Never Stop Learning

Does your entire knowledge of the Bible come from what you were taught as a child? Were you inoculated with education? I once read a theory called “the inoculation theory of education.” You were injected with a little bit of the “disease” so that you wouldn’t get any major dose later.

There is a meme going around the Web in one of the areas I read that goes something like “20 things I know that I wished I knew when I was 20.” There was another one over the weekend. One of the points the writer made was to never stop reading. In fact, increase the amount of reading you do.

While I respect people I know with many advanced degrees, I’m content with the fact that I dropped out of grad school before finishing my degree. It really wouldn’t have meant much in my life. You see, I’m almost completely self-taught. I read, listen, think. Then read some more. I only had one math teacher who was really a teacher. For the rest, I learned some math from school, but I learned a lot more outside school. Same with engineering, philosophy, theology, psychology.

You can do that too, if you wish. I read another guy on the Web who talked about a friend. His friend said he wished he could read as many books as him. “How much TV do you watch?” The friend replied a couple of hours most evenings. So, cut out the TV and read. It’s simply a choice. Do you want to learn and grow or simply be entertained?

Read the Bible. Read respected spiritual writers. Check out the “Desert Fathers.” For example John Climacus had psychology figured out 13 centuries before Freud–and probably did a better job. He understood all the emotions and energies that prevent you from living with God. He wrote it in The Ladder of Divine Ascent. A tip–try reading some things you might disagree with. You broaden your experience. It’ll force you to think. You may learn something new.

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