Two Lists and a Long Footnote

Recent news, in short:

• My father came to visit me this weekend. Thanks, Dad!
• St. John’s had many successful races at the Head of the Occoquan regatta yesterday. I coxed two different Women’s 8+ shells.
• I finished a paper on Kepler, with questions on the connections between theoretical modeling, physics, and causality.
• Pastor Bret spoke today about having a “multi-generational perspective.” It was an encouraging sermon. More on this below.*
• My seminar on I Corinthians* was really interesting. Romans will be our next text. After that we’ll study Aristotle’s De anima (On the Soul).
• God is good.*
• This week I’ll be working on my application for an internship with the Mississippi Teachers’ Corps during the summer.*

While I’m making lists, I ought to post for y’all what I’ve read so far this semester. With my decreased blogging frequency, I also haven’t updated some of the sidebar lists to accurately reflect what I’m doing these days. Here’s what I’ve already read for the Program this semester:

• Bible: Genesis
• Bible: Exodus
• Bible: a part of Numbers
• Bible: a couple parts of Leviticus
• Bible: Deuteronomy
• Bible: the end of Judges
• Bible: most of I Samuel
• Bible: II Samuel
• Bible: the beginning of I Kings
• Bible: various Psalms
• Bible: a part of II Chronicles
• Bible: Amos
• Bible: Jonah
• Bible: a chunk of Isaiah
• Bible: Job
• Plutarch’s Lives: Caesar; Cato the Younger
• Virgil’s Aeneid
• Half of Tacitus’s Annals of Imperial Rome
• Selections from Epictetus’s Discourses and Handbook
• Bible: Matthew
• Bible: Luke
• Bible: Acts
• Bible: John
• Bible: I John
• Bible: I Corinthians
• Bible: Romans

*I’ve been very encouraged by the Holy Spirit recently. Every Wednesday I’m part of a Bible study currently reading through I Corinthians, which we sophomores also had as a seminar assignment for last Thursday. There’s a section in the middle where Paul writes “by way of concession, not of command” (7:6 NASB). In the Bible study we had a decent conversation about that chapter and what Paul was trying to encourage the Corinthian believers to do. Paul desires that “all men were even as I myself am” (7:7)—that is, unmarried and lovin’ it. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that it’s an abrasive passage at first read; but I have no trouble accepting it. Others in the group had more trouble, and the reason for our difference on this point seems to me accounted for by a statement Jesus mysteriously made to the twelve:

Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it. (Matthew 19:11-12)

Now, I have no intention of making myself a eunuch, but I do see Jesus’s point. I am a man who can accept the statement. I am a man who, at least for a long time to come, can go without marriage or anything resembling it. I’ve made no vows against it, but singleness makes too much sense to me to think little of it. I’m encouraged at the thought of being single and singly for Christ.
The “multi-generational” message that Bret taught last Sunday was partly what inspires me now to share that with y’all. Listening, I asked myself, How can I have a multi-generational perspective if, possibly, I am not committed to having and raising children?
Shall I teach another’s child?
Over the summer I spent many long hours investigating graduate school, thinking about my future, and remembering what it is that I enjoy most. I am continually brought back to education. I’m fascinated with all sorts of theoretical fields in education—how people learn (neurologically, psychologically, philosophically), how people think and solve problems, how people’s past experiences affect their present and future, etc.—but my fascination doesn’t end in the theoretical. I really enjoy both learning and teaching. Teaching, for me, is one of the most satisfying activities; and learning how to teach better is equally satisfying.
I have recently decided, therefore, to pursue more education in education, now and down the road. I’m at a highly precious place where I can pursue this field without being committed to it yet, because I’m only a sophomore. I want to teach with a multi- or trans-generational perspective. The teaching is not for me. It’s not a career choice. I want it to be a way of life, because I enjoy it that much. But one of the questions I’ve had to ask myself is that concerning what sort of teaching I want to do.
I refuse to accept that I must be a teacher at a Christian school to be able to sow into the next generations. I refuse to accept that the only worthwhile teaching is Bible teaching. If I accept that people cannot learn God’s ways in a “secular” environment, then I risk admitting that the truth of the gospel cannot be applied to our everyday lives. But if I, as a teacher in a “secular” environment, live and teach according to the truth, having with word and deed the outworking of my faith available for all to see, then I have admitted that the gospel is available to all and does apply to daily life.

I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You. (Psalm 51:13)

I look back on a few of my teachers in high school who were not allowed to tell me that God loved me, or that He sent His Son to die for me, or that eternal life was available to those who believe, and I am shocked to realize how many seeds they planted, how many times they told me, and what sort of challenge they gave me as a student. Mr. Kunz, the ex-priest who taught me Latin, was among those who faithfully served me as a teacher and challenged me as a human to pursue the truth about God. Most of the things that he said I never regarded as particularly influential until after my conversion, when I could see the fruit of his teaching. And my desire to teach is more than the “I want to be like that guy” response, though that could be enough.
I have a vision to teach, and a gift, and a joy. I will pursue what God has for me in these things.
And the first part of that pursuit is my continuing on through undergraduate work at St. John’s College. The next step is gaining experience to equip myself better to choose what sort of work I want to train for. This is where the Mississippi Teachers’ Corps will help, I hope. I’m applying for the summer internship program to gain experience working with students in a place where education is undervalued and in dire need of attention. Even if the kids are not labeled as “at-risk,” there is a danger that they will be overlooked by the overburdened system and penalized for it later. I want to know what it’s like to teach in such a place. I also want to know if I should spend my time further pursuing the MTC graduate program, which gives the scholarship recipient a stipend, a Master’s degree, two years of teaching experience, and certification in Mississippi. It’s a great program, but I don’t know if it’s the thing (or the place) that I want to commit to yet. I need to work on my application this week, because it’s due on the 12th. Pray for me concerning this thing. If I am accepted, great. If I am rejected, great, because there are countless paths ahead that I cannot yet see. But I do see in part. What I do see causes me to rejoice, because my vision is overwhelmed by the glory of God.

In addition to my application, I need to reread parts of the Aeneid to prepare for my oral exam on Friday. Any prayers that could be sent this way would be appreciated.

I love you all.