"To The Rescue"

I recently finished reading "To The Rescue" a biography of Thomas S. Monson, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, written by Heidi S. Swinton. This was a remarkable book about a remarkable man. There was much written about his home and professional life as would be expected in a good biography, but the real message of the book was told in the private moments of his life.

The author tells of an experience that President Monson had that changed his life forever. He was sitting in a meeting when he had the thought go through his mind that he should immediately go see a friend who was in the hospital. So he did like we all would, he told himself that when the meeting was over he would go see his friend. The meeting closed and he went to the hospital and, upon inquiring about his friend, was told that the man had passed away and had hoped to see him earlier that day. Thomas resolved then and there to follow or carry out the impressions or promptings he had.

That one lesson learned brought about much good to those around him and also confirmed to President Monson that we have a mission to carry out while we live and that God is interested in that mission. He has been known many times since to excuse himself from what he was doing to follow a prompting.

I look at my life and have to ask the question, do I have the courage to listen to the impressions I have and then follow through on them? Generally I find myself questioning whether the impression is indeed what I should be doing, or just a random thought. I have been trying an experiment since reading this book. When I have an impression that I should do something or call someone I do it, and I must report that the results so far have been good. Nothing spectacular has happened but I have had positive experiences.

For example, I had a thought that I should call a friend I hadn't seen for a while, we had a nice conversation, and this friend was glad to know that someone was thinking of him. Small things like that can, at times have a great effect on people.

This life lesson has been the underlying theme in Thomas Monson's life and because of his adherence to this principle he has effected great good in the world. I would strongly recommend this book to you. You never know it could be a life changer.

Of Being Anti-Pedantic

In The Count of Monte Cristo, the main character, Edmond Dantes, has an experience that has been encountered by countless millions in history. Unknowingly, through his ignorance, he is taken advantage of, to his detriment. In Edmonds case his treatment is quite severe. He languishes in a dungeon for thirteen years for a crime he didn’t commit.

On a chance encounter with another inmate, Edmond becomes a learned man through much study and tutoring from this man. Eventually he escapes from prison and using his new found knowledge, exacts revenge on all who put him there.

This is not a good example of what should be done with education, although it illustrates some blaring examples of life with and without a great education.  Montaigne in his essay on pedantry (the state of being a know-it-all) has much to say on the subject of real education. He writes of those who go to school, who upon returning home are found to be unemployable because their education was lacking. They memorized many useless facts and actually learned very little.

This same problem plagues the educational institutions of today. To clarify the problem, it is the responsibility of the student to become educated, not his school to educate him. Where we run into problems in the institutions is that the schools teach conformity rather than thinking. So, how is the high school or college graduate of 2012 to become educated?

Montaigne in the same essay gives some pointers. Among these are a few that could really help. One is, be curious. He writes, “Let an honest curiosity be suggested to his fancy of being inquisitive after everything:”

Another suggestion is to learn things for ourselves, not just trust that what someone else says about a subject is true. Through taking the time and effort to actually study a subject thoroughly we make it our own.

He likens our learning to the system of digestion in our bodies. If our minds have not broken a subject down to its smallest elements much as a stomach breaks down our food, then we have not learned the subject.

To digest a given subject one must do four things. First we must actually read or study the material, at its original source if possible. Next we need to contemplate or ponder what we have studied. Third we must find someone with whom we can discuss the subject, most advantageous would be a mentor who has gone before us on the path. Lastly, what we learn must be applied in our life or it will float away like a cloud in the wind.

If we will apply these few principles in the area of learning, a whole world will open to us that we have been missing because of our ignorance.