Preparation for Gaming: The Right Disposition

Picture is by Francois Lemoyne (1737) entitled Time Saving Truth from Falsehood and Envy.

As with most things in life we learn, students know this truth but often forget it: that truth remains both ever ancient and ever new. That wisdom is always relevant and applicable.

The old Socratic adage and imperative: "Know Thyself" remains relevant even thousands of years later in societies far removed from Athens where it was first coined and promulgated. In fact, it is an integral part of the study abroad program here in Gaming, Austria.

How so?

More often then not, students who come to Gaming are searching. What are they searching for?

They are searching for truth, beauty, and goodness. They are searching to know themselves, to discover their gifts, to discern their purpose in life. In short, they are searching for God, even if they don't know it. As all men do, they are searching for happiness, meaning, and joy.

In this exploration to know thyself and to know God, Cardinal Newman offers some crucial advice for a successful search.

In one of his sermons he proclaims: "That Truth, which St. Paul preached, addresses itself to our spiritual nature: it will be rightly understood, valued, accepted, by none but lovers of the truth, virtue, purity, humility, and peace. Wisdom will be justified to her children."

In other words, for wisdom to reveal herself, one must have the proper internal disposition. One must love Cardinal Newman says again, "truth, virtue, purity, humility, and peace." Only when one's heart is in the right place can one be truly receptive to God's truth and his path for your life.

Moreover, Newman says elsewhere that "earnestness is necessary for gaining religious truth." One must be striving to put our will aside and know all that is good, true, and beautiful. Never does he say we must be perfect, but he does say we must be earnest in trying.

St. Augustine, in his Confessions says the same thing in another way: "The nub of the problem was to reject my own will and to desire yours." Augustine knew that too often we want to cling to our own notions, our own desires: it becomes all about me. However, when we desire God, all of a sudden it is like looking through binoculars: one can see things that were hidden from the eyes. One gains a power of sight to see, discern, understand, and to know truth, to know God, and to experience true joy. The blurry path becomes clearer not through our own efforts but through grace.

As students prepare to come to Gaming and absorb all that the Study Abroad experience has to offer, it is vital to remember that their quest to tackle Socrates' "Know thyself" and their desire to know God, will only bear fruit if their internal or spiritual disposition is in the right place. The first step to know thyself is to ask with Newman, "Am I earnest in my pursuit? Do I love truth, virtue, purity, humility, and peace?" If not, there is no better place to start than here.

"The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day (Prov. iv.18).