It Takes a Village
Why Flourishing Isn’t Just About Us
This article is part of the Claritas spring 2022 issue, Flourishing. Read the full print release here.
By Joaquin Rivera
I will never forget the culture shock I felt when shuffling into Lynah Rink for my first Cornell Hockey game. In sports games at my classical Christian high school in Texas, there were very clear unwritten rules that our crowds and teams were to be loving and honorable in all circumstances. We would not heckle opposing teams, use any profanity, or get angry at results. On this chilly winter evening in Ithaca, I was standing in the Cornell student section amidst a crowd that was mocking opposing players when they fell or insulting the opposing goalie when he took off his mask to drink water. I felt a world away from the place I grew up.
The Cornell Class of 2025 is roughly 418 times the size of my high school graduating class. Along with the staggering difference in size, my college environment is different from my high school environment in almost every way imaginable—from the people I meet to the classes I take to all the activities happening around me. No longer am I in a community populated for the most part by fellow believers; I am now in a much more ideologically diverse environment.
As I was making my decision to attend Cornell, I was aware of many of these differences, and was a bit scared of how I would fit in. When I first arrived on campus I felt stifled in many ways, and thus, the question of how to flourish in my time at Cornell has been very present in the months that I have been here. However, as time has passed, I have realized that personal flourishing is not achieved by centering my life around myself, but by intentionally seeking the flourishing of my community.
This idea of bringing flourishing into a community was drilled into me throughout my high school experience. The head of my school would often give an analogy that I found particularly compelling: the idea that the process of education is like the flight of an arrow.
The head of school would say that students were the arrow shaft, or the main component of the arrow, and that the school’s job was to equip us with skills that would make up the other parts of our “arrow” and help us fly well when we graduated and were sent out into the world. On a personal level, this analogy has allowed me to discern my strengths and think deeply about how I can use them. But, the more I have thought about the arrow, the more I have been able to use it to see others in a new light; I now see people as different “arrows” shaped by their own unique upbringings. In the same way that archers use different kinds of arrows for different circumstances, it is fascinating to think that God shapes each of our lives to be most effective in different ways.
Yet, the arrow analogy begs the question: what does it mean to be “sent out into the world by God?” At Cornell, the majority of the people I interact with do not subscribe to Christian beliefs. I have found that it can then be more comfortable to not interact with those outside of Christian circles. When Christians do this, we link our personal flourishing to our feeling of safeness in a community of believers. This was certainly my view coming into Cornell at first. I thought that what I had to do was find those who shared my faith and minimize my interaction with non-believers. But I think this passivity towards my community is not what God intends for me at Cornell. An archer fires an arrow because he wants it to be impactful at his target of interest. In the same way, when God sends us on different life trajectories, into situations that are unfamiliar or even hostile to us, his intent is for us to make a positive and godly impact on the lives of those around us. And although arrows are typically used to cause death, we are sent out into the world to bring life into the areas where we land.
The Cornell Daily Sun recently ran a front-page story detailing Cornell’s mental health crisis. [1] The article begins with a story about a student at Stanford who seemed to have all the signs of outward flourishing—being the captain of a sports team, on the Dean’s list, and seemingly happy—yet she took her own life. The article then cites information from Cornell’s 2020 Mental Health Review, saying that “within the past year, over forty percent of students were unable to function academically for at least a week due to depression, stress, or anxiety.” [2] The report calls on the Cornell administration to address this crisis, but as Christians, I believe it is our duty to also answer this call when there is a need in our community.
In the Bible, the duty to serve one’s community is powerfully illustrated by the Jewish exile to Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah tells us that when the Jews were exiled, God gave them a charge:
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:4-7, ESV)
The Jews were given this command after they had just endured a brutal siege at the hands of the Babylonians and watched their state that contained their homes, temple, and godly institutions get destroyed. But to God, that was not a justification for them to shun and despise the people who conquered them—God wants the well-being of even those who are hostile to him, and his people are his instruments to that end. God wants the Israelites to understand that as humans, our own flourishing is inextricably tied to our seeking of the flourishing of those around us.
In a way, I think this charge in Jeremiah can be analogous to our college lives. Although BRB’s seem akin to prison currency, we are not captives; God sent us here. Moreover, there is a tension between Christian beliefs and those of most Cornellians. On multiple occasions, I have been sitting in classes or amongst peers in clubs and have been told anti-Christian jokes or arguments. In these moments, I have been uncertain of how to respond, but the passage from Jeremiah demonstrates what our outlook towards others should be: our flourishing is found not in passively accepting what is going on around us nor in lashing out in anger, but in seeking the flourishing of all our neighbors.
