My Thoughts on Higher Education

Ecclesiastes 1:18 (KJV) For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

She got a doctorate to mock it. She wanted to be measured by her level of abundance of resources not her level of education, yet she knew that she would be measured by both. Getting the doctorate was most painful because she understood that genius was not found in the classroom and that wisdom was not something that could be taught.

She knew that genius was a result of spending time with something and a gift from God like wisdom its comrade. But, she got the doctorate anyway because you were watching, because it seemed like the respectable thing to do and because it was somewhat difficult.

All the while she was thinking of her friends that left college prematurely to follow their desires that could not be taught. Higher education seems to ignore the matters of the heart. There's something unrepentantly stale about it. And while the learners are alive at the start, she knew that a complete digestion of all the said theories inextricably resulted in death.

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Is it onward to her death in the name of a degree or shall it be a costly game that she can play 'til its conclusion? One thing she's learned on the journey is what many theorists and philosophers know; it is this fact that causes sorrow. In the revelation of new things is the realization of how little can be truly known and how much territory still lies uncharted.

We have covered the world, or have we? We have mapped outer space, or have we? We have determined who should be paid the most for their knowledge of a subject, or have we?

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God only knows how much work or how little I am putting into this process, and He will determine how I am rewarded. Shall I join the many voices that have uttered, "How long Lord?" Remember the day begins in darkness and what appears to be light on the other side is but a variation of obscurity. The conclusion, God holds the true light, knowledge, and abundance, and whatever measure of it we think we attain always falls short of His perfection.