This blogpost features some of my life experiences about seeking learning by study and faith, including a half-sheet activity page to complement the Come Follow Me (CFM) reading for August 11-17, which includes Doctrine and Covenants 88. Click here for an index and links to my CFM blogposts for other weeks.
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SEEK LEARNING AND WISDOM, BY STUDY AND FAITH
I've tried to make these two verses in the Doctrine and Covenants a sort of mantra for my life.
D&C 88:118-119
And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith. Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house,
even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house
of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;
This is a bit embarrassing to admit, but there's not a single item listed in these scriptures that comes naturally to me. I daresay that I would even consider most of these traits my weaknesses and I've had to deliberately work to incorporate them into my life. But I'd like to think that over the course of my life, I've lived Ether 12:27 many times over (see below) and made some of them my strengths.
And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. Ether 12:27
Organizing myself and establishing a house of order is probably something I'll be struggling with my whole life, but one of the areas which I've managed to turn into a strength is to "seek diligently out of the best books and to seek learning, even by study and also by faith." I used to feel guilty when I took the time to read and when I did read, I would read fluffy things that didn't enrich me, because those were books I could read quickly. At some point I realized that I was a better parent/ friend / human when I learned about the world by reading good books and I have definitely gained much wisdom through life experiences, but even more by reading the words of others.
TOO MUCH INFORMATION
In this day and age we are inundated with far more information than we could ever use and one of the greatest challenges we face when seeking wisdom and learning is sorting through this bombardment of information and determining what is of value to our lives and what isn’t worth our time. Seeking wisdom in this overload of information can be a little like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack unless we can find connections that make it more meaningful.
LEARNING THROUGH LIFE EXPERIENCES IS EFFECTIVE, BUT OFTEN EXTRA PAINFUL
Sometimes we make those meaningful connections during our studies and sometimes they come to us through painful life experiences. For instance take this experience from when I was a young child about 4 years old. I did not yet have my own bike and I begged my dad to take me for a ride on his bike. He was reluctant, but after much begging eventually put me up on the crossbar of his bike, carefully held on to me with one arm and steered with the other and took me for a short ride. Although the distance we traveled was not far, it was long enough for me to weary of holding my legs up and for me to let my foot dangle into the spokes of the bike, breaking my leg in the process.
Fast forward a couple of years when the pain of the broken bone had been forgotten and I once again begged my dad to take me for a ride on his bike. My begging skills must have been pretty persuasive, because a little while later we found ourselves reliving the past--right down to the foot in the spoke and the broken bone--although this time it was my collarbone instead of my leg. Two broken bones was enough though and finally we made the connection that two people on a bicycle built for one is a recipe for pain.
This example, though painful to learn, was relatively insignificant in the way of life lessons. While physical safety is important, lessons of eternal nature are far more important in the long run. As with lessons about how to avoid broken bones, we can learn these eternal lessons in a variety of ways. Real life experiences are among the most powerful ways to learn a lesson, unfortunately (and fortunately) there are only so many life experiences one person can have and we must turn to other sources to continue our search for the meaningful connections that lead to wisdom. We must open our hearts in faith and seek them by learning from the words of others, .
LEARNING--CONNECTIONS -- WISDOM
Most scientific discoveries were made when some scientist put two ideas together and connected them into something bigger. Benjamin Franklin made the connection that lightning and electricity were related and through that connection has saved countless buildings from destruction over the years with his simple but important invention of the lightning rod.
Not too many years after Benjamin Franklin’s earth-shaking connection, an even greater connection was made by a young boy who happened to be studying the Bible in the spring of 1820. He was the kind of young man who didn’t just read the scriptures; he had an inclination to feast upon them, to study them, and to ponder them in his heart. One day he read a passage of scripture from the book of James:
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed” (James 1:5–6).
Joseph described his reaction in the following words: “Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. … I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God”.
Joseph’s inspired ability to make this connection led him into the Sacred Grove. From thence, he became an instrument in the hands of God in bringing forth modern scriptures, in restoring the true church of Jesus Christ and the gospel in its fulness, and in restoring the power to perform eternal ordinances which enable us to return into the presence of a loving Heavenly Father. Joseph Smith’s connection not only shook the earth, it opened the heavens!
