Hunger for Learning

The hunger for knowledge and wisdom is a sign of humility. It expresses our admission that there is yet much to be learned. When one resigns from trying to gain wisdom from prayer or from others, he is a person lost in his purpose. Our brains are created by God to accommodate more than what we can learn in a lifetime. Scientists say that we are only using 10% of our brain cells.
The fastest way to learn is to be an apprentice to a master. To have a student-teacher kind of relationship makes us learn with more speed and better imagery than reading books alone. Because life is short, the more mentors we have in our lives, the more knowledge we gain.
Books are an attempt to fully transmit one's learning to another person. Yet written words have limitations, for it cannot capture the full emotions and the body language of the author.
May our lives be blessed with mentors that guide us and books that allow us access into the minds of people who are far and long gone.

"Past" Forward

Lately, I find myself watching the History Channel a lot and reading books about the past.  There's just so much  nuggets of golden learning from our history.  The best way to really move forward is to understand the future in the context of the past.  Well, the past can either drag us or catapult us forward. 

What is about the past that can drag us?  It is when we cannot accept our failures, when we do not learn to forgive (others and ourselves), and when we miss to see it as something that will prepare us for the future.

What is about the past that can catapult us forward?  It is when we pause and reflect of our learnings from a mistake, when it humbles us, when the compounded experiences are translated into applied wisdom.

In the Holy Bible, the whole Old Testament is in preparation for Who is to come, Jesus Christ.  It is a vital element to understanding the fullness of the New Testament. Otherwise, we will not be able grasp our salvation history.  He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:21).”


When Steve Jobs resigned from being the CEO of Apple, I was able to review his Standford Speech to graduates. He enumerated many of what seemingly were failures, but instead became the reasons for his future success. He was an adopted child, a college drop-out, ousted from Apple in the 80's and back again, and had a rare type of pancreatic cancer. But these sad experiences led to studying calligraphy which became the reason for clear true type fonts of the Mac, finding two companies (neXT and Pixar) that contributed greatly to Apple's innovations, and a passionate outlook to live each day as if it was his last.  He mentioned about "Connecting the dots," and that you can only connect the dots backwards.  So as you read this blog post today in whatever seemingly hopeless situation you are in, it is going to connect to something great in the future, as long as we keep our faith in Him strong.

"For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope (Jeremiah 29:11)."

Those who are great visionaries have a deep appreciation of the past and have a good sense of the present.  Let us then gain from the experiences of those who have gone before us.  Let's reflect on our own mistakes and do better next time. More importantly, look to the future with the humility Christ has shown us.

Faith is spelled as R-I-S-K

Always bring yourself to a place where you are a student. While it may be good to be in a place where we are experts in what we do, there is great tendency for our life to stagnate, to be at a stand still. Life is a continuous learning process. When we do not embrace learning, we might miss out on life.

Making mistakes is part of learning. As they say, the more mistakes you make, the more you learn. I am not referring to mistakes solely as sins. The context of 'mistakes' here is more about when we do our best, yet we fall short. Like starting a business that failed or unintentionally disappointing people or not reaching expectations. These past mistakes then become something of value. It becomes something you tell others not to do and gain the conviction of what is right.

I once heard a priest say, "Faith is spelled as R-I-S-K." Indeed when we live out our faith, we take risks. There are those who feel the calling for mission, but are afraid of the risks even when the call is strong. But Peter shows us that if it is Jesus who calls, He lets us walk on water. Peter said to him in reply, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."He said, "Come." Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus (Matthew 14:28-29). His call comes with the power to overcome even the impossible.

They say that ships aren't meant to stay at the harbor, but to sail towards the great wide ocean. We cannot stay in safe harbors for too long, one day we have to sail even to the unknown and live the adventure that God has set for us.

Let us be students of life, having eyes wide open in eagerness to learn new things. Let us take risks for the sake of our faith, knowing that God will guide us and give us strength. May the mistakes we make along the way leave signposts of lessons that will benefit those who take the same path.

See One, Do One, Teach One

I heard from one of my leaders a simple process of empowerment. It's "see one, do one, teach one." Being a keen observer and absorber is important in the "see one" process. In learning, we first witness how things are done and the kind of culture and environment we are in. We see how transactions are made. We see how our mentors handle their meetings and dealings. We see how a talk or seminar is delivered. We see how products are made. We see one.

"Do one" means being hands-on. Trying out what we have seen. This takes courage for there is a great risk of failure. But by failing, we learn a great deal. It is through this that lessons are imprinted upon us. As we continue to practice, we become better at our craft until we become experts in our field.

What is all our knowledge and experience for if we can't pass it on to someone? "Teach one" is about paying forward. It is now our turn to let others observe what we do. It is our time to mentor those who are new and have the hope that one day this student will surpass us.

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12).