BY ANTHONY A. POLISTICO
Epistemology and ontology are two pillars of reality. The nature of reality can only be attained if it is grounded in epistemology and ontology. The epistemological foundation of reality investigates the very nature of knowledge or rationality. The ontological foundation of reality examines the very nature of things in themselves. Reality is a constant interplay of epistemology and ontology. Epistemology and ontology complement each other in understanding and knowing the nature of reality.
In my daily life, I am immersed in the interaction between ontology and epistemology. This reflection paper will look at specific instances in my day-to-day existence as a campus minister where epistemology and ontology have helped me stay grounded in reality.
I am a campus minister. I help facilitate retreats and recollections of the students. As a campus minister, it is expected of me to have substantial knowledge in giving retreats and recollections. I ask myself - how do I know that I know what I know? I realized that I know what I know because it is my nature as a rational being to know. I am a being endowed with intellect. As a rational being, I have innate knowledge and contingent knowledge.
My innate knowledge is comprised of what I know independent of my experiences. I know that 1 + 1 = 2, even if I do not experience it. My contingent knowledge is comprised of the things that I know, dependent on my experiences. I know that students become comfortable in their prayers if they are assured that God will listen to them without judgment.
As a campus minister, it is expected of me to be welcoming and understanding to students. I realized that to be welcoming and understanding to students, I must first know what makes a student. I ask myself – what is the essence of a student? I realized that a student is a person who exists in the here and now. A student is also a person who has different contexts and struggles.
As a campus minister, I realized that I should consider students as individuals with different needs. I should be there for each student, depending on their particular needs. I should meet each student where they are at the moment. If the student is hurting, I should be there to console him/her. If the student is joyful, I should be there to celebrate with him/her. If the student is depressed, I should be there to offer my presence and my listening heart. And if the student is on the brink of giving up, I should be there to enkindle hope.
The interplay of epistemology and ontology in my life as a campus minister urges me to become a person not of my own but for others. To know the nature of knowledge or rationality is to know my very self. To see the nature of things in themselves is to know my place in the greater scheme of things. I am a rational being who exists in this time and context. I am complete as I am, but it does not end there. I am challenged by my very nature to become an authentic person for others. I realized that to become a genuine person for others is to help others actualize their potential.
Epistemology and ontology help me know and realize my place in the greater scheme of things. I realized that seeing my place in the greater scheme of things pushes me to go deeper and see the source of everything.
I realized that if the things that I do as a campus minister were my own doing, everything would be futile and useless. There must be a greater power guiding and inspiring me because alone and unaided, I get tired and bored quickly. I realized that my very nature as a person has a source. My motivation and inspiration as a campus minister have a source. My patience and understanding in listening to students have a source, and my being a campus minister itself has a source. That source is God.
God is the source of who and what I am. I came into this world not of my own but God's gift to me through my parents. God blessed me with intellect and will so that I may know, love, and follow him. The interplay of epistemology and ontology in my concrete life is a testimony of God's presence in my life. God is constantly with me.
Being a campus minister is my response to God's presence in my life. God uses me as his instrument to let others know that he is there for them and that he is real. As a campus minister, God uses me to be there for my students. My 'being a campus minister' makes God's presence real in the lives of my students. I realized that I am saying 'yes' every day to God's call to be patient and understanding to my students. I am blessed and humbled at the same time to become God's instrument to actualize the potential of my students so that they can also find their place in the greater scheme of things.
Epistemology and ontology are two pillars of reality. They complement each other in understanding and knowing the nature of reality. Thus, the reality is a constant interplay of epistemology and ontology. The interplay of epistemology and ontology becomes concrete in my life as a campus minister every time I help my students actualize their potential. As I help my students to be the best they can be, I am fulfilling God's call in my life, and I am proclaiming to the world that God is indeed real. God is the source and goal of epistemology and ontology. Everything does not make sense without God, and there is a massive void if God is not there.
Epistemology and ontology are basic to our engagement with the world. But it does not end there because our human experience is before our epistemology and ontology. Our humanness enables us to touch the lives of other people. Thus, we cannot just be outside onlookers of life wherein we objectively gather data about people and make judgments and conclusions about them. We need to engage in others' lives to have a genuine understanding of reality. We need to even share our lives and be open to the horizon of others to amplify our view of reality.
In the end, without a true relationship with the source—God—reality cannot ever be understood in its true and authentic form. If there is such a relationship, meaningful understanding may go well beyond our epistemology and ontology.
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