Always Keep Learning

It's summer! No more school.....time to relax, go on vacation, watch tv, catch up on sleep. Summer is the time to chill.....right? Well, yes, summer is more of a time to relax and go on vacation, but it is also a new season of your life. What exciting adventures, ideas are out there for us to learn?

As a child, we spend years in school, passing into each new grade as we grow older. School seems to be the place to learn. But does learning really stop when you are done with high school, college, or even getting your PhD? In the most recent issue of The American Organist, the president of the American Guild of Organists, Michael Bedford, wrote an article about how education doesn't stop when summer starts. He states, "Life's lessons do not end with high school or college. Education is an ongoing process that breaks through the barriers of the formal classroom and forges its way into our everyday world." Life is our classroom, in which every day we have the chance to learn something new.

Last week at choir camp, one of the head choristers asked the choristers during morning prayer this question: "What is your goal for the day?" What a great question to ask ourselves every morning. Each day we should have the desire to learn, to set a new goal in our lives and in our work.

The great thing about learning is that you are never done. We cannot comprehend how much in life there is to know. We shouldn't just rely on what we already know. We need to continue to stretch ourselves, find news things to explore, and dig deeper into ourselves and our work. Summer can actually give us more time to learn and educate ourselves on something different. As the American philosopher, John Dewey, stated, "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." Life is an adventure. Enjoy it, embrace it and always keep learning. 

"Let the wise listen and add to their learning, 

and let the discerning get guidance."

~Proverbs 1:5