a journal of my adventure back to college to finish my degree

 
Rhymes and Reasons

Tonight (this morning) it is foggy in Ancaster, Ontario. I stepped out to have a smoke and the balmy air took me by surprise. It took me back to Lookout Mountain where I first attended college. This sort of transportation is a unique property of fog. Foggy midnight is a kind of world between worlds for me. The atmosphere is heavy with water, and my mind is saturated with an enigmatic, immense wonderment.

In my spare time --if you wanted to know-- I do such things as read the dictionary. A fellow student asked me last week, "Egg nog... what exactly is 'nog' ?" I had to confess that I didn't know. This bothered me. So the next day I found myself squinting at the single volume OED at a reference table. Apparently, nog is a local term for a strong ale brewed in East Anglia (Norfolk, UK). The word's origin is unknown.

So, speaking of unknowns, standing in the fog, my heart became heavy with a sense of my limitations. I suppose such heaviness only plagues those who start out assuming unwarranted greatness for themselves (no shock to my friends). But there you have it. I want to be a great philosopher; the greatest of my age. And in this moment I am drawn to Christ's parable in Luke 19. In so many ways I have not been faithful in very little things. And yet I am drawn to Solomon's request for wisdom and God's promise in James 1.

So I ask again as before in faith for wisdom. And I take to heart that the Lord's strength is shown in man's weakness. And if ever I feel more secure about my abilities as a scholar, I will remember not to have confidence in the flesh or in letters after my name.
posted by Baus at 4:25 AM