Pathway Gathering # 5

I began with a scripture concerning intelligence, Doctrine and Covenants 130:18 and talked about how God gives us different degrees of intelligence, which are different levels of knowledge. He does this when we make ourselves open and take enough courage into ourselves to act in faith, thereby letting ourselves be ready for new experiences that come as a result of applying knowledge to agency.

I then went on to write that lifelong learning is not limited to this life, but we need to practice our knowledge of the next life that we get now through temple ordinances and through other experiences so that we can be prepared to enter the next life when it comes our time to leave mortality. I went on to say that if we believe we can learn, we will want to and that if we put effort into learning, we will find things that interest us and interest in a particular facet of knowledge can serve as motivation for us to keep learning.

From there, I went on to write that there are two reasons a person does something; desire to do it or the demand from someone else that it be done. We may not like heeding another person's request that something be done, such as learning, but if we accept the responsibility that comes with acquiescing to the demand, we will most likely learn much depending on the attitude we take into it and we could end up desiring to learn even more hereafter.

I then wrote some notes on digital media and after reading a quote from the Strength of Youth booklet about how we live in a day of technology that can be both a help and a harm to us depending on how and how much they are used, I wrote that in terms of digital media, time involved in it should be allocated wisely. I wrote that people often become absorbed by what appears appealing and is not really there instead of focusing on the things that are going on around them. Because of their misguided focus on technological fascinations, I explained in my writing, people can often miss out on opportunities to interact with others, learning opportunities, and opportunities to do good things with and for others around them.

I then went on to the topic of being willing to not only learn, but practice what we learn so that we can be ready for eternity when it is our time to leave mortality. I am very selective in not only my learning, but who I associate with. I feel strongly that the type of people you associate yourself with is the type of people you eventually emulate and the type of spirit you will come to adapt.

By being absorbed in media and forgetting the world around you can, as it said in the lesson material, cause a person to miss out on academic opportunities, vocational opportunities, and cherished human relationships.

The gathering was very good, as was the Institute class beforehand.