Observe, Read, Think, Live

Observe: ‘Look at the birds of the air’, ‘look at the lilies of the field’; the Bible exhorts. It pays to be observant, and it is exciting too. Just a scoop of earth on careful observation shows that there is a world in that small mass. Watching a plant grow is medicinal as we marvel at how a simple seed falling and dying germinates and grows into a giant tree. The observant photographer captures frames that we might have simply ignored and convert them into sights of great delight. A researcher carefully observes phenomena and makes connections where we saw none.

Read: There are books that I have literally kissed after having read them. There are so few things that can be more enriching to the mind and soul than a good book. It is not enough to intellectually survive by feeding on newspapers and text books in the syllabus. Students need to read other good books. Book selection is very important. Some books are to be read simply to be critiqued, some to be digested and meditated upon. Peer reviews and Publisher names are considerations that will come with experience.

Think: when the Bible says, ‘look at (or consider) the birds of the air’, the Bible scholars tell us that it doesn’t only mean, ‘turn your eyes towards the birds of the air’, but also, ‘think deeply about it and learn from it’. The image of a thinking person many people have is a university professor or some eccentric intellectual tadpole (a big head and nothing much else). Twenty20 cricket, micro-blogging like twitter, facebook status update, sms; all of these may be indicators that we either have no time or too short attention spans. We want our lessons in bullets than in long descriptive passages. We have books like, Quick Sermon Notes for Busy Pastors, and hear of ‘googled’ assignment papers. There is no time to sit quietly and think deeply. Fifty people over the age of 95 were asked what they would do differently if they were given another chance to live all over again. One of the most common answers is, ‘I would have reflected more’. Think about what is meaningful and what is not, what is lasting and what is not; think things in the light of eternity. “Whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things”. Phi 4:8

Live: ‘How long have you lived?’ Tony Campolo would ask his students. He would object if students tell their age. Their biological age is how long they have breathed and their hearts have pumped blood. He then would go on to narrate his story. When he was a small kid in school, he visited the Empire State Building. Like any other young kid, he was playing around until he suddenly stopped when it dawned on him that he was at the top and the whole city lies below him. He sucked into the city below all around him and he felt so alive. Even if he’d live a million years, he says that moment would be one that he will always remember. That moment was when he truly lived. He then would turn to the students and asked, “Now, how long have you lived?” Many of us live in regrets of the past and anxieties of tomorrow that we are not really alive to/in the present. But the same passage about the lilies and the birds in Matthew 5 tells us not to worry. Our heavenly Father provides for these creatures which neither sow nor spin and we are of much greater worth than they. ‘I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full’. John 10:10