ATTAINMENT
OUTLINE--CHAPTER VI
The possibility of growth in teaching.--How to develop
spirituality: a. By cultivating the spirit of prayer; b. By leading
a clean life; c. By obeying the principles of the Gospel; d. By
performing one's duty in the Church; e. By reading and pondering
the word of the Lord.--How to develop other qualities: a. By taking
a personal inventory; b. By coming in contact with the best in life
through reading and companionship; c. By forming the habit of
systematic study; d. By assuming responsibility.
While we may agree as to what constitutes the desirable characteristics
in teachers it is far easier to name them than to attain them. We have
already pointed out that teaching is a complex art proficiency in which
is the result of a long, painstaking process. But success in teaching as
in all other pursuits is possible of achievement. We have heard so
frequently that teachers must be born, not made, that many prospective
teachers, feeling that they have been denied this pedagogical
birthright, give up in despair. Of course, it is naturally easy for some
individuals to teach--they do seem born possessed of a teaching
personality, but they are not given a monopoly on the profession.
The Lord has too many children to be taught to leave their instruction
to a few favored ones. The qualities listed in chapter five may be
developed, in varying degrees, of course, by any normal person anxious
to serve his fellows. The "will to do" is the great key to success.
To him who would develop spiritually, these five suggestions may be
helpful:
First, cultivate the spirit of prayer. The president of one of our
stakes made the remark once that he believed only a few of the men and
women of his stake really pray. "They go through the form, all right,"
he said; "they repeat the words--but they do not enter into the spirit
of the prayer. If the Lord doesn't draw nearer to them than they do to
Him I doubt that their prayers are really of very great force."
The ability to pray is the great test of a spiritual life. "The faith to
pray" is a gift to be cultivated through devoted practice. The teacher
who would have his pupils draw nearer to him must himself draw near to
the Lord. The promise, "Ask, and ye shall receive, seek, and ye shall
find," was given only to those who ask in faith. This constant prayer of
faith, then is the first great guarantee of the Spirit.
The second is a clean life. Just as it is impossible for water to make
its way through a dirty, clogged pipe, so it is for the Spirit to flow
through a channel of unrighteous desires. A visitor was interested a
short time ago in Canada in attempting to get a drink out of a pipe that
had been installed to carry water from a spring in the side of a
mountain to a pool at the side of the road. Due to neglect, moss and
filth had been allowed to collect about the bottom of the pipe, until it
was nearly choked up. Getting a drink was out of the question. And yet
there was plenty of water in the spring above--just as fine water as had
ever flowed from that source. It was simply denied passage down to those
who would drink. And so with the Spirit. The Lord is still able to
bless--all too frequently, we so live that "the passage is clogged." The
Word of Wisdom is not only a guarantee of health--it is the key to
communication with the Spirit. And what is true of the body applies with
even greater force to cleanliness of mind. The teacher might well adopt
this prayer:
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within
me."
The third great guarantee of the Spirit is an unswerving obedience to
all principles of the Gospel. To teach belief a man must believe. Firmly
grounded in all the cardinal principles the teacher may well inspire a
spirit of the Gospel, but not otherwise. Doubt and uncertainty will keep
the teacher from the position of counsel and leadership.
The fourth assurance in the matter of developing spirituality is the
consistent performance of one's religious obligations. The complaint is
often made that teachers in a particular organization will meet their
classes regularly, but that done they seem to consider their religious
duties discharged. Teaching does not excuse a person from attending the
other services required of Latter-day Saints. He is asked to attend
Sacrament meetings, Priesthood meetings, Union meetings, special
preparation meetings--they are all essential to the full development of
the Spirit of the Gospel, which is the spirit of teaching. The teacher
may rightly expect to be sustained only as he sustains those who preside
over him.
"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Matt. 7:2.)
And finally, if we would enjoy the spirit of our work we must
familiarize ourselves with the Word of the Lord. To read it is to
associate in thought with Him. His Spirit pervades all that He has said,
whether in ancient or modern times. One of our apostles frequently
remarked that if he would feel fully in touch with the spirit of his
calling he must read regularly from the Doctrine & Covenants. "That book
keeps me attuned as no other book can." It is not given to us to
associate here with the Master, but through His recorded words we can
live over all that He once lived. Thereby we not only come really to
know what He would have us do, we partake of a spirit that surpasses
understanding.
"Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life."
As for attainment in other matters involved in the teaching process, the
teachers who attended the course at the Brigham Young University were
agreed that regular practice in the following processes will insure
marked growth and development:
1. The taking of a personal inventory at regular intervals. "Am I the
kind of teacher I should like to go to?" starts an investigation full of
suggestiveness. The qualities listed in chapter four constitute a
reference chart for analysis. A teacher can become his own best critic
if he sets up the proper ideals by way of a standard. A teacher in one
of our Church schools in Idaho carried out an interesting investigation
during the year 1919-1920. Anxious that he should not monopolize the
time in his recitations, he asked one of his students to tabulate the
time of the class period as follows:
Number of questions asked by teacher.
Number of questions asked by pupils.
Amount of time consumed by teacher.
Amount of time consumed by pupils.
He was astonished to discover that of the forty-five minutes given to
recitation he was regularly using an average of thirty-two minutes.
Similar investigations can be carried on by any interested teacher.
2. Contact with the best in life. It is a fundamental law in life that
life is an adaptation to environment. The writer has been interested in
observing the force of this law as it affects animal life. Lizards in
Emery county are slate-gray in color that they may be less conspicuous
on a background of clay and gray sandstone; the same animals in St.
George take on a reddish color--an adaptation to their environment of
red sandstone.
Nor is the operation of this law merely a physical process. On a trip
into Canada recently the writer traveled some distance with a group of
bankers in attendance at a convention at Great Falls. On his way home he
took a train on which there was a troupe of vaudeville players. The
contrast was too marked to escape notice. One group had responded to an
environment of sober business negotiations--the other to the gayety of
the footlights. And so the teacher who would grow must put himself into
an environment that makes the kind of growth he desires
natural--inevitable. Through good books he can associate with the choice
spirits of all ages. No one denies his acquaintanceship. Great men have
given their best thoughts to many of the problems that confront us. We
can capitalize on their wisdom by reading their books. We re-enforce
ourselves with their strength.
Magazines, too, are full of stimulation. They constitute a kind of
intellectual clearing house for the best thought of the world today.
Business houses value them so highly in promoting the advancement of
their employees that they subscribe regularly. One manager remarked: "No
one factor makes for greater growth among my men than reading the
achievements of others--leaders in their lines--through the magazines."
There is scarcely a phase of life which is not being fully written about
in the current issues of the leading magazines.
Then, too, contact with men and women of achievement is a remarkable
stimulus to growth.
There are leaders in every community--men and women rich in
experience--who will gladly discuss the vital issues of life with those
who approach them. There still remain, too, pioneers with their
wonderful stories of sacrifice and devotion. To the teacher who will
take the pains there is an untold wealth of material in the lives of the
men and women about him.
3. Regular habits of systematic study. Thorough intensive effort finds
its best reward in the intellectual growth that it insures. In these
days of the hurry of business and the whirl of commercialized amusements
there is little time left for study except for him who makes himself
subscribe to a system of work. Thirty minutes of concentrated effort a
day works wonders in the matter of growth. President Grant was a
splendid evidence of the force of persistent effort in his writing, his
business success, and his rise to the leadership of half a million
Latter-day Saints.
4. Assuming the obligations of responsibility. In every organization
there are constant calls upon teachers to perform laborious tasks. It is
so natural to seek to avoid them--so easy to leave them for somebody
else--that we have to cultivate vigorously a habit of accepting the
obligations that present themselves. The difficulties of responsibility
are often burdensome, but they are an essential guarantee of
achievement. "Welcome the task that makes you go beyond your ordinary
self, if you would grow!"
* * * * *
QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS--CHAPTER VI
1. Discuss our obligation to grow.
2. Point out the difference between praying and merely saying prayers.
3. Discuss the various means which guarantee spiritual growth.
4. Comment on the thought that a personal inventory is as essential to
teaching as it is to financial success.
5. What is your daily scheme for systematic study?
6. What plan do you follow in an attempt to know the scriptures?
7. Why is it so important that we assume the responsibilities placed
upon us?
HELPFUL REFERENCES
Those listed in Chapter IV.