A Love of Learning

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 90 which is a section that contains various commands for Joseph Smith including naming the counselors for the First Presidency. I'll be honest that on the heels of 2 such powerful revelations like section 88 and 89 were, not a lot stood out to me in this section.

The verse that stood out to me was verse 15 that says, "And set in order the churches, and study and learn, and become acquainted with all good books, and with languages, tongues, and people." I have often wondered at people who do not seem to place a priority on getting an education. Now, I'm not talking about children, because most children do not appreciate formal education and thus seem to not take learning very seriously. Or maybe it's the children who love to learn and it's the teenagers that have a problem with it, I never went though an I hate school phase so I am not sure.

My grandmother used to call me her little scholar because when I was a little boy I was always asking questions and from the time I learned to read I was always reading new things. I loved to learn and I still do. I don't do as much reading to learn something anymore, except for the internet, but I am constantly wondering why certain things are the way they are, as you all well know if you have been reading this blog for any length of time. But I have always been shocked to learn that not everyone shares my love of learning. I was, and still am shocked that not everyone is driven to learn how the things around them function and work.

I surprises me because I often times make the mistake of thinking everyone else are similar to me and they are not apparently. I am the type of person that I want to be able to speak intelligibly about a subject and so I try and find out what I can about it through study or through observation. And it just boggles my mind that not everyone does that. They instead hear something on TV, someone tells them something and they don't even bother to validate it before touting their new found knowledge to friends and foes alike. Now, I frequently make a fool of myself in conversation because I am no means a genius, but I still try my best to keep it from happening.

I also do not understand why people do not like to read more. Especially in this day and age, there are book types for every hobby and fascination. I've never understood why people would not wish to escape into a good book more often than they do. Now some people have disorders that make reading not nearly as pleasurable and those I can understand. I have a friend that when we were kids, it was discovered that unlike most people who when they read say the word fish we picture an actual fish in our minds, he did not, his mind's eye would picture the word fish instead of the animal and he had to work really hard to overcome that. Things like that I can understand why people don't read more but they are rare.

The Lord wants us to be intelligent. If we are one day going to be as He is, we are going to have to know everything, just as He does. In Doctrine and Covenants section 130 we read that what ever intelligence we obtain in this life carries over with us in the life to come. It is about the only thing we can take with us. I am also a firm believer, and this is just my opinion of course, that we will go to school to learn the things we need to learn in the next life too. I don't think Heavenly Father will bop us on the head and we will suddenly know everything. He doesn't do that now, I can't imagine He will suddenly change His pattern just because we are resurrected. It will be nice to learn things though with a non-fallible body and mind that cause me to forget things almost as soon as I learn them.

Just as it is not pleasing to the Lord for us to be physically idle, I do not think He is pleased when we are not stimulating our brain. I look at my almost 7 month old daughter. She is absolutely fascinated by everything and wants to know everything. She is always looking around at things, soaking up what her mother and I are saying and how we interact with things to learn what they are. But somewhere along the lines as we grow up, we all lose that fascination with learning and cease to seek it out. Perhaps it is a learned trait. Perhaps it is the company we keep, because those thought of in the American culture are "geeks" or "nerds" certainly don't lose that love of learning. Whatever the cause, I do feel Heavenly Father wants us to continue learning throughout our life and not only do it, but learn to love learning. It is another of those things that if you need it, you can pray to Heavenly Father for help. He won't leave you in need. Until tomorrow.