By BARBARA R. ACKROYD
Humility is the price that determines the value of our learning, said BYU Associate Academic Vice President Cheryl Brown in her Devotional address Tuesday.
As you think about and truly come to understand the sacrifice that has made it possible for you to be here and learn, 'it will enable you to understand the great heart that broke for you on Calvary,' Brown said in her message entitled, 'Bright Minds and Broken Hearts.'
Brown said the acquisition of humility is best obtained through indirect means.
'There seems to be something a little strange about the head-on declaration that I'm going to become humble. In some mysterious way, the very declaration seems to point out the need for such a virtue,' Brown said.
Before she left for her mission in Chile, Brown was told she would learn humility.
'I wanted to be `the world's best sister missionary,'' Brown said.
However, it wasn't until she contracted hepatitis that the Lord started to teach her about humility.
'When I could not get off that bed, I learned something about true humility. I learned you do not go out to do missionary work, you do not teach, you do not do anything unless God wills it.'
'I learned there is a very important connection between gratitude and humility,' Brown said. 'While you may not be ale to obtain humility directly, you may be able to obtain it by working on gratitude.'
'If you really think about all that has gone into making it possible for you to learn, your own feelings of pride will diminish,' Brown said.
Recording the little miracles that happen in your lives, as suggested by Sister Bateman in her Devotional address last year, will help you obtain true humility, Brown said.
'Acknowledgement of these small miracles may be one of the very best ways of developing humility,' she said.
The people you serve may add to your humility too, if you examine the things they are teaching you and the spiritual growth they are giving you, Brown said.
Brown cautions trying to engage in learning without humility, which is sometimes defined as a willingness to learn.
'The truth is that almost all of us are willing to learn if the circumstances are just right. But how willing are we to learn if our circumstances aren't just right?' she said.
'If we do the work, seeking learning by study, and are humble, we can also seek learning by faith,' Brown said.