MAKING A WEAK THING INTO A STRENGTH THROUGH LEARNING
While our son was in the hospital for months on end several years ago, I had the unique opportunity to devote more of my time than I normally could have at home, to reading and to personal study. During that time, the hospital room truly became my Sacred Grove and I was led to devote much of my study time to reading Ensign articles, parts of the Old and New Testaments and the Book of Mormon in its entirety.
Though that time was very difficult, it was hard not to feel God’s peace through these experiences and I was so grateful for that time in a lonely hospital room when I feel like that weakness of mine, truly became a strength.
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SOME QUOTES ABOUT LEARNING
“If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.”
― C.S. Lewis
“The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.”
“We learn to do by doing.”
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
“Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.”
“Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world's work, and the power to appreciate life.”
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PRINTABLE ACTIVITY SHEET (AN ORIGINAL)
These
activity sheets are designed to print double-sided and cut in half.
They're perfect for reviewing or introducing the content found in the
Come, Follow Me reading each week and would be great used in a classroom
or home setting.
THIS WEEK'S ACTIVITY SHEET LINK (in case it's not showing below)
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If you like what you see here, be sure to come back every week for more Come, Follow Me thoughts and teaching ideas. I wouldn't mind if you left me a comment too. I spend a lot of time on these each week and a little feedback goes a long way to keeping me going!
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" a couple months ago and can't get it out of my head. The author, Bryan Stevenson, is a Harvard educated attorney who has dedicated his life and career to helping poor {mostly black} men on death row get the justice they deserve. It really is a real-life version of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and the parallels between the two stories that the author points out make for thought-provoking irony.
," a memoir written by one of Bryan Stevenson's clients--a remarkable man who served 30 years on death row there was almost zero evidence for him committing. Both books will leave you uneasy and wondering how many innocent people have perished without someone like Bryan Stevenson standing up for them. Then you will wonder what needs to be done to help fix this broken system.
" by Edith Eva Eger. It's a memoir written by a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who is still living. I found myself entranced by her story of healing and hope. She got past the horrors of her past by reinventing her life, going back to school, and helping others to heal. There's a good dose of psychology in it, something I love reading about, and I really was inspired by her energy, her ability to overcome, forgive, and help others to do the same...all the while being true to herself and to the pain she'd experienced. I also love that she tells her story all the while validating that we all have our own "concentration camp" experiences and mindsets that hold us back.
" by Hampton Sides
" by Lisa Wingate
" by CS Lewis
" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
" by Fatima Farheen Mirza
" by Kassia St. Clair
" by Amor Towles
”
" by Louisa May Alcott 
: A Novel" by Delia Owens
" by Paul Kalanithi
" by Bryan Stevenson
" by Mark Sullivan
" by Michelle Obama
" by Corrie ten Boom
" by Anne Frank
" by Lois Lowry
" by Haven Kimmel
" by Anthony Ray Hinton and Lara Love Hardin
" by Elizabeth George Speare
" by Ernest Hemingway
" by Chris and Ted Stewart
" by Margaret Craven
" by William Kamkwamba
" by Laurie Halse Anderson
" by Katie Davis
” by Camron Wright
" by Yuval Noah Harari
" by Jennifer Chiaverini
" by Linda Sue Park
" by Camron Wright
" by Atul Gawande
” by Harper Lee; 384 pages
” by Markus Zusak ; 576 pages
” by Douglas Adams; 224 pages
” by Jacqueline Kelly; 352 pages
” by Jeanne DuPrau; 270 pages
” by Anne Frank; 304 pages
” by Malala Yousafzai, Christina Lamb; 352 pages
” by Marc Aronson; 176 pages
” by William Shakespeare; 80 pages
" by Abbas Kazerooni (Autobiography)
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", "
" by James Dashner (Fiction)
" by Laura Hillenbrand (nonfiction)
" by Mary Eve Pearson (Fiction)
" by Krista Lynne Jensen (Fluffy fiction)
" by Daniel James Brown (Nonfiction)
" by Elizabeth Smart (Nonfiction)