On Earth Day (April 22) this year, we had an alumni gathering in the Covenant Fine Arts Center recital hall. Our keynote speaker was Calvin De Witt ’57, a Distinguished Alumnus of Calvin and a longtime professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Cal was the second presenter in a new annual event sponsored by the Heritage Class of Calvin College, whose membership consists of all those graduated from Calvin over 50 years ago.
The leadership of the Heritage Class was keen on demonstrating that yes, even those who graduated earlier than 1965 remain vitally active in their fields and had plenty yet to teach us: alumni, faculty and students.
So, Cal titled his talk for the annual Heritage Class Lecture as follows: “From Garden to Globe: Our Reformed Embrace of Science and Stewardship.”
He traced his own calling as a person interested in God’s marvelous creation, from frogs to painted turtles to desert lizards to the marshland that is attached to his home outside Madison.
Cal reminded us of the “two books” statement in the Belgic Confession, that God reveals Himself in two ways, the first of which is “by the creation, preservation and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God.” The second book, of course, is scripture—so He is known “by His holy and divine Word, as much as we need in this life, for God’s glory and for our salvation.”
We audience members were challenged to keep our eyes, ears and minds wide open to the awe-inspiring lessons God reveals in His creative artistry. According to Cal, this book of many colors and sounds weaves seamlessly with God’s revelation in the Bible. And, despite today’s attempts to downplay the story we see in creation and the story we read in the Word, these books complement one another gracefully and truthfully.
He ended with this set of reminders based on the work of Brian Gerrish in Gerrish’s work “Five Notes of the Reformed Habit of Mind”—and I think all Calvin alumni and friends can benefit from this counsel:
The Reformed Habit of Mind is:
- Deferential: looks to the Bible, Reformed confessions and forebears for guidance.
- Critical of its tradition, always appropriating what is pertinent in our time.
- Receptive of learning, wisdom, knowledge, leading us to learned ministry.
- Always self-consciously practical, shaping Christian minds and community in positive ways—sidelining topics of no impact on church or community.
- Evangelical: puts the gospel at the center and does its thinking from there.
De Witt brought his beloved Wisconsin marshland home to us, and in the process he exercised our discernment muscles.
Let’s all keep in shape.
