Veni Quid Veniat

          Greetings, reader. I, the author, am a student. Right now, I'm studying geology, mathematics, and physics, in hopes of eventually becoming a geophysicist. First and foremost, however, I am a Christian. All my goals, ideas, and opinions - as much as I can, everything about me - flow from my Christianity. My ultimate goal, above all others, is to reflect Christ in everything I do. Anything else is merely an attempt to achieve that final goal. For that reason, I am a student of more than the physical sciences. Partially as a hobby, and partially to come to a more complete understanding of Christianity, I am also studying history, philosophy, and theology.
          No description of myself would be complete without a description of my family. I am the fourth of seven children - precisely in the middle, with three sisters younger than me and three brothers older than me. I am proud of my family, and with good reason, I believe - my mother excels in every skill required in a homemaker, my father is a renowned historian known for producing books at an impossible pace, two of my brothers have excelled in exceptionally difficult courses of study in college (the third has been hampered by severe autism, but even at that he leaves me with the unsettling feeling at times that he is quite a bit smarter than I am), and my sisters are aptly following in their mother's footsteps. Recognizing my own bias, I will not make foolish superlative statements, but I do have a very definite opinion on the topic.
          More important than giving an opportunity for annoying bragging, though, my family provided me with an education. I am immensely thankful that my parents chose to homeschool me (and will gladly take any opportunity to explain why, as I did in one of my earliest blog posts, here). Because I was homeschooled, I gained a much wider and deeper store of knowledge than I ever could have otherwise, and I developed a varied - even odd - collection of interests. I am who I am because I was homeschooled, and I like who I am - or, more accurately, who I am becoming. Still more important, though, being homeschooled allowed my education to be holistic, rather than segmented. Instead of being taught everything else with religion as an afterthought, I was taught how all things flow from Christ, that He is before all things, and that in Him all things consist. Without Him, without a God to create a comprehensible universe governed by consistent laws, nothing could exist. No education can be complete without the recognition that every topic draws its meaning and usefulness from its relation to Christ, and deference to his infallible hand where it touches that topic. Scientific inquiry without a God to create a comprehensible universe is thoroughly pointless; with Him, however, it is a grateful exploration of the gift He gave to us. For that reason, I am not someone who is studying to be a scientist who happens to be a Christian, or even a Christian who happens to be studying to be a scientist, I am studying to be a scientist because I am a Christian, because I believe it is through exploring the gift of the comprehensible physical world that I am to glorify God.


           Now, I usually try to avoid talking about myself, because I am told I have a tendency to fall into a smug, self-satisfied tone. If I have, I apologize. Who am I, though, is relevant because it shows what this blog will be. As you may have noticed, this is not exactly a blog in the traditional sense. It is not updated regularly, the posts are quite lengthy, and the design is not intended to gather page views. More than anything, it is a repository for my tedious rants on whatever topic happened to catch my attention at the moment, therefore, more than a themed blog, it will reflect my peculiar interests. If you are kind enough to read, you may enjoy one post, or none, or all - in general, each is intended to stand alone, and will often fall into completely different categories than preceding posts. My goal is not to have a dedicated readership - to do that, I would have to start writing consistently interesting posts, a task I dread - but to provide interesting commentary on a variety of topics.
          With that said, it might be wise to address the type of people who will enjoy this blog, to keep the rest of you from wasting your time. As I have mentioned before, my goal is to reflect Christ in all things. In order to do that, I seek to draw a complete philosophy from Christian principles, and apply that philosophy to each topic I touch on. Even if the Christian roots of the principles are not stated, they are always present - for example, I believe in the sanctity of life, private property, and personal responsibility not because I accept them as first principles, as some do, but because I derive them from Christianity. If you can't stand Christianity, you first have my prayers and sympathy, but second, my warning that this blog might not be a particularly enjoyable read (although I would encourage you to read my post in which I explain a little bit of my reasoning on the topic, found here, before you go). Second, my limited talent as an author does not lie in the direction of exciting or thrilling writing. If you prefer short sentences and lots of pictures, I can assure you that this blog will not be an enjoyable read for you. Finally, and this should be rather obvious, if you aren't interested in science, mathematics, history, philosophy, theology, or politics (an interest in politics, I believe, is required by an interest in the others - see this post for a more detailed explanation) you are in the wrong place. I hope whoever is left enjoys reading these essays as much as I enjoyed writing them.



          While I'm explaining what this blog is, I might as well add a paragraph on the title of the blog. Google Analytics tells me that at least a handful of those who wind up here did so while looking for the meaning of the Latin phrase I used as the title. The phrase veni quid veniat translates to come what may come in English. I used it as the title of this blog for two reasons. First, for me, it calls to mind the phrase fiat justitia et pereat mundus, which is translated let justice be done, though the world perish, or, less literally, do the right thing, come what may. Veni quid veniat is a reminder that our only concern is to do our duty, whatever happens. It is harsh and unyielding, but it provides an immovable anchor in confusing or frightening times: stop thinking about what might happen, and do what you know to be right. At the same time, the phrase is a reminder of a much more comforting concept, and the one that gives the first its meaning. Whatever happens, come what may, God is with His people. Because of this we can set the consequences aside and do what we know to be right, because God is sovereign. His will will be done, His counsel will stand, and He will accomplish His purpose. We can rest in doing what we know to be right, knowing that the outcome rests in God's hands - that God is sovereign, come what may.