Feast Upon A Love Of Learning

A successful teacher and author said: “What matters most in learning is attitude. The attitude of the teacher.” --David McCullough, “Teach Them What You Love” (address given in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Utah, May 9, 2009).

To Feast (see also Partake):

• feast upon that which perisheth not, 2 Ne. 9:51
• press forward, feasting upon word of Christ, 2 Ne. 31:20 (2 Ne. 32:3).
• those who have been wounded have daggers to pierce their souls, instead of feasting upon word of God, Jacob 2:9
• feast upon God’s love, Jacob 3:2
• feast of fat things to be prepared for poor, D&C 58:8

I was reading this article by Heather Sanders  "Teach A Boy To Fish" (HERE) based on the proverb “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.”  And a mother's desire to teach her children to“'eat for the rest of their life.' I want them to feast on a love of learning and continue that learning well past their school years."  I totally agree!  I want my children to love learning about the gospel, about the world, and about how to make good choices.

Elder David A. Bednar said  April 24, 2008: "President Brigham Young (1801–1877) was a learner. Although President Young had only 11 days of formal schooling, he understood the need for learning both the wisdom of God and the things of the world. He was a furniture maker, a missionary, a colonizer, a governor, and the Lord’s prophet. I marvel at both the way Brigham Young learned and how much he learned. He never ceased learning from the revelations of the Lord, from the scriptures, and from good books. Perhaps President Young was such a consummate learner precisely because he was not constrained unduly by the arbitrary boundaries so often imposed through the structures and processes of formal education. He clearly learned to love learning. He clearly learned how to learn. He ultimately became a powerful disciple and teacher precisely because he first was an effective learner. President Young repeatedly taught that “the object of [our mortal] existence is to learn.”" (see full address here)

Teaching is like shepherding stray sheep of the fold and beckoning them off a hilltop ledge to remain on safe ground.  A good shepherd knows their name, their personality, hones in those special attributes to recognize the one from the other, and guides with love.  One call isn't used on another because a good shepherd knows His them individually and calls them differently. 

Motherhood revolves around teaching and this type of loving shepherding of children.  Furthermore, when we teach children to love learning, they are able to feast upon the goodness and thrive when they are seperated from the fold for a time.  Indeed, I know the Master Shepherder, even Jesus Christ, will be so pleased with us when we bring even one back to His fold...I'm shepherding three precious lambs (aka my children) just as Jesus is shepherding me...how about you?

"Loving Shepherd of Thy Sheep" by Margaret Tarrant