“And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith. Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;” (D&C 88:118-119). If life eternal is to know God and Jesus Christ, then it could be argued that the most important thing we can do is to seek learning so that we might come to know our Heavenly Father and our Savior. Thankfully, they have revealed a pattern by which we could seek such learning. We must seek learning by study and by faith and in so doing we establish a house of learning. If we are wise, we will establish this house upon a rock. “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:17-18). The rock is revelation from our Heavenly Father. It is knowledge, pure and plain and simple and unattainable through any amount of effort or application of the scientific method or the Socratic method or any other method. It is a gift from our Heavenly Father and if we anchor ourselves to that rock then all of the powers of earth and hell cannot shake us from the certainty that comes from revealed truth. By seeking learning by study and by faith and establishing our house of learning on this rock of revelation, we can stand firm and steadfast and immovable. When we learn by faith, we do our Father's will, putting into practice the revelation we receive. Each sincere application of Gospel principles, each time we honor our covenants and read our scriptures and pay our tithing and keep the Sabbath day holy and partake of the sacrament, all of these connect the foundation of our house of learning to the bedrock of Revelation. Faithfully doing the will of the Father may be unglamorous, unnoticed, backbreaking, and often repetitive and tedious, but each steel rod we drive into the rock of revelation anchors us that much more. But learning by faith is not the only way that we must learn. We must also learn by studying. As we learn by studying, we build the walls and roof of our house of learning. It is possible to build a very fine house of learning, filled with all kinds of beautifully intricate theories and exquisitely engineered ideas, and yet for that house to be anchored not at all to the rock of revelation. It is also possible to spend all of our time learning only by faith so that we have a very strong foundation but no roof over our head. We need faith and study if we are to successfully protect ourselves from the storms of life. A house of study with a great roof and walls will nevertheless fall down if it is not built upon the rock. And a foundation of faith with no house built on top of it also doesn't provide any protection from the storm. Wisdom is the union of faith and study, of real world applications and intellectual knowledge. Our faith connects our thoughts and our ideas back to the rock of revelation, and the understanding that comes through studying gives a comfortable and organized home of glory and order and meaning to that foundation of faith. If we are to know God and eventually inherit eternal life, then we must seek learning by study and by faith and by revelation.
