Parabolically Speaking

"And he spake many things unto them in parables..."
-Matt. 13: 3

For a few weeks in late January and early February I was helping a high school student I knew prepare for the ACT test. He was getting ready to apply for college and was looking for a little help. During these weeks I once again re-visited all of those wonderful and once-confusing math concepts. I can remember learning about "conics" for the first time in trigonometry- one of which is the parabola. For the student I was tutoring this was his first introduction. I am sure he was thinking what I did in my first encounter, "Okay, when I am I going to use this in real life?" He had a point (I also note here that it is a a good thing that we ask this question). Asking this question just proves that Jean Piaget, French philosopher and developmental psychologist, was right with his constructivist ideas- that we always seek to connect new knowledge to what we already know, use, and understand.

Hey- maybe knowing about conics would come in handy on that future day when you're cutting a slice out of a cone-shaped chunk of cheddar cheese. You could then say, "Look! A parabola!" What is interesting is how an understanding of various concepts, theories, or historical events, can provide us with a "multi-dimensional" view into different problems and/or situations. Having that additional background knowledge allows an individual to think on more than one level, or approach the idea or problem from more than one angle. Mathematics has always amazed me. It began being tough for me in 5th grade (fractions), and continued until, like Charlotte, two high school teachers helped me to rediscover my confidence and begin to understand the math world. I cannot tell you how many little mathematical "aha's" I've had over the last 10 or so years as I've taught and tutored math. Some have been doctrinal/scientific in nature, and some are just basic math that I should have caught in elementary school. A few years ago I was taught by a first grader who solidified my theories on Euclidean/non-Euclidean geometry and the course of God. Her quick and simple answer to my deep scientific question about the universe was all it took.

Well, a little gospel math clicked in my mind today with regards to the teachings of Christ and the teaching style of our newly-ordained prophet, President Monson. Both a parabola and parable has two sides- the obvious side and another, less-obvious side. When you're driving that knife through the "conical chunk of cheddar" you're creating two new "edges"- on both the close and far sides of your knife. But first note the meaning and origin of the word, "parable..."

parable
Main Entry: par·a·ble
Pronunciation: \ˈpa-rə-bəl\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin parabola, from Greek parabolē comparison, from paraballein to compare, from para- + ballein to throw
Date: 14th century

: example; specifically : a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle

My thoughts are not profound, but last Saturday I found myself really thinking deeply on the simple story that President Thomas S. Monson shared in the world-wide training broadcast (text, audio, & video available here). It was his first formal address to members of the Church as its president. He encouraged us to develop:

1. A pattern of prayer
2. A library of learning
3. A legacy of love
4. A yearning for home

At the end of his address he shared a simple story about a young man who did not know his parentage. The only distant memory he had of his childhood were some chapel bells that rang each Sunday. He went out in search of that sound that he knew that he would recognize when he heard it, and continued on, stopping in each town to listen to the bells on the Sabbath day. In the story, the man eventually recognized and found the home of his birth.

In the lesson today our instructor challenged us to become familiar with and understand the language of the prophet Joseph Smith. It was different that ours. My mind went to the story shared by President Monson. It had many different meanings- from missionary work and the Spirit, the purpose of mortality, and to my own family.

Listen to a prophet. When he shares again the story from his childhood