We cannot pursue education solely for ourselves -- to make us smarter, to put a few extra letters after ournames, to pile up the articles we have published in some journal. Winning a mock trial competition also is not reflective of a superior education. Such accomplishments are temporal -- they are fleeting victories we can enjoy but not really appreciate in our path of learning. Instead, real education is for exploration -- for attempting to discover and realize the highest thing -- the Truth of God.
This brings us back to Psalm 41 and the dictum that we should not be corrupted by selfish, short-term desires. Indeed, if we are so corrupted, we will never learn anything -- we will succumb to the vanity of false education. That, I believe, is a central connection between Christianity and learning. Harvard's motto, Veritas, even without its original addendum (the whole being Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae), can only be pursued with a certain faith that Truth exists, and a certain willingness to dedicate oneself to pursuing Truth through learning. This learning can be in any field -- philosophy, biology, theology, politics. But we must remember why we are doing it: so that we can learn more about ourselves and God through our search after Truth.
And in order to strive toward this horizon, we must focus on how we are learning. In the same fashion as the "leader," the dedication to searching for Truth is selfless -- it is not for any sort of personal material gain. In turn, the Lord supports those with unselfish motivations because of the integrity they employ in their pursuit of the Truth. If we are not distracted from the purpose of education by competing for personal accolades, ribbons, or plaques, we will be supported by God. The things worth having -- integrity, faith, and a yearning for the Truth -- cannot be found in such objects.
I'd be willing to bet that not one person in the history of Harvard has claimed, after four years of liberal arts studies, to have understood Veritas. The understanding of Truth does not come from a textbook, although it may begin there. Indeed, as Chesterton says, the University is not a "miraculous moral factory, in which perfect men and women are made by magic." Instead, it simply gives us the lights to be able to find Truth in the darkness. This was exactly the lesson I received that night in Princeton. I could barely see the stars, for the many spotlights outside the competition were blazing brightly, but I found a stronger light where God resided. Together, let us use that light to search for Veritas.
This article was first published as "Toward the Lights of Veritas" in volume 2, issue 2 (2006) ofThe Harvard Ichthus, a journal of Christian thought. It appears here with the permission of the journal. Please visit the journal and its excellent blog, "The Fish Tank."
Jordan Teti '08, Editor-in-Chief of The Harvard Ichthus, is a Government concentrator in Winthrop House.
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