Beach Haven

In a recent Sunday School class, we were discussing the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I noted something different that had escaped me in the past.

Luke 22
41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
45 And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,
46 And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

He prayed on his own. In prayer he reconciled his will to that of Heavenly Father. Maybe that is the point of prayer. Not to ask God for what we want, but to come to understand what he wants and then adjust our perspective.

After Jesus bent his will to the Father’s, then God sent an angel to strengthen him. How often do things work out better for us once we choose to accept his will over our own? Then as the agony increased so did the earnestness of the prayer of Jesus. Similarly, sometimes life has to become more challenging for us to find inspiration by praying more earnestly.

Finally, when Jesus turned to his disciples he found them asleep. Do we sometimes feel like there is nobody to help us? Others often seem unwilling or unable to assist in our hour of need. Yet, in this case it says they ‘slept for sorrow’. I’m not completely sure what that means, but perhaps it means they were overwhelmed by all that was happening, and did not have the strength to continue. How often do we assume that when others don’t seem helpful, it means they are not motivated or don’t have sufficient faith? In some cases that may be true, but it is just as likely they have some burdens of their own preventing them from helping to lift our burdens.

The pattern that Jesus experienced on the night he spent in Gethsemane can be a pattern that we ourselves might consider.

​As part of my efforts at a PhD from Virginia Tech (VT), I recently completed a major milestone. They call it the preliminary exam (or prelim), but it comes at the end of all course work, just before starting the dissertation process. I assume the word preliminary means at the start of the dissertation, but it feels more like an uber final to me. The process is challenging. I was given a large list of books and papers to select from. These published works were divided into the four disciplines of the program I’m pursuing. It’s called Science, Technology, and Society (STS). The disciplines include sociology, philosophy, history, and policy. In each of these disciplines, the topics studied all relate in some way to science and technology. For the prelim I was directed to select three of the disciplines, then select 20 books from each of the three, or 60 books. The instructions also allow for a substitution of five papers or book chapters in place of one book. I stuck with just books. Based on my list of 60 books, the committee (four professors) created four questions per each of the three disciplines I selected. I was to select two of the four questions from each area for a total of six questions. I then had two weeks to write a 2000-word essay for each of the six questions. This is the standard prelim process for the STS program at VT.

Writing was certainly a challenge. I was only taking one course per semester as a full-time employee at NPR, little more was possible. That means that some of these works and ideas I hadn’t thought about for as much as three years. Again, this is not unique to me. Most of my fellow students in my classes are in the same boat. In fact, the program I’m in is specifically designed for the working professional. After writing the essays the prelim was not done. The committee took a few weeks to review my writings, then they had two hours to discuss my essays with me in an oral exam. That happened two weeks ago. Thankfully I passed.

One thing I was thankful for. When I turned in my list of readings, they had me include a writeup on what I was likely to research for my dissertation. They created the questions with my dissertation topic in mind. The result was not only were the questions helpful at thinking about topics to address in my future research (including the questions I didn’t use), but also my actual exam essays can also serve as impetus for future chapters. That was their intention, of course.

I have attached both my book list, and the essays that resulted. In their feedback they felt I struggled with the essay on risk. I agree. My perspective on risk often gets caught up in my past experience as a project manager. STS considers risk differently, and so that essay is my weakest. They encouraged me to read again the book on risk by Lupton. I have it on my task list this summer. They also recommended another book titled Carbon Democracy by Timonthy Mitchell. I have since gotten a copy as another part of my summer reading. The point of reading Mitchell is that he approaches a specific topic from one framework. In my essays I tend to review multiple readings and frameworks. I thought that was a preference since the exam is supposed to be about showing I understand the material well enough for them to allow me to move into the ‘all but dissertation’ (ABD) phase of my studies. They made it clear that the preference is for me to argue for one framework over another in each essay. The challenge there is that each essay is only 2000 words and the time to write is short.

The end result, as I mentioned, is I passed and will now begin to form a dissertation proposal. That’s not the research itself, but rather a project plan as to what I’ll be researching and how I’ll approach the work. It will likely take a good three months just to get the proposal written and accepted. Wish me luck.