Learning Time

Look closely at this photo. The "Y" is made up of new students standing in the football stadium bleachers!

Today was my first day of school. BYU actually began their classes yesterday, but this semester I teach all four of my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I have Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to do research and other things. It will be nice.

First days are always exciting. Seeing all those young, beautiful faces out there and knowing that in a few weeks they will be my new friends energizes me. I love it.

But it is also fun as the semester wears on to see the personalities of the students come out. I have the most interesting, talented, and wonderful students. They constantly amaze me.

But once in a great while there is a student who amazes me in negative ways like one student today who kept rolling his eyes in obvious disagreement and questioning the things I said--and mostly what we did today was go over the expectations for the class. I already know he isn't going to like my class. And that makes me think about how many times I've gone into a situation where I could have learned so much, but my negative or prideful attitude kept me from learning and enjoying.

Mind you, I have over 220 students and that was the only one who was openly negative. But I learned something from him and I'm excited about the more positive things I'm going to learn from the other 219 students during the semester. I'm not sure who learns the most in my classes, the students or me!

Pride vs. Charity

I was once in a meeting where a man bore a sweet testimony of what he had learned the Sunday before from a 16 year old girl. Her message, simple yet profound, touched him and as he related it to us we were also touched. He ended by explaining that when the Spirit is with you, a person can learn from even a small child. The next week I happened to be in another meeting with this same man and was surprised to hear him critically report on a talk he had heard by a well-known BYU religion professor. He ended this report by saying, “I didn’t learn one thing from him.” What became obvious as he spoke about the man was that he had a personal bias against people who write books on gospel topics.

Listening to him made me wonder what prejudices I have that separate me from the Spirit and keep me from growing. Paul taught the Corinthians that all members of God’s Church are one body and that to each of the individuals within the body God has given specific gifts which are to be shared. Paul said that the eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” Each part of the body has a different function but all are vital. Paul then went on to explain that “God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:28).

What Paul is explaining is that some, like the professor, have been given the gift not only of knowledge but of time to study and in turn to share what is learned. Others may not have four or five hours a day to study the scriptures, but they have the gift to listen and learn from the one who does have time. The person who listens also has other gifts, such as the gift of compassion and the ability to size up a situation and know exactly what to do to assist someone in need. The person in need may have musical talent that inspires the professor in his studies. In other words, we all need each other. We all bless each other. And if we discount any person’s gift we hurt ourselves.

As I pondered on how I let feelings toward others get in the way of my learning from them, I realized that any prejudice or bias is a form of pride. As President Ezra Taft Benson once explained, “The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means ‘hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.’ It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.” (“Beware of Pride”, Ensign, May 1989, p.4).

It is easy to see how looking down on others is a form of pride. If someone had discounted the message of the 16 year old girl from the onset of her talk simply because she was only 16 and couldn’t possibly know anything, that is easily recognized as pride. But there is another side to the coin of pride. As President Benson explained, “Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the rich and the learned, looking down at the rest of us. (See 2 Ne. 9:42.) There is, however, a far more common ailment among us—and that is pride from the bottom looking up. It is manifest in so many ways, such as faultfinding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, living beyond our means, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, and being unforgiving and jealous” (“Beware of Pride”, Ensign, May 1989, p.4. Emphasis added).

As I pondered this more, I realized that Paul gives the solution to all of my prejudice and bias problems. After explaining the importance of spiritual gifts he says, “Covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way” (1 Cor 12:31). And what is that way? The path of charity. Charity is the antidote to pride. If instead of criticizing, we love, that love allows us to learn and grow from whatever situation we are in or whomever we are learning from. Indeed, charity never fails.

Working and Learning Together

I have another story that illustrates Living in Truth, but I'll let you decide how it fits in. Leave me a comment to let me know what you think. It is a folktale from India.

A flock of birds lived happily deep in the forest where there was always enough food and few hunters came. But one day a hunter braved the forest and happened upon a gathering of the birds. Seizing the opportunity he threw a net over the flock, gathered up the net and took his prize catch to market.

The birds who had not gathered that day were devastated by the loss of their friends and mourned deeply. But one wise bird advised them, "It was such an easy catch for the hunter that we must beware. The hunter will return. But do not be dismayed. Next time he throws his net if we work together and beat our wings as one we can escape."

Just as the wise bird said the hunter returned the next week and threw his net over the birds gathered to feed. But this time they beat their wings as one, rose in the air with the net, and swooped down into the trees so that the trees caught the net and the birds flew free from beneath it.

Excited by their cleverness the birds began to boast of their victory over the hunter. But again the wise bird warned, "The hunter will be back. You must be prepared."

Sure enough the hunter returned and again threw his net over the gathered flock. As it did one of the birds yelled out, "Flap your wings!" and another replied, "Who made you the ruler over us!" and still another scolded, "This is no time to fight!" and another, "Stop telling us what to do."

And thus while the birds squabbled, the hunter gathered them up and took them to market. Working together they were strong, but failing to work together they became dinner.

Down With Competition!

I’ve been studying pride lately and pondering over ways to get rid of it. Long ago I realized how detrimental to spiritual health pride is, but I have been unsuccessful at getting rid of it. Pride just keeps resurfacing in me. I think pride is going to be a life-long battle for me! And I don’t like it because I realize that it is the root of all other vices.

But the other day I came across this from C. S. Lewis, "Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone." (Mere Christianity, p. 110). This gave me some new thoughts to ponder and I’ve begun to think of ways to apply the Truth Tools to destroying the feelings of competition within me. Competition was Lucifer’s downfall in the premortal life and has been a big problem for me all my life.

So . . . I’d love for any and all ideas you have about getting rid of a competitive spirit and thoughts on using the Truth Tools to do that.

Light to See By

One of the reasons I love Isaiah so much is that he speaks in pictures. By that I mean that what he teaches I often can see in my head in a picture. For example in Isaiah 50:11 Isaiah says, “Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.”

I’ve never done it myself, but I once watched my brother make a fire using flint and steel. It took awhile but as he struck the flint and steel together tiny sparks would fly from his hands and eventually they ignited the kindling he had gathered. But the sparks themselves were ever so small. In a dark room they might have looked bigger, but they still wouldn’t have been enough to generate light to see anything in the room let alone guide you along a dark path.

The picture I see when I read this verse is God on one side offering us the Light of Christ which shines like sun at noon day. This light brightly illuminates the dark path of life that all of us have to navigate in order to return to God. On the other side of the picture I see people (sometimes my stubborn self) turning their backs on the proffered sunlight and proudly working to strike flint and steel and make their own sparks to try to illuminate their way through the path of life. It is a lot of work to keep striking that flint and steel and yet they keep at it, smirks on their faces as they walk by way of the sparks they are creating. They are doing it their way and are so proud. Needless to say they get lost very fast!

When I catch myself leaving the realm of humility, I think of this picture and remember the words, “This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” That brings me back to the Light!