is infinite and eternal. On the contrary, the unbeliever believes that the world and his surroundings are the products of evolution and natural selection. Thus, the explanations of the concepts of prayer, salvation through grace, and Heaven are irrelevant ideas to the unbeliever for he does not believe in the existence of God. In order to explain and prove the legitimacy of the power of prayer, Heaven, and Hell, the evangelist must not begin by providing details relating only to prayer, Heaven and Hell, but of the existence of a supernatural God. Only after the unbeliever acknowledges and believes in the existence of God will the concepts of prayer, Heaven, and Hell begin to become a reality for him.

How we engage

"One must look both along and at everything."

"...you can step outside one experience only by stepping inside another."         C.S Lewis

       After reading C.S Lewis' essay "Meditation in a Toolshed", I was reminded of some of the basic fundamentals of how it is that we, human beings, interact and engage with our realities. With such pivotal aspects as ideologies, philosophies, religion, even the way we perceive and respond to people in our inter-personal relationships, I have always been interested in understanding what truly is the best way for people to fully understand and respond righteously within our environments? Of course, I am approaching this question from a Christian perspective and am ultimately asking how God would preferably have His children live in a world that He has created.

      In Lewis' essay, he quickly points out the faults of trying to gain a full understanding of anything through only one perspective or viewpoint. He argues that a singular evaluation given soley from an internal account(experience) or an external account (observation) are not legitimate ways for fully understanding anything.

      Instead of subjecting oneself to understanding through strictly external or internal observations, Lewis argues that we must approach everything without any bias, skepticism, nor presumptions and that instead we should, through internal and external obsersavtions, make up our own minds and just find out.

      These exhortations from C.S Lewis confirmed what I have been convinced is the best way to interact and engage with the world that God has given us. There is a great deal in our lives that we will come to learn and experience and we should not approach these events with ignorance nor narrow-minded bias. Instead, as God has given us free will and minds for ourselves, we should approach each seasons and challenge in our lives, be it new ideas, people, and education with an open mind that evaluates these experiences through internal and external observations.