Society of Explorers

Before I came to California four years ago, I knew very little about what to expect. I remember learning in high school history class about the explorers who went out west and the 1849 Gold Rush that sent masses westward seeking a fortune.

In a similar spirit, when I traveled for the first time westward to begin school at Stanford, I did so with a sense of adventure. I was joining a society of explorers.

But arriving in California, I discovered a new adventure was occupying the people. At Stanford I met buildings named after Hewlett, Packard, and Gates. Zuckerberg would stop by campus to give a computer science lecture. And it wasn't long until we were anticipating who in our class would create the next great start-up and become ridiculously wealthy.

The society of explores had become the society of creators.

But we aren't just creating start-ups and fortunes. At Stanford we have a class put on by the School of Design called, "Design Your Life". The now popular answer to "What is the meaning of life?" is "You create your meaning."

Don't discover. Create.

It sounds exciting. But I wonder if we have gotten too carried away. Is the purpose that we're creating as temporary as the start-ups Silicon Valley produce. Are there some things we should still be seeking for? Something more valuable and eternal than gold?

To those still exploring and discovering, I share the promise: "You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).