There is more than one way to learn.
The formal method is the classroom. Elementary, junior and high school. This is of course the minimum standard for our society today.
Many of us spent years of other classroom studies. Today many people are studying online or via correspondence. There was a day when such a concept seemed ridiculous and even unacceptable but now is common.
Education does not always involve disciplined classroom type studies. Another method of education is trial and error, or “doing.” We learn by doing. You can read about farming all day but it’s another thing to do farming. Planting, tending and harvesting are learned by actually attempting the process. Anyone would be smart to work with an experienced farmer for a season. Often when we start doing anything different we will mess up a few times but that’s how we grow and become better. We often fail and learn from the failure. This enables us to try again with a plan to do better next time.
We also learn by seeing. I saw the ocean on television but never saw the ocean personally until I was 23 years old. I had heard about flying but had never flown until I was 27 years old. . I had heard about the Grand Canyon and the Eiffel Tower but never saw either until later in life. Twenty plus years ago my wife and I experienced much of Israel and many of the religious sites that I had read, heard and had talked about for years. If I could have seen these sites when I was much younger it would have enhanced my biblical understanding. You can read about a place but it’s far different when you can see and experience it first-hand.
Another way to learn is by listening. Many today don’t have the ability to listen because they are always talking. If you will listen to others you will soon know everything they know plus what you know. If you talk all the time then you won’t learn anything from other people.
Another way to learn is experiencing what you don’t like and then moving forward to something else. You may learn that you don’t want to own your own business. I’ve known people who have lost everything owning their own business including all their retirement savings. Or, you may have learned you simply cannot work for someone else and being your own boss is the only way you can survive. Either way is often learned by a few years of experience.
Regardless of your status today in life, keep in mind that we all have lots to learn. We never know everything. The older we are the more we realize how much we don’t know. Keep reading, doing, listening, trying and keep learning.
Dr. Glenn Mollette is the author of 15 books. He is a graduate of Georgetown College, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville Kentucky, Lexington Theological Seminary, Lexington, Kentucky, and is the founder of Newburgh Theological Seminary, Newburgh, Indiana. His column is published in over 600 media outlets nationally.
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