Of course, that is not to say that we should neglect to use our skills for our own benefit. The prior verses tell the Jews to build houses, develop families and eat the produce of their labor. We shouldn’t monastically deny using the skills God gave us, but should instead develop talents like intelligence and athleticism to glorify God in what we do; we can utilize our talents to actively help others or simply use them as a bridge to form more relationships with those around us. The verses from Jeremiah also imply that striving for flourishing is a community affair. Building a house, planting a garden, increasing as a population, and impacting the huge city of ancient Babylon were all things that required the work of a community.
A biblical example that inspired me in this regard was the character of Daniel, who was one of the Jews sent into exile. He developed his gifts into tools that could benefit the Babylonian institutions he found himself in and benefit the spiritual good of the kings he served. In this service to Babylon, he was also unswerving in his godly path, standing up for his rights not confrontationally but by persisting in his actions of worship and using his skills to slowly gain the respect of the kings he served.
“Flourishing” and “welfare” are words that often evoke images of monetary wealth or power and influence, but the Hebrew word used in the passage from Jeremiah is actually “shalom”. Often translated as peace, this word also has the deeper meaning of completeness. Peace or completeness that is found in God is much more fulfilling than wealth or power, and I think this was exactly the message the Jews needed after watching their city be destroyed—and it is exactly the message we need as students. Poor mental health at Cornell stems in part from a lack of peace caused by an endless striving for success and material wealth. We can achieve more of this “completeness” by striving to develop it in others. As we saw earlier, a flourishing that is tied to one’s own achievements is not always as fulfilling as we hope it to be. I have sometimes struggled with the stress of pushing myself to get every point in assignments to achieve some sense of accomplishment. This mindset has resulted in a loss of peace for myself on many occasions, but by seeking to be more focused on my relationships with others, I have felt more complete.
There is scientific research that corroborates this vision of flourishing. A UC Berkeley study on the science of generosity found that those who intentionally engaged in acts of kindness and generosity experienced a remarkable increase in their well being compared to those who did not. [3] Through testing a variety of different groups, the study determined four specific areas in our lives that generosity improves—our physical health, our psychological health, workplace benefits, and relationship benefits. This paints a picture of a framework of flourishing built around our relationships with those around us that helps us achieve more “completeness”.
There are a few things that are important to keep in mind in order to effectively pursue flourishing in this way. The first step of seeking the welfare of those around us lies in our attitudes. The Bible often warns against those whose good deeds are not aligned with their hearts. Sure, we can perform the actions of kindness and of seeking the flourishing of others, but if we don’t have a genuine attitude of love towards those around us, it will be a fruitless venture.
A great example of the right outlook is found in a quotation by the ancient Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius is famous for writing Meditations, which are essentially daily sentences or paragraphs he would write to himself for empowerment throughout the day. In one especially provoking entry he writes: “Lift me up and hurl me. Wherever you will. My spirit will be gracious to me there—gracious and satisfied—as long as its existence and actions match its nature. Is there any reason why my soul should suffer and be degraded, miserable, tense, huddled, frightened? How could there be?” [4] This quote carries a powerful sentiment for how we should respond when God sends us out into the world. Wherever we end up, we should accept that we are exactly where God wants us, and it is our job for our hearts and deeds to follow what Aurelius refers to as our “nature”—in our case, God’s command to impact those around us for the better.
As students, I would imagine most of us wake up and dread the classes, prelims, assignments, and meetings the day holds. But what difference would it make if we framed our morning attitude with the idea that we should be grateful for the day and see that every moment is an opportunity to bring flourishing to ourselves and to our communities?
As I have settled into my life as a Cornell student, I have learned to maintain the God-centered parts of the lifestyle I cultivated in high school to reflect God’s light and love in my mostly-secular community. When the Israelites were taken from their old home, God told them to still maintain their traditions but to acknowledge what their new surroundings were like and to use the godly truths they knew to change their new surroundings for the better. In the same way, I want to live out the ethics and mindset that I developed before college and use it as a way to be an example to others.
My call to readers, then, would be to embrace the idea of seeking the welfare of others both individually and as a community. One arrow alone with its individual specifications cannot take down an entire army, but a shower of arrows, each with their own strengths, can ripple through many people. Ours is a university in need of peace, and I think that peace is something that Christians can provide through our words and actions.
So, to substitute some words into Jeremiah 29: “Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all the students whom I have sent to Cornell University from their homes. Study for your prelims and succeed. Go to dining halls and eat their produce. Multiply as a Christian community and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the university where I have sent you, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
SOURCES
[1] Sofia Chierchio, “Mental Health Concerns Spark Debate,” Cornell Daily Sun, March 24, 2022, 1.
[2] Cornell University, Mental Health Review Final Report, April 2020, https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.cornell.edu/dist/b/8750/files/2020/10/Cornell_MHR-Final-Report_4-15-20_Final.pdf
[3] Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, The Science of Generosity, May 2018, 19-28, https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/images/uploads/GGSC-JTF_White_Paper-Generosity-FINAL.pdf
[4] Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. Gregory Hays (New York: Random House, 2003), 110.