Last Friday I had a slightly horrendous logic exam, as the ‘turning-over-the-page-to-face-a-lot-of-questions-you-can’t-answer’ scenario became more actual and less hypothetical!
After our three hours of trying to write down any possible relevant knowledge, Liv and I went to Fitzbillies to celebrate the demise of logic (it’s no longer a compulsory paper from next year), and we sat by the river happily eating Chelsea Buns. To confirm, Liv is happy, but in her own words ‘I can’t smile, it’s too sunny’.
In the interests of balancing out the above photo, there is a photo below of both of us the Sunday before – when we went to London for ‘International Day’ at Jubilee Church.
Which brings me to another thing, namely the thank you that needs to be said to Liv, for being The Most Wonderful friend to navigate Cambridge’s philosophy Tripos with.
Doing these exams together has been a little bittersweet (on my side) because Liv has a job with the student’s union next year doing access work, which is obviously absolutely fantastic (+ she will do a better job than anyone else could), but from a selfish perspective, I am sad that this means that we won’t be sitting finals (third year exams) together.
Thanks for being perfect Liv ❤
Happily, now that I have also sat the political philosophy exam, I only have an ancient philosophy exam and a general paper to go! Did you know? I am so very grateful for all that is happening during this time. I have been blessed by time with friends, by beautiful clouds like the one at the top of this blog post, which was above Newnham on Saturday, and also by beautiful birdsong! This morning I was up before sunrise, and the birdsong was so loud and just absolutely incredible:
This world is really very beautiful!
In the midst of the work I am doing at the moment I am trying to keep reminding myself of a perspective that matters far more than my own. At student lunch on Sunday my friend Dom shared a couple of questions that he asks himself when things get on top of him:
- Jesus, are you stressed by this? (if no, what reason is there to be stressed?)
- Is this thing? (if yes, then this is part of the promise of Romans 8:28, ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’)
How good are these questions, and what an amazing perspective they speak to! I am so thankful that what matters about my work is that I am faithful in the work that has been given to me to do, and nothing more than that. It is so freeing, because it means that when I walk into an exam room, I have already done all that is required of me and the result does not matter.
To end, here is a link to a song that I have been playing a lot recently, and which is now connected in my mind to eating breakfast on the step of Peile in Newnham gardens, having some quiet time before my logic exam. I hope you like it too!
thejoyofrachel 