Article on Blogging

I was asked some time ago to write a piece about blogging for Adventnyt, the membership monthly from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Denmark.

The article is now published and will be in subscribers’ mailboxes today. To read it (in Danish) or comment, click here.

Burma: History in the Making

It probably won’t affect my life directly, but the things going on in Burma (Myanmar) could be huge, and they deserve our attention. (Check out CNN or your news outlet of choice.)

Led by Buddhist monks, 100,000 people are marching the streets of Rangoon (Yangon) today, protesting the military dictatorship that has ruled this country tightly for decades. Especially the crowd’s visit to pro-democracy leader (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Aung San Suu Kyi’s house-arrest home is unprecedented.

The monks enjoy very high levels of support, and if these demonstrations turn out anything but peaceful, it will not be their fault. So far, there has been no intervention from the military – let us hope it will not come to that.

This is a crucial moment for Burma. The world should be watching.

How Much to Share?

Life can be tough. And it would be immensely harder if we had to live it out completely on our own. That’s what a friend is for – to be a comfort, a shelter, a confidant to the misery of a wary heart. I count myself fortunate to have several close friends with which I can share my feelings, and I have never seen my trust abused. And vice-versa; I am honoured when a friend chooses to share with me deep, serious, life-altering questions and worries.

But sometimes I ask myself: Have I said too much? (I know others ask the same question.) Are some things better left unsaid or at least shared with just one friend instead of a handful or two? Openness is good, but is there a limit to how much of you it is advisable to share with others?

Some people dislike blogging for some of the same reasons – that it is an unnecessary disclosure of your personal life. And in my opinion, some blogs definitely do go too far. I try not to – and will for the same reason give no examples of the above. (The exception on this blog is of course my poetry – but these are art, and should not be seen as analogous to my actual feelings at any time.)

Celebrating Education

Several streams flow into this post, and I am uncertain where it will end.

Last week my classes started again after a long summer holiday, and I was happy to be back; enjoying the prospect of soaking into another term of hopefully meaningful studies. But also with a certain melancholy that I’m entering the final year of my Master’s degree. I know I will miss the university when time comes.

Niels Tvesok has previously written (in Danish) about the potential flaws of science, and the apparent pointlessness of analysing just for the sake of it. He seems to have grown tired of academia; I, however, have enjoyed discussing the philosophy of science with him on numerous occasions.

Part of my holiday reading this summer has been “A Victory of Reason” by historian Rodney Stark. His thesis is that the ‘success’ of the West is in fact not due to our getting rid of Christianity, but that the pursuit of education and rational thought is inherent in the teachings and history of Christianity. Stark argues that “The Christian image of God is that of a rational being who believes in human progress, more fully revealing himself as humans gain the capacity to better understand. Moreover, because God is a rational being and the universe is his personal creation, it necessarily has a rational, lawful, stable structure, awaiting increased human comprehension. This was the key to many intellectual undertakings, among them the rise of science.” (Rodney Stark, The Victory of Reason. Random House 2005, pp. 11-12, original emphasis.)

The belief that God has endowed us with the ability to explore the world and a charge of doing so was echoed by Andrews University president Niels-Erik Andreasen, preaching last week in Denmark at Vejlefjord’s alumni weekend. A fitting theme for such an occasion, he talked about the merits of education, and the need for always promoting learning as a part of God’s plan for this world.

I believe in education. I marvel at the feats of engineering, for instance. And I cherish engaging in deep thoughts or dialogue about how the world and its inhabitants interact, and how different scholars provide different means of looking at the world.

But for perspective, I turn to a brilliant post by my cousin (alas, also in Danish). Lars has recently embarked on studying theology, and his remarks are focused on this particular field, but I think they can be applied to other sciences as well. “But theology, i.e., the science, is just one way of learning about God. And in my opinion not the most important one. If you want to know God, the essence is not knowledge, but love.” (My translation)

Which, of course, is essential. I may get closer to God by studying him, but only by experiencing his love in a personal relationship can I actually know God. I may learn more about the world by studying its many facets-and I will keep on doing this for as long as I live-but if I am to be a force of good in this world, I need to put that knowledge into action. So to expand on Lars, if you want to serve the world, the essence is not knowledge, but love.