I just received word this morning that my absolutely final revisions of the PhD thesis had passed muster. I am approved for the PhD!
So, am I happy? Yes! Am I relieved? Yes!
However, . . .
. . . several thoughts come to mind.
- Accomplishments, even major accomplishments, in one area of our life are no substitute for a life well-lived for Christ.
- Accomplishments, even major accomplishments, in one area of our life are no substitute for being a good dad (which I was not), or a good husband (which I am trying to become).
- Accomplishments are never individual triumphs. So many people, especially my wife and my two PhD advisers—but also many others who told me I could do this when I did not believe it—played crucial parts in this degree. And of course there is also God!
- Just because I now have a PhD does not mean that I know God or the Bible all that much better. God and the Bible are too big for that, and a PhD is ultimately very small indeed. Humility, love, faith, and obedience are the basic tools for understanding the Bible, God, or, most likely, anything else in the universe.
- Floors still need to be mopped, grass cut, and customers at the restaurants where I work still need to be waited upon. Life has a wonderful way of keeping us humble, if we’re paying any attention at all.
DTEB, S.S. (Saved Sinner)
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