Marking the Perfect Man

Midterms have come and gone, the evenings are getting cooler, and the once colorful trees are gradually morphing into winter skeletons--it's impossible to deny that November has come and the end of the semester is just around the corner. But in addition to all the glories of fall, it seems that the academic life casts a shadow on the season. In addition to thoughts of time spent with loved ones, yummy food, and fun winter weather, there is always the lurking thought-- "AHHH! The semester is going to be over and I have so much work to do!"

I'm TAing an undergraduate course this semester, and one of my tasks is grading their homework assignments and exams. Just this morning, I was working on grading their midterms, and was having such a hard time with it. They are all such good kids and put a solid effort into the class, so it was difficult to give them less than perfect grades, even when warranted. I can remember the various anxieties grades caused-- the worries, the self-criticism, the useless worry, and I wanted to keep my students from that as much as possible. Not to mention, in the back of my mind I was thinking about some projects that I have been working on, and feeling like I needed to get going on them-- grading myself harshly if you will.

As I was driving later in the afternoon, praying about the various situations trying to find a sense of peace and two of the gentlest angel messages came from me. The first was a familiar analogy of healing to a math problem. . .When we go to school, in each course we learn particular skills and then are given the opportunity to demonstrate what we've learned. The math problems aren't personal-- they have nothing to do with how good of an individual we are, they are opportunities to demonstrate intelligence. But certainly, we expect to be corrected along the way-- if we've gotten 2+2=5, we want someone to point that mistake up to us so we can correct it. I realized that these school assignments are no less of an impersonal opportunity to demonstrate all the spiritual truths we have learned. Final exams might be an opportunity to demonstrate that God is infinite, unlimited by time or limited intelligence. A special presentation might be an opportunity to not only demonstrate that Mind is our intelligence and creativity. A qualifying exam/paper might be an opportunity might be an opportunity to demonstrate that God's ideas are already complete, orderly, and original. A grade simply holds us to the standard of perfection-- and we certainly wouldn't want to (and couldn't!) dilute perfection.

The second was the Golden Text from the Bible Lesson this week:

"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace."
-Psalms 37:37

God only gives one grade, one mark, and it only brings about peace--Perfection!

Neat article in the Monitor

Thought you all might be interested in this one. .This article ran in the commentary in the October 17th issue of the Monitor. It's both a really compelling summary of Kant, but also an interesting approach to thinking through atheism. I read it thinking about Yale and intellectualism the whole time!

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1017/p09s06-coop.html

As we get ready for our first big(ger) CSO event of the year this Thursday, let's use the blog to share ideas and inspirations to prayerfully support the success of our participation in the Panel!

City upon a Hill

As I prayed about the idea of crime in New Haven, I found myself thinking about the diversity of the city and how so many people would simply chalk the crime up to being an inevitable part of a racially and economically diverse city. But a few minutes later, the words "diversity of gifts" came to mind, which is part of a citation from the Bible:

"Men have different gifts, but it is the same Spirit who gives them.
There are different ways of serving God, but it is the same Lord who is served.
God works though different men in different ways, but it is the same God who achieves his purposes through them all. The Spirit openly makes his gift to each man, so that he may use it for the common good."
- I Corint. 12: 4-7 (J.B. Phillips translation)

What a perfect description of the true city, of Spirit's city! Each individual is a divine idea, with their own particular gift, their own way of expressing God, good. But we're all expressing the same God, we're all serving the same Spirit. These gifts can't be taken from one another, no one gift is better than another-- they are all equally perfect and direct from God. The crime is not only physical acts of violence, but the very idea that one of us is missing something or lacking in "gifts." What I loved most about this wasn't just the ideas, which were comforting to think about, but the fact that its a prayer easily made active. I can do my part to extinguish crime in my own life by not beating up, stealing away, or diminishing another person's value, and instead appreciate the value of their diverse gift. Now that would be a city set upon a hill!

Safety in the City

In our first CSO meeting, we decided as a group to put some effort into praying about safety for the Yale community and New Haven at large. In the first few months of the semester, we have already received 2-3 emails from the local police chief reporting incidents and cautioning everyone to be wise when out at night or when alone. Stay tuned for future blogs/comments on the topic!

Challenges to the Reality of the Material World

At long last, our event is approaching!

Who: The Yale Initiative for Science, Religion and Technology (with the help of the Yale CSO)

What: A panel discussion titled "Challenges to the Reality of the Material World: Buddhist and Christian Perspectives" Panel members will be Christine Driessen, CSB and Lama Padma Karma, a Buddhist lama.

When: October 18, 2007, 7:30 pm

Where: Niebuhr Auditorium, Yale Divinity School, 409 Prospect St, Free parking available.

Why: Because it will rock your socks :)

Stay tuned for an email with the awesome poster attached (full credit to James from the Div School for that one!), invite friends and come play! Also, we'll probably have a table with information about the CSO and my Bible Lessons available-- if anyone is willing to help with answering questions and talking to people who might be interested post or pre panel discussion, that'd be awesome!