Learn how to Learn

As I finish-up my time here at the EPA I feel so incredibly blessed by the people I have met, the relationships I have built, and the conversations which have challenged and expanded my worldview. These relationships have come from all directions  including my co-workers, my community group girls, and the many people who have helped me with my project.

In all of this I have found that the most growth happens when you truly invite people to speak into your life and when you are willing to see a much broader world. This means you first have to acknowledge that although your own perspective is valuable, it is limited.  Secondly, it requires you to be open to learning from all kinds of people and in all types of circumstances. Especially in situations where your own assumptions about people and places have caused you to be blind to what they can teach you. This process is difficult because it requires  you to be willing to change or adjust your thinking when you may be wrong.  However, if you are willing to open yourself up, it sure can bring a lot of joy.

I have found that my smile is  especially broad after speaking with Tribal Elders. I absolutely loved talking with Larry Meculiff and Wilson Justin this summer as they shared with me a part of their wisdom and life experience. They are so gentle, good humored, and encouraging, providing a perspective on this world which is unique and in some ways different from my own. They are teachers who want to help future generations remember their heritage and to embrace the core values which create thriving communities. They are aware that the spiritual and the material are not always separate and they soberly reflect on conventional thought which suggests that western science alone can solve all problems. They think big-picture but are ultimately concerned with the family unit, not the individual. They receive respect from their communities because they give significant respect to the people and world around them. In native communities one does not just become an elder because of their age, they are given that title because the community recognizes the wisdom that they have to share. 

I have a high level of respect for these native men and women, and I have been privileged to enter into fellowship with them because I plainly admit that I do not have everything figured out. They have something very valuable to teach me. I was talking to Wilson Justin today, an Athabaskan elder, and he said it is rare to find someone with a research/science background that truly asks for his perspective because he or she means to honor it. You may not always agree with what you hear, but be someone who can respect and learn from people who are very different from you.

Warning: The more you learn, the more you will realize how much you don't know. It also means the world you thought you understood, may seem even more complex and complicated than you ever realized. But, if it teaches you a little more humilty and even more about our God through the rich world he has created, I think it is worth it. 

Don't worry, I have a whole lot more learning to do.