The True Final Post...For Now.

Ladies and gentlemen this is once again, possibly my final post. It's been real and great.

What I want to write about tonight is learning. (SPOILER ALERT: this entry does deal with the more spiritual side of life and business so get excited or watch out depending on who you are).

The question I pose is this: is there a difference between spiritual and secular learning?

All growing up for some reason I've always liked to be stimulated a little intellectually. I've liked to hear new theories and mull them over a little and I've liked to gather quotes from people with wise words. Maybe it's the good side of me that really wants to improve things, or maybe it's just he prideful side that just likes to feel smart, I'm not sure. Anyways since returning from my mission last year that desire has increased and I have found myself learning more than ever about how to learn. I've been privileged to hae some fantastic Ph.D Professor's from whom I've learned to think differently and from a much broader perspective. Someone else who has influence my manner of thought and the way I seek to present things is Clayton Christensen, someone who I look up to as a great example and someone I'd probably like to be like (super smart, changes the business world with his theories, teaches at Harvard, and is a spiritual giant). Something that I noticed and loved that I read of his when I came home was an article called, "How Will You Measure Your Life?" What I loved so much about the article was the sheer soundness of his argument. It was very simple, straightforward, and yet so logically sound that whether you are a devout believer or an atheist you couldn't argue with his logic. I determined that that was the type of person I wanted to be like.

Now before you stop reading thinking this is going nowhere I promise my ramblings above have a purpose. The point is, gradually my brain has started to think more and more intellectually, factually, and logically. Theories and proofs have began have a serious role in my mind, along with a lot of doubt for things that are done by tradition or assumption. This certainly has it's positive elements. We do a lot of silly things as humans and believe a lot of silly things simply because we assume them. There are even elements of scripture and church history that we can seriously mistreat or misunderstand when we don't have enough background knowledge.

So we come back to the question: is there a difference between spiritual and secular learning? A girl in one of my Sunday school classes has continuously been saying yes.She's recently been finishing up her graduate degree and has mentioned on various occasions how she believes that some things just have to be understood by the spirit and by the heart.

When I first heard this I honestly thought to myself, "that sounds like a cop out to me."
"We can certainly admit that we don't know everything, of course, but we should constantly be in the pursuit of understanding it all."I thought to myself. And so went my logic.

The scriptures say that right? "teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom."  Maybe not quite.

I realized the other day that since I have been home I have been too concerned with understanding the Gospel and not enough with living it. The phrase came to mind, "it's not what you know but who you know." W usually kind of view that phrase with contempt but I think in a Gospel setting it is true. We don't get into heaven by knowing or understanding the gospel best. We get in by being like Christ. Some parts of the Gospel also make sense. But what I realized is that some things are simply understood with the heart and there is no other way to describe. The fact that I know that there is a God and a Christ are not proven in any sense by my mind. Sometimes life sucks and you could wonder if there was anyone out there. But when I look past that I realize again that there is a different kind of learning. A learning that truly takes place in the heart. That's the only way to describe it. I hope that all who read this can feel that one day. Thanks for reading and have a great life.