December 25, 2003

My first semester of grad school math has been busy. It looks like I will (barely) avoid being placed on academic probation this semester. I'm not quite on track to pass qualifying exams. But I really love math, and perhaps my enthusiasm will help to carry me through. I also enjoy explaining things to my students. (I am a teaching assistant.) I expect to focus in an area of applied math. Whether or not I end up completing a Ph.D., I really enjoy studying and learning about math. Before I begin studying I like to thank God for the math. I see this as God's calling for me in this phase of my life, and I am dependent on Him to help me carry it out.

I am living in Madison, which is the capitol city of Wisconsin. The capitol building is located on an isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Menona. I live on the isthmus. Because of its diversity, I feel that Madison is something of a microcosm (a "world in miniature") of the United States.

Madison has many beautiful things in it. I particularly like the downtown and central residential area. People care about the community and the urban and natural environment. There are many small shops in my neighborhood. Many people grow flowers and native plants in their yards.

On Saturdays I go to the farmers' market. During the summer, they set up the farmers' market around the state capitol building. It is beautiful and something very special. I can do my grocery shopping for the week there. There are farmers selling sweet corn, squash and pumpkins, peppers, and all sorts of exotic varieties that I could never list. There are cheese-makers selling cheese. There are bee-keepers selling honey and beeswax candles. (I think that Beeswax candles are the best candles you can buy. They don't smoke and they smell like honey.) There are bakers selling bread, pastries, and pies. There are old ladies selling home-made preserves. There are women selling bouquets of dried flowers. People sell apples or organic pears from their orchards.

The farmers' market is truly a community event. There are street musicians playing folk music. People walk around with their friends or their children. You can get to know the different vendors. It is beautiful, and it is something that is becoming rare in our world.

Wherever there is beauty, there is a cause and a creator. How we respond to beauty is integrally related to who we are, what we are becoming, and how we influence the world around us. We can respond to beauty with blindness -- we fail to see it. The result of this is often thoughtless destruction. Or we can respond with disrespect. We may notice something attractive and desirable but fail to respect its value. Thereby we disparage not only the beauty but also those responsible for bringing it into being. Or we can respond with acquisitiveness. We may perceive it, but see it as something to grasp, so we can get our share. By doing this we take something beautiful and turn it into something selfish and ugly. Or we can appreciate its value and seek to understand its cause, know its creator, and participate in its formation and preservation. In doing this we fulfill God's call to love and fruitfulness. We carry out His creative purpose for us to bear the image of a Trinitarian God, a God of relationships, by living in right relation to Himself, one another, and His creation.

These are general comments. I think they can be broadly applied. The fine arts. Land use. Community life. Home life. Sexual love.

When I was traveling around Europe I often reflected on how we respond to beauty, and the critical difference it makes.

It seems also that where there is beauty, it is so often in danger of being destroyed. I think that downtown Madison is a rare treasure. Unfortunately there are plans to build a big casino on the edge of Madison. I fear that these kinds of developments work to gradually undermine the "fiber" of the small communities that have been such an essential part of the moral backbone of our nation.

It is very distressing to me to see suburban development overrunning so many rural communities (such as the "Trott Brook area" in Ramsey, Minnesota, home to many of my relatives and forebears). It seems that our nation is starting to look like one vast, sprawling network of suburbs (dotted with decaying inner-city areas), and there is a corresponding loss of a sense of community. (I think that people vaguely sense this loss of community, and I think that this creates an opportunity for what I might call "community evangelism".)

The beauty in the downtown Madison community did not arise and was not preserved by chance, but exists as the result of vision and dedication on the part of many individuals and community groups.

I think that it is important for us as Christians to respect the efforts of people to care for the world around them, even if they are alienated from Christianity. Many of the values these people hold are Christian, even if the people themselves are not. If we do not respect these people and the values they hold dear (at least to the level of understanding them), I do not see how we can experience much success in persuading them of the truth of Jesus Christ. The apostle Peter tells us that we should be respectful of everyone (1 Peter 2:17). This is especially important when explaining one's Christian beliefs. (1 Peter 3:15).

I have been thinking about how God would have me and other Christians to be involved in efforts to build community and meet community needs. Christ says in Matthew 25, "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me," and, "whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." These words are very convicting to me. I think they imply that to fail to take responsibility to participate in caring for the society around us is to fail to obey Christ.

I entrust these thoughts to you and to our Lord.
-Alec