As I study Jaob 4:3 today, there are different learning approach we can categorized ourselves into - perhaps push us to become better learners if we don't like where we are;

Learning with sorrow. I've read one person's comment that General Conferences are boring. He laments nothing new comes from it and that the way it is being delivered is structured and sanctimonious. I was feeling the guilt because in a short while in my LDS life I thought the same way.

Supposedly, whenever we come to these 'every six months' kind of a gathering, our primary goal is to learn what the Lord wants us to know, feel, and do - for the next six months - and that 'entertainment' is just a bonus (if the word is even appropriate to equate it with edification).

Obviously, me and my brother came into the gathering with a reverse list of priority - entertainment first and then learning next.

I got tired of this attitude when I realized that I'm painting myself into a corner - leaving me with less and less to believe. It became a scary thought worthy of repenting.

Learning with contempt. The problem with the first attitude is that it leads to this more darker territory - learning with contempt. Some people scorn almost anything that is placed before them, especially when it doesn't square with their beloved and treasured 'man made wisdom'. Everything that comes along are either true or false depending on what the 'wisdom' dictates. It is discouraging to even articulate about how gloomy it is to be in that territory.

Learning with joy. This is where light starts to brighten. When we come to any meeting with the thinking that it is our responsibility to learn, and that the speaker, teacher or a preacher is just an instrument - then the Spirit starts to work by pouring in new and fresh water, substituting the old and filthy one, in which learning with joy becomes the end result - worthy of articulating. But then again, I believe some things are best left when unspoken... 

Tags: Learning General Conference

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