I have made friends with a world-famous physicist here at Clemson. Actually, all the credit goes to my roommate, who is an even more avid Starbucks-goer than I am and who struck up a friendship with this man, who she sees regularly while they both sip on their lattes under the spell of caffeine-addiction like moths to a green, fluorescent flame.
The physicist’s field is quantum theory, and I have no idea what that means, so that is all I will say about that.
To say that he is smart is a preposterous understatement, but what I find more impressive than all his merits and badges from the world of Academia is his genuine interest in others and his never-satisfied curiosity about everything. He seems to find as much to discuss on the subject of making cookies as he does on relative theory. I never knew how un-curios I was until I met him.
I had seen him in Starbucks before, and after my roommate described this newfound friend of hers to me I knew we had seen the same man. One afternoon after church I was sitting on my couch in my pajamas eating my lunch and heard the door open. In walked Leigh followed by the physicist. It was not my finest moment. Wether it was because I knew he was brilliant, or because I knew he was an atheist, or because he has a British accent I am not sure, but for some reason I was intimidated and winced at the thought of telling him about my line of work: “Um, no, Mr. Physicist, sir. I am not a grad student. I do not actually know what Einstein figured out. I do not go to work at an office for 8 hours a day, and actually, I don’t even have an office. What do I do? Well, I bake cookies and sometimes talk about Jesus.”
I was preparing myself for this conversation (which really did go something like that), but I was not prepared for his graciousness and fascination. He really thought it was novel that I am in Clemson to make relationships. His exposure to religion seems to have been a sterile one, one that did not see how Christ was the Great Friend, the Brother, the Bearer of Burdens.
I always have good conversations with him. Actually, they are pretty one-sided, with him providing all the sagacity, but they are the kind of conversations that leave me feeling like we really talked about something, something beyond the rote and beaten-down conversations to which we become numb. I like him because he thinks. He values thinking, and he makes time for it. It’s cool to him, and he cares little that thinking is largely “uncool” in our society, especially (and ironically) in our university bubble.
Today I sat across from him at lunch for an hour and didn’t way a word. I just listened as he and the pastor of my church here talked about the effect the subjective and relative thinking has upon our society- every facet of it. Interestingly, both the physicist and the pastor had the same view on relativistic thinking: It’s absurd. They came from different angles and had different reasons, but the same conclusion. It was good to listen to them.
I didn’t think that I’d have this kind of friend here in Clemson. I didn’t think that this situation and opportunity would be laid in front of me. I really hope that the physicist knows Jesus one day. I hope that he comes to believe the Bible. Until then I am so happy to know him, to be friends with him, to learn from him how “to think” and how to be interested in others, and to discuss ideas with him. He is one of the most enjoyable people I’ve met since being here. Pray for him. Pray that the community of the church, that he is so intrigued by, would point him to Christ.
April Goes to Clemson 