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How we learn

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Fr. Ron Pogue

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Today's daily Lenten meditation from Episcopal Relief and Development offers this statement of Jesus: "You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"   (Luke 12:56)   Then, the following commentary:  "Jesus is not contrasting worldly knowledge with spiritual knowledge to its disadvantage; he's merely pointing out that we will learn those things we consider important and will remain ignorant of the ones we don't care much about." 

What's "important?"  One test might be to see if we are learning anything from whatever we like to think is "important."  If we are not learning anything about an item on our list of "important" things, perhaps it is time to either scratch it off or pay better attention.

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2 responses to “How we learn”

  1. Nathan Smith Avatar
    Nathan Smith

    That’s so true. Far too often, we say things like “I didn’t find time to do ___ this week.” Whatever that thing is, chances are, we didn’t think it was important in the first place. For those things that are high priorities in our lives, we make time (rather than trying to find time) for them.

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  2. Ron Pogue Avatar
    Ron Pogue

    I used to ask couples preparing for marriage to sort a stack of cards, each containing a word that describes a value – education, clothes, car, faith, housing, friends, etc. They were to put them in order of priority, highest to lowest. Then, I had them put a rubber band around them, place them in a drawer, and leave them there for three months. After three months, they were to take them out and compare them to their check register, which reflects reality. Usually, where they spent their money was out of alignment with what they said were their core values. This values clarification exercise provided an opportunity to work on that alignment.

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