A Child of God

For my writing 150 class I was recently assigned to read "A Child of God" by President Henry B. Erying. In this address, it is stressed that to pursue educational excellence here at BYU everyone must know that they are children of God and what specifically that divine right entails. President Erying began by saying that as children of God, we must free ourselves of pride for it is "the great spiritual destroyer" of all men. Instead, we must become humble because "the way to humility is also the doorway to educational excellence". To combat pride we must remember our Heavenly Father and the atoning sacrifice our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

As the talk continues, President Erying highlights what he believes to be the greatest five characteristic behaviors to be a great learner and achieve educational excellence. The first characteristic behavior is to welcome and seek out correction. This can be hard because as humans we like to think that our thoughts and actions are correct and perfect. When in reality, others can see our divine heritage as more than we are. The second characteristic behavior is to keep commitments. In a learning community, we must live up to society's "accepted standards". In doing so others will trust us more and in return, they will keep their commitments with us. President Erying's third characteristic is that great learners work hard and know that "hard work is the only reasonable option". The fourth characteristic is service to others. Learners who are willing to help others are not "absorbed only in themselves" but have the ability to see that "every person they will ever meet is a child of God". The fifth and final characteristic is that a great learner expects resistance and overcomes it. Yes various aspects of our lives can become extremely difficult; however, we can't get too discouraged because resistance polishes us for the better. As President Erying concludes his talk he says that the time to start to pursue educational excellence is now. Having grown up in the church I already knew from a young age that I was a child of God, but I had never combined that knowledge with my education. I must realize the divine heritage of myself and of others around me and I must "do it now".