Learning in War-Time

Lewis addresses an issue in this book that I have spent a lot of time thinking about.  Why am I spending all my time and money at Calvin when the rest of the world is starving and dying without knowing about God? 
     The first point that stood out to me is stated as "The war creates no absolutely new situation:  it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it."  Lewis goes on to say that "If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure the search would never have begun."  If we are going to wait for the whole world to be fed and at peace before we pursue an education, it is simply never going to happen, because we cannot create for ourselves heaven on earth-it will never happen. 
     Also, I would like to point out that by attending Calvin (although opposed to those who believe/get caught up in the Calvin "bubble") I don't think that we are ignoring the pain of the world.  We all know that attendance at Calvin does not make you a Christian and does not isolate you from the pain of the world.  There are many ways we can respond and reach out to people in the Calvin community AND beyond without even leaving the Calving campus.  If we look at the incident that happened last year in NVW with the pop bottle bomb, we know that the media is ready to pounce on Calvin if they receive any evidence of foul-play.  This puts a lot of pressure on our community.  But I think that we can show the love of Christ through things like that by the ways we respond to criticism from the outside as well as the ways we take care of each other within our community.  In the same way, Lewis says that "Christianity does not simply replace our natural life and substitute a new one: it is rather a new organization which exploits, to its own supernatural ends, these natural materials."
    Lewis goes on to talk about our "upbringing, talents, and circumstances are usually a tolerable index of our vocation."  If God wants us to do something with our lives, he will provide the resources and opportunities to get there.  He often leads us by putting certain passions in our hearts-sometime this appetite is for more knowledge-and "God makes no appetite in vain."  If I have an overflowing passion for biology, that's probably a good indication that God is calling me to study biology.  "The learned life is, for some, a duty."
     Finally, I really like the quote "The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable.  Favorable conditions never come."  Sometimes you have to dive into something you don't have the resources for and pray that God will provide the rest that you need to finish.  If He doesn't provide, then maybe you're doing the wrong thing.