School and Wonder at God's Creation
In Psalm 19:1, David writes:
“The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
As most of us have returned to school, this verse is worth consideration.
David reminds us of the inherent goodness of all creation. God is not present within creation, as the pantheists or panentheists might argue. Though Jesus identifies closely with creation, having taken on human flesh through the incarnation. And in some way (though we need not speculate on exactly how), Christ holds all creation together. (Col 1:18) Creation is distinct from God. And yet, creation is good, in part because it testifies to God’s goodness.
As we consider our study of science, mathematics, language, and literature we can think about engaging these subjects to understand God’s world better. Since the world is God’s handiwork, it also helps us to understand him better, too.
Thus, we can study science as science, rather than making our study of the natural world an apologetic quest. We can study mathematics because it reminds us of the underlying consistency and order of creation; we do not need a Bible verse in our math textbook. We can look at language as we see the derivative human mind try to bring order to the world by describing it. And, we can examine the stories that humans have written, because they are always an affirmation of or reaction to the world that God has made.
Wonder
When we approach our study of all subjects with wonder and curiosity rather than as a means to an end, we have better hope of understanding and appreciating God’s handiwork.
The study of the natural world should inspire a sense of awe. Our study of science should not be reduced to merely following bare procedures in a textbook or learning some basic facts about the circulatory system. These are stepping stones to other activities. The reason we do the simple experiments and memorize the facts is to have the tools to understand the bigger picture.
A sense of awe comes when we manage to keep the big picture in view. So, if we are studying astronomy, we ought to frequently redirect our students’ eyes from the paper charts and verbal explanations to the skies themselves and even the images that are available to us.
God made all of that. It is vast beyond our ability to truly conceive. It is ordered and acts in accordance with patterns that reflect the reasonable order of the one who made it.
Big Picture
For many homeschool families, the process of making it through the day and getting the curriculum done can be a herculean task. It is tempting to be satisfied when all the blanks are filled in correctly and the boxes checked off.
However, if we fail to step back to examine the big picture, we will have missed a golden opportunity. If we fail to communicate to our students how amazing it is that 2+2 = 4 every time, then we will have lost a chance to think about God’s character.
G. K. Chesterton reflects on the nature of God with respect to the regularity of the world. In one sense, he argues, “The sun rises regularly because [God] never gets tired of it rising.” Like the child who asks repeatedly for an adult to repeat a joke or a trick, there is a vitality in God’s love to see the wonder of his world.
We adults sometimes grow bored with world. That can come through in the way that we teach our children or the way we respond to what they are being taught. But God hasn’t grown bored with the world that he has made. He has seen all of the sunrises and yet he continues to keep the heavens spinning, pointing to his glory.
Chesterton continues,
“But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon.
It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them.”
Whether we are studying the interaction of heavenly bodies, the multiplication tables, or the differences between a noun and a pronoun, we should never cease to consider the big picture. The God who created all things did so with order and continues to maintain the world in that order. Our response should be wonder at the works of his hands and a desire to understand his handiwork better.
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The hope of Christians for creation is not that we will be able to make things entirely correct through our efforts. Rather, we work with the knowledge that we have been given a ministry of reconciliation, which includes all of creation (cf., Col 1:20; 2 Cor 5:16–18). We work toward reconciliation in hope, but recognize that hope will not be fulfilled until Christ comes again. Creation exists in futility in the present age because of God’s curse on creation. (Gen 3:17–19) Our task is to till the ground in hope, making our living, (Gen 3:20) looking forward to the moment when God supernaturally sets everything right.