“Never in any case whatever is a genuine effort of the attention wasted. It always has its effect on the spiritual plane and in consequence on the lower one of the intelligence, for all spiritual light lightens the mind.”  So wrote the 20^th century philosopher/theologian, Simone Weil in an essay entitled “Reflection on the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God”. 

She believed that academic work cultivates attention, which translates into prayer.  Studying any subject, even if remote from the subject of spirituality, entrains a divine disposition toward humility and receptivity. 
 
God is love.  And love is open, non-judgmental, genuinely curious attention.  So if you are paying this kind of unconditional, compassionate attention to anybody or anything, you are communing with God.  You are doing God.  You are experiencing God.
 
This means that you can get to God by studying statistics, even if you are not particularly adept at the subject.  The careful attention you pay to it, the humble curiosity you direct toward the subject of your study, is by nature prayerful.  Sacred.  Divine.  You can get a “C” in statistics but be delivered into the presence of God by it nonetheless. 
 
Your soul can be served by your study.  And your study in turn can be enhanced by your awareness of its sacredness.  Worship and contemplative prayer will entrain your ability to be deeply attentive in all other aspects of your life, including your academic pursuits. 
 
What matters most is love itself.  The love that is attention.  The love that is God.  And out of that love may flow an enhanced capacity for academic work. 
 
“Love your enemies,” said Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount.  And the Greek word in the Bible for “love”, in this passage, is “agape” – unconditional, purely attentive love.  Sometimes we hate the subjects of our studies.  Math or physics or biology or political science problems can become our enemies.  The Christ guides us to love them anyway.  Jesus doesn’t ask us to like our enemies.  He asks us to love them.  To sit with them, pay deep attention to them, and set aside our judgements about them, whether positive or negative.   Give your studies some good agape – especially in the subjects you find most challenging.
 
Here’s a practice you can do in a group, or by yourself.
 
Studia Divina  (Latin for “divine studies”)  is based on Lectio Divina (“divine reading”), an old Christian spiritual practice.  In Lectio Divina, a passage of scripture is read aloud a few times (lectio), followed by a period of meditation in which all assumptions or meanings about the reading are released (meditatio).  This is followed by a prescribed oral prayer (oratio), and the prayer is followed by contemplation (contemplatio) – in which the soul enters into union with the divine. In Studia Divina, use a study problem or focus as the reading.  It can be a challenging passage from a novel or a mysterious aspect of a poem, a thorny question from the study of history, or a math problem.  What problem do you admire – whether you have solved it or not?  What’s the most interesting “unknown” in your field of study?  The problem may or may not have a clear answer.  It can be a simple one:  “If the cost of a bat and a baseball combined is $1.10 and the bat costs $1.00 more than the ball, how much is the ball?”  (answer: $0.05)  Or it can be sublimely challenging:  “What is the ideal structure of a democracy?”

Here’s a current example from the study of public health:

Lectio:  “What is the correct balance of health risk and risk to educational outcomes in determining response to infectious disease in public schools?” Repeat it slowly aloud, twice.

Meditatio:  Sit with this question, letting go of any preconceptions or opinions about it.  Don’t try to answer it.  Consider its many implications and connections to other questions and issues, its significance and complexity.  Admire it lovingly for ten minutes.

Oratio:  Say aloud: “May divine love grow in my heart, soul, and mind through my attention to this problem.”

Contemplatio:  In this period (10 minutes), release your attention to the problem, and pay attention to whatever arises.  It can be anything.  A thought, a reflection, an insight.  Or a physical sensation or an emotional experience.  Attend to each arising experience, one at a time, observing with compassion and acceptance, and then gently releasing to make way for the next, until you rest in awareness of attention itself.  The attention that is prayer.  The attention that is love.  The love that is God…