“What are the best ways you have found to learn?”
It was an interesting question. While the question was address to a specific context, I found myself considering it across life. Do I have a best way to learn? If not, is there a key to unlocking the learning opportunities I have?
As my journey continues, three learning observations stand out.
In each day there is an opportunity to learn. The observation is not about the space in which our freedom gives us an opportunity to change and improve. I have come to appreciate and now expect that there is at least one new learning moment where I see, become aware, and at times understand something differently. It may be a way of understanding the depths of forgiveness. It could be an insight into the fragility of life or the weaknesses I hold onto. There are so many different opportunities that I have come to think the best thing I can do is to be open to the possibilities of learning.
Learning involves so much more than facts and figures. In my answer to the best ways of learning, I found myself coming back to a common theme. For me, learning involves experience. Often experience is best seen and understood though reflection and meditation. In those quiet, often still moment, experiences change my heart, way of thinking, and framework of see life.
As importance as self-direction is, there is a bigger story at play. As I learn, I realize that I am part of a large family. In the midst of life’s chaos, uncertainty, and at times pain, I “thank God for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.” (Psalm 107.15)
I know I do not fully understand. I cannot explain why suffering is not always dealt with, how injustice lives without a response, or the freedom means that our greatest danger is from within the family. What I do know is that you and I can learn to make a greater difference. We are called to love, encourage, and heal.
