Questions. Questions. Questions. It’s exam season, and it seems that we’re surrounded by notes, flashcards, and, above all, questions. What is the powerhouse of the cell? When was the Declaration of Independence signed? What is the circumference of the sun?
Looking for the answers to these questions can seem so boring, so frustrating, and perhaps even so pointless. This weariness that we feel when it comes to studying for exams reveals in us a misplaced appreciation for study. Asking yet another question can help us identify the root of the issue. The question is, “Why exactly are we studying?” Usual answers include: “To do well in school,” “To get a good job,” “To be a well-rounded person.” All these answers are good and should be part of the reason we study. But to place any of these as the end-all and be-all of our study would be a tragic mistake.
The truth about study is that it isn’t primarily about getting the grade, or about eligibility for a job, or about being a well-rounded person. Rather, studying, learning, and asking questions find their true home in the context of love. In fact, the verb “to question” is actually related to the word “love”—at least, according to a folk etymology among medieval Greek lexicographers. “The word ‘I question’ [eroto] comes from the word ‘love’ [eros], because people who ask questions about the things that they long to learn about resemble people who are in love” (Etymologicum Magnum, 380). The one who asks questions is the one who loves.
Just consider the stereotypical couple in love. They often delight in asking each other questions because they want to know more about the one they love. But they don’t have to take notes or make flashcards to remember names, dates, or any other details of each other’s lives. Rather, the motive behind their learning is love, and that love makes the learning easy, sweet, and even rejuvenating.
But there isn’t anyone to fall in love with when we’re learning about the mitochondria, the events of 1776, or the solar system, is there? The answer to this question is, “Yes, there is!” The person we love, the person whom we learn about by studying reality, is the Lord Jesus himself. In any subject matter, our questions can be directed to learning about and better loving the Lord Jesus. In history, he reveals himself as the Lord who providentially cares for the people he died for. In biology, he reveals himself as the Life that is the source of all created life. In physics, he reveals himself as the Wisdom who is mirrored, though only dimly, in the wise ordering of the cosmos.
Whenever we study, the Lord Jesus offers himself to us. So, as we approach our studies, let us always begin and end with one thing: prayer. Let us begin by praying—that is, by questioning and asking that the Lord Jesus enlighten our minds to be able to see him in everything we study. Let us then end by praying, giving praise to the Lord Jesus for the wonders of his love in history, in natural science, and in every aspect of reality.
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Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash
