Road to higher education

The decision to continue onto PhD has not been a trivial nor straightforward one. Nor should it be. I didn't see myself facing this decision, but I suppose most people don't know where they'll end up when they first stepped onto their university campus.

There are many reasons on why I should do it. Wanting to stay in biomedical R&D. I'm actually starting to get the topics I'm involved in now. The research topic is good and worthwhile and applicable. It'll be needed to climb the corporate ladder. Continue my current research and not assume that the grass is greener on the other side. A opened door that really isn't that common. It'll likely be difficult to come back to school once I start working, due to financial and social obligations. Poor job market. But there also many reasons why I shouldn't do it. It feels like I'm copping out of job applications. One shouldn't default into a PhD. Higher education can limit certain career options. Most people can find a job with 4 years of university, so the benefit of the extra 6 years is questionable. I wouldn't want to be typecasted into a "head in the cloud" academic, who can't do anything practical because all I know is research and theory. Rather not become prideful and egotistical in the letters behind my name. I've been in Waterloo (and of school in general, for that matter) for a rather long time already, and it'd likely be good to make a full break with the place. Most of my friends have graduated and moved on.

And the argument continues. Consulting n number of people results in n number of different opinions. Thinking about the future leads to dozens more what-if situations. The more one tries to grasp onto the future, the more the uncertainty of the future grasps you.

At the end of the day, the tipping factor was an unexpected one: my faith. In the midst of all the career calculations and thinking about future plans, I reflected on how stepping into biomedical engineering, to begin with, was a faith-driven decision. That my Masters degree was a faith-driven decision. And so the next step should also be a faith-driven decision. Beyond my original decisions that brought me into biomedical, and a desire to innovate and advance our medical field, I have realized that perhaps this is another calling as well.

We often talk about how our faith should spill over into other aspects of our lives. As the fundamentalists retreated from the "toxic effect" of modern society, a key few chose to become high profile apologists in order to maintain the Christian voice, but the retreat led to further animosity between the camps. Today, everything is politicized. One can hardly even eat fried chicken without facing some accusations. Christians and non-Christian argue about everything. It is fashionable to take potshots at the Christian mentality and belief, as it is easy to point at Christians and accuse them of bigotry, which itself is an intolerant thought. There will always be a camp within all fraction that take the headlines. Extremest Christians. Radical Muslim. Antagonistic Atheists. And so forth. The Internet has done much to add to the fire. Hardly any group can claim perfection, and the Christians ought to be the first to stand down. But this is another discussion for another time.

Christians have somehow garnered a reputation for being anti-science, a reputation that people like Francis Collins [1] and Tim Keller [2] are pushing back against in matters such as evolution. Although some articles (citation needed - can't remember where I read that from anymore) report that the number of scientist subscribing to the Christian faith are indeed rising, the number of Christians in higher educations still continue to be lacking. I feel that it is important that Christianity remains a viable option for "intellectuals", whatever that may entail in the eyes of detractors, and not for the "backward". That this action in itself is an act of apologetics. That added a good weight to the should pile, and so here I go.

Interesting readings (hardly the only point of views, but articles for more science-y people):
[1] Collins, F. S. The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. 2006. Free Press
[2] Keller, T. Creation, Evolution and Christan Laypeople. 2012. The BioLogos Foundation. Link.

So what - Resurrection

For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

- 1 Corinthians 15.16-19 (NIV)

With the passing of Easter, we celebrated the death and resurrection of Christ. An odd celebration, to be sure, I don't know of any other religion that holds up the death of their head leadership figure like Christians do. I was at the Lincoln Road's Easter Friday service, and they did a good job drawing parallels between OT occurrences and NT ones. Such as Eden vs Gethsemane. And talked about a story that made the sacrifice of Christ a bit more "modern" and easier to understand. I wasn't at Lincoln's Easter Sunday service, since Simply had their first baptismal, so I didn't see how the finishing of the story went, but I've noticed that we often skip over the "so what" factor.

Why do we celebrate the death of this man? Why don't we look more carefully at Christ's compassion or teachings? People generally agree that Jesus is a good teacher. Why not talk about that? Paul talks about this in 1 Cor 15. He states that our faith is futile, and that we are to be pitied more then all men. What is he talking about?

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

- Romans 6.23 (NIV) 

So sin and death goes hand in hand. In Genesis 3, God blocks the way to the Tree of Life because Adam sinned, and to prevent the sinning from staying with them forever, He prevented them from living forever. We sin (break the law), therefore the punishment (application of justice) is death. Death is the final word. Nothing came after that. In the OT, substitution with animals are allowed, but that required the continual sacrifice of animals, because we will always continue to fall short of God's standards.

In NT, Christ stepped forward as the sacrifice. So His death is important because we paid our punishment. His resurrection is important then, because sin and death are linked, and by surpassing death, Jesus surpassed sin. So if He didn't resurrect, then the system really hasn't changed, we still fall short of God with no way of making up for it. Our faith would be futile, and we would still be working our salvation.

Paul goes one step further. He says that if we don't have Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. There is no purpose in in prayer (without Christ, the connection between humans and God would be limited to a select few), or living a self-controlled, self-less life. Without Christ, we should be going for money and comfort because there is nothing after our time on earth, so might as well eat, drink and be merry, while we still can. Why be disciplined if we're all going to die anyway?

But there is more then this life. Christ has ensured it.