I'm entirely too sleep deprived to write much in the way of a meaningful post tonight, though I'm hoping to upload another Top Ten before the week is out. Monday is one of my busy days; once I leave my dorm in the morning, I almost certainly won't be back until dinnertime. Today I found myself stumbling from class to class, having slept very badly last night for no discernible reason. However, although I wanted very much to curl up in a ball and catch up on the sleep I missed, I had quite a nice day. I had spent Friday's calculus class in almost complete confusion, but at this morning's I was able to follow along relatively well. Apparently I haven't succeeded in completely erasing eleventh-grade precalculus from my memory! History was basically a review of everything I learned about the end of World War II from AP U.S., I finally figured out what a diaspora is in my Christianity class, and I spent most of French discussing Impressionist paintings. I also had my first econ discussion today (not that there's anything very remarkable about it). When you factor in my recently-discovered love of egg, swiss, mushroom, and spinach bagel sandwiches from Einstein Brothers, I can't really find much to complain about, apart from the pervasive layer of mental haze I struggled with all day.
It's funny how things you learn in high school come back to you. My religion professor discussed the Jewish and Graeco-Roman origins of Christianity this afternoon, and he mentioned that it was easy for Greek Christians to transfer their feelings about "the Good," Plato's term for the force that enlightens and enlivens the soul, to God. To illustrate this, he talked about Plato's "Allegory of the Cave," which I first studied three years ago as a senior in high school. He used a beautiful diagram to explain the allegory, which was in color in the lecture but I could only find in black and white online:
Plato obviously didn't approach his allegory from a Christian perspective, but I think he was searching for the same thing as Christians, and really the practitioners of any religious faith: the truth. When it comes down to it, that is one of the main reasons why atheism doesn't appeal to me. The idea that there is no underlying pattern to the universe, that the shadows on the wall are all we're ever going to get, is so unfulfilling to me. There has to be a greater Truth out there somewhere. I'm doubt-ridden about a lot of things, but even if there isn't a person in the sky-God, the universe just doesn't make sense to me if there isn't a higher Truth. So to see the person at the top-right of the illustration emerging into the sunlight for the first time honestly nearly brought me to tears. Christianity is my path to seeking the Truth, and someday, perhaps in a life beyond this, I want to perceive the Truth at last. And for me, at least at this point in my faith journey, the Truth
is God.
Wow, that went way deeper than I meant for it to go. Well, it is certainly something to ponder, particularly as I have a sizable chunk of Plato's
Republic to review before I go to class tomorrow. Until we meet again!
