The Divine in Schooling

              

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Education and work should fit the higher needs too

As a college student I’ve struggled trying to find out what subjects of study inspire me. I’ve struggled even more trying to keep myself motivated within my studies. Questions like “will this job even matter?” and “Will studying this make a difference for anyone?” haunt me as I try to plan out and pursue my college degree. Perhaps I’m an idealist, but I want to study things that bring me some of Maslow's belonging, esteem, and self-actualization, rather than studying a subject that'll make me enough money to survive. I left accounting this year because I found none of that fulfillment in financial statements.

It was both humanism and religion, traditionally thought as opposing each other, that have helped me find a new passion of study and work.

History's view of Humanism and Religion
Traditionally, humanism is summed up as a turning away from religion. Historians view it as a shift away from religious themes to secular themes in art, writing, and philosophy. While such descriptions are meant as only general summaries of the movement, such a description seems to miss-characterize humanism. In studying humanism deeper however, I found that a secular focus can really bring greater personal and spiritual contentment, which is a lesson I learned from Petrarch, the father of Humanism.

Petrarch's struggle: Passion vs. Devotion
Petrarch spent much of his life writing passionately about human potential and secular passions, yet his departure from the “devout” haunted him and he wrote about this conflict. He combatted these feelings in his private writing Secretum Meum, where he made the claim that secular knowledge and abilities were gifts from God, and that God expected him to use those gifts to the fullest and achieve great things. For Petrarch, study and work had divine origins, even if they weren’t focused on scripture or doctrine. In this sense, trying to achieve something great in the secular world, be it in business or the arts, can be a deeply religious and meaningful pursuit.

Petrarch and Me
As I settle into my new Computer Science major, I often consider Petrarch’s words and how pursuing personal, human greatness can be part of my way of following God. As I hammer away at the keyboard and watch my coding create something new in the digital world, I can easily see what Petrarch meant, as my secular passion and my religious devotion come together while I make the most of what the Creator gave me.

Image Credit: "THE PYRAMID OF NEEDS GAME" by Noura Assaf is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0