Marc Schiler

My story is a collection of many stories. I'll start with a simple one. I was raised by a pair of hardworking Swiss parents in a small midwestern city. I got an excellent public education. I went to CalTech to become a nuclear physicist and make energy that was too cheap to meter. After two years, when that didn't seem so likely, I switched to Architecture at USC, where I studied design. But I rapidly concluded that the real issue was how to design buildings that respond to the environment. I went on to Cornell for graduate school and began teaching there in 1978. I came to California in 1982 to teach at USC and to assist in the ministry of a small church in Pasadena. I've been dealing with those two projects ever since. My view of the universe is that there is definitely good and evil. There is beauty and ugliness. There is love and anger and hate. None of those things are well explained by an exclusively materialistic framework. Indeed, there are problems with the deist and Christian viewpoint, but they are nothing compared to the problems of an atheistic viewpoint. We are very well trained to find the problems with Christianity and we completely ignore the problems with an exclusively secular view. I have a very personal relationship with God. I recognize that most people do not. But it is the best explanation for the way things work in my life, as well as the best explanation for the origin of the physical universe and for the origin and existence of good and evil. I regularly re-examine that relationship, but I have found nothing that would satisfactorily replace it. That personal relationship began in Switzerland at a hotel in the mountains. I felt close to God, almost in His presence during my daily walks. Then in the evening, I heard a man speak who had been a missionary to Devil's Island, the French prison colony. He discussed the fact that we do things that we do not want to do. It leaves us guilty of things that we know are wrong, even if we try to explain some of them away. We are of limited ability to curb that behavior and of no ability to go back and do it over, to absolve ourselves. We have a need for both redemption and power to continue. That is when I began to engage in prayer and believe that God might be real, not just abstract and distant. I felt a presence and a forgiveness of great magnitude. My relationship with God (through Jesus) has changed in many ways over the years and I have had many amazing experiences. But my conclusion remains the same. God is real, and does deal with people directly. If I find time I will post some of my stories. If you are interested, you can contact me.

My Life

Favorite Quote

I believe in light and in truth; by them we see reality and beauty.

My hobbies

Flying, SCUBA, travel

Best advice I ever received

If God talks to you, listen.

My undergrad alma mater

CalTech, USC

My worst subject in school

handwriting

In college I drove

Triumph GT6+

Favorite books

J. R. R. Tolkien, Tom Clancy, C. S. Lewis, Patrick O'Brian .... !!!

Favorite movies

Passion, LOTR, Star Wars, Raiders ...

Favorite city

Zurich

Favorite coffee

latte