Something we must be wary of as we study and live is cynicism. Such an attitude easily sneaks in during one’s time. Maybe it is because we enter our studies with such hopes that we can, in fact, change the world, and over our matriculation, discover that our problems– not to mention the world’s– are far beyond our reach. We can easily despair and turn to cynicism to help deal with our broken hopes and dreams. But cynicism is not the answer. A friend once pointed out that cynicism is not the answer. In the worlds of C.S. Lewis:
You cannot go on ‘seeing through’ things forever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. It is good that the window should be transparent, because the street or garden beyond it is opaque. How if you saw through the garden too? It is no use trying to ‘see through’ first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To ‘see through’ all things is the same as not to see. (Abolotion of Man, 91)
The trick for the student is to remain doubtful while eschewing cynicism. Doubt makes you dig to find answers; cynicism helps you avoid answers altogether.
As a recent graduate, I continue to battle with cynicism. In particular, with a deep discouragement over our apparent human inability to make this world livable for the majority of people. One book which has helped change my perspective on this is James Skillen’s In Pursuit of Justice, in which he explores the cultural mandate as a call to develop the world. Thus, rec leagues and recycling programs, government and families, and any number of God-honoring activities and institutions are part of our calling to “fill the earth and subdue it.” See Psalm 8 which indicates that it is our glory to fulfill the cultural mandate (Bartholomew and Goheen, The Drama of Scripture, 39).
This is nothing new. Our task remains being faithful wherever we our with whatever we have. Oswald Chambers was all about that… come to think of it, so was Jesus.
Amid our own doubts and fears, and the countless doubts and fears of the world at large, there is hope: hope that Christ has redeemed believers and that He is restoring all else.
