I think most of us have a ‘love/hate’ relationship with school (or memories of school!). There’s the social aspect of a traditional school education; many show up each weekday morning in the school hallways only for this reason – to be close to friends. For others, the social part of school is exactly why they hate coming.
There’s also the learning part. Some love it, some can stand it. It can be a good challenge for many, too hard for others, or not challenging enough for some. You might have great teachers, mediocre teachers, or you might have a teacher who should have retired 20 years ago, but didn’t! With all of this in mind, why do we place such importance on education? Why do we continue to push ourselves to learn as children, adolescents, and throughout our adult lives?
For many, the quest for knowledge and wisdom are a source of strength and power. There’s no doubt that the most powerful people in the world are among the most educated! For others, education can mean a life a success and comfort – it’s a means to an end. In order to make a lot of money, you have to know something about making money – that means learning, good things or bad things. Then there are those who learn so they can be better equipped to serve. The more you know about the problems in the world, the better you can be at working out how to fix them
For Christians, studying, learning, and growing in knowledge and wisdom is a part of historical and cultural fabric. Our spiritual ancestors, the Jews, place a high importance on education, more specifically in the study of the sacred scriptures. As Christians, we carry on this practice of learning, not only in our faith life, but into the rest of our life as well. We understand that knowledge and wisdom are gifts from God given by the Holy Spirit. We recognize that there is no end to the mysteries of God, or the depths of the beauty of our faith. We will NEVER know everything about God, but for as long as we strive to learn more about him, God will reveal himself and the intentions of his heart to us.
You see, striving after the wisdom and knowledge that God wants to give us is part of the Gospel call to ‘pick up’ our own cross and follow Jesus. It is a form of humility when we can say, ‘I don’t know everything; Teach me, Lord!’
As we begin this new academic year (or continue in one), let us be reminded that education is a gift that not everyone is privileged to have; that God himself is an infinite mystery and his love is deep and that he desires for us to learn about him and to know his ways ever more each day.
Peace, -Peter.
Read this Sunday’s scriptures here.
