The Glory of God is Intelligence

The wise philosopher once said that opinions are like noses because everyone has them. There is great wisdom in this however, I feel he failed to mention that our opinions are different from noses because they need to be constantly and thoroughly examined. We need to be critical with them and not just the opinions of others. We need to challenge our own beliefs. To take them outside and severely beat them with a cricket bat. To be intellectually rigorous. I say this because it's our opinions that we're more than happy to share with everyone else whether they want to hear what we think or not. Unfortunately this can lead to situations where it's people wanting to beat US with a cricket bat. 

It's small wonder, then, that God counseled us that:

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. -Proverbs 4:7

It's through learning and knowledge that we are able to change and influence our opinions. To learn how to think is possibly one of the greatest pursuits a man can have in life because it will positively affect every other aspect of his life. 

Pictured: Me vs. Calculus 

This lesson was hard learned for me back when I took AP calculus back in high school. Going into the class I was confident that I could tackle Isaac Newton's way of thinking like Terry Tate tackles unsuspecting co-workers in the break room. As the weeks dragged on and the amount of math I had to assimilate increased I realized that, like captain Ahab realized with Moby Dick, I had tackled something that was ready and willing to tackle back with all it's aquatic mammalian fury. 


One day in frustration I asked my teacher "When will we ever use negative integrals in life?" and he being the sagely philosopher/calculus teacher that he is, responded "The only people that ask those kinds of questions are the ones that are frustrated with the work." Boy howdy was he right. I went in early, I stayed late, and I always asked him for help. Unfortunately, despite my efforts, my grade seemed dead set to stay at a 'C' for the entire year and I passed the AP test with a 3/5. So I passed at the same level that I had been all year. 

Despite the heartache, frustrations, and cursing that it caused me at the time. I look back on AP calc with fondness. I'll happily admit that Newton destroyed me intellectually the same way Mr. T could destroy me physically. However, I'm glad that I went through the experience because it taught me how to think. Logic had found a nice little nook in which to nestle in my mind and I got infected with a bug that made me want to learn as much as I could about everything. Despite the fact that Calculus kicked my rear, it also engaged my mind in ways that it hadn't been engaged before and I found that... well... engaging. 

We must always search after wisdom in life. It's the only thing that we can take with us into the afterlife besides a litany of our misdeeds. By learning and growing mentally as we do physically, we are able to grow and become better people. Constantly questioning and challenging yourself on you think and believe will always keep you engaged and moving upward. Calculus had the courtesy to do that for me and the lessons I took from it far outweigh my ability to do derivatives.