Sunday Stuff

If there is a lesson, or a thought that has been repeating itself for me in various ways over the last six months, it has to be with respect to gospel scholarship. In the YSA conference that we had in Irvine back in June one of the institute teachers, Brother Greiner, shared some council that he had received directly from President Lee about coming to know the Savior. President Lee specified five keys:

1. Always attend your meetings
2. Tithe and make generous offerings
3. Magnify your calling
4. Search the scriptures - become a gospel scholar
5. Pray mightily

The first three I feel like I do a passable job of doing. The second two have always been harder for me, if only because to do each you have to be relentless. And for me personally, I think I've exhausted the cover-to-cover technique for the cannon of scriptures, and it really takes a lot of energy for me to come up with different approaches to scripture study that make it something new and exciting to revisit again and again.

Before coming up to school I visited with my friend's dad to get a blessing from him. He spoke with me a lot about the need for becoming a gospel scholar. There have been a number of his teachings that have really impressed me through the years that have been along these lines. One of his Sunday school classes that I attended as a youth just after I was baptized emphasized the need to build up our own gospel libraries. More recently one of the things that he has talked about that got my attention was that a lot of gospel scholarship really has to do with time spent studying. Although I think there is obviously more to it than that, his statement highlights the need to be immersed in the scriptures. I'm sure that there is a direct relationship between hours spent studying and spirituality that can be acquired in no other way than by constant attention to scripture study.

Since joining this ward, I've really been impressed with how intensively my bishop seems to approach scripture study. That impression about him doesn't come from him talking about all the time he puts into his study, rather the way he has spoken about how he searches for answers, and the accompanying responses he receives from the Lord. It's at a level that I'm just not at. It's really impressive.

In a stake priesthood meeting a couple of months ago my stake president talked about this same topic, and mentioned that he has not missed one day of scripture study since returning from his mission. That's at least 30 years of studying the gospel everday. My mission president stressed heavily the importance of studying the gospel in the morning for all of his missionaries. One thing that he liked to bring up was that if the missionaries would study for the scheduled amount each morning, that the number of hours devoted to gospel study would be equivalent to receiving a college degree.

Last week while reading a BYU devotional address I came across a devotional by Elder Joe Christensen who quoted Elder John A. Widstoe:

It is a paradox that men will gladly devote time every day for many years to learn science or an art, yet will expect to win a knowledge of the gospel, which comprehends all sciences and arts, through perfunctory glances at books or occassional listening to sermons. The gospel should be studied more intensively than any school or college subject. They who pass opinion on the gospel without having given it intimate and careful study are not lovers of the truth, and their opinions are worthless.

That quote really hit home for me because I still have a lot to be desired in that area.

Lately I've been reading the Elder Maxwell biography by Bruce C. Hafen and it's amazing to what extent Elder Maxwell devoured the gospel. I've only read a couple of other church biographies, but from my small sample I think I can say that those really are some of the most inspiring texts that you can read as far as church material goes. When I read President Hinckley's biography during the mission I gained an enormous appreciation for not just the person that he was, but the amount of preparation he received prior to becoming the President of the church. I also came to understand much more clearly why seniority is the rule when it comes to selecting the next church president. None of this stuff is on accident.

In my calling as gospel doctrine teacher I feel like I've been able to have more insights and diligence in studying the gospel than I've had in a long time. I can see the difference in the clarity of my thoughts, and in turn my own abilities to accomplish different things. In an interview with my bishop last week I mentioned to him how grateful and excited I am about my calling and to serve in that capacity, and he gave me some suggestions on additional readings (he mentioned Joseph Smith and the Restoration by Ivan J. Barrett, and a two-volume work, A New Witness for Christ in America by Frances Kirkham. Do you have any must read books that you would suggest?).

This is just something I've been thinking about for some time now. I know it's an area that I need to continue to develop, but I can definitely see the value and need for it.