At Emerging Scholars Network, we love to crowdsource ideas for following Christ faithfully and serving others well in the academic life. In the 2018/2019 academic year, we’ve been sharing brief insights on how to grow spiritually in the academic life. Read the series to date here. For more of Tatyana Claytor’s writing at ESN, click here.
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. – Deut. 29:29 (ESV)
If you’ve ever read Plato’s works, you’ll find fictitious conversations created for the purpose of discussing important ideas like justice or temperance. Ironically, the goal of these conversations is not to come to a conclusion. The goal is the discussion.
For those of us who are dedicated to learning, we can be either overwhelmed or pigeon-holed by the immensity of the conversation in which we participate. We can be tempted to pride and we can be tempted to despair. The answer to both is a humble demeanor before God.
This re-orientation can bring wonder back into learning and into our devotional lives. When we stop and just enjoy the conversation and our small part in it, we give God room to reveal and guide as He sees fit. In our busy schedules, we can take our agendas too seriously. Humble awe brings us back to the original reason we chose to be academics in the first place—an amazing God and an amazing world of knowledge.
Tatyana Claytor is a high school English instructor, blogger, mother, and wife pursuing her master’s degree in Professional Writing. She has been following the Lord for 20 years and is married to a youth pastor. Tatyana gets her passion from reading a wide range of books from apologetics to the classics and enjoys connecting those relevant themes from books and current issues being faced by believers to the Bible. You can see more of her work at Tatyanastable.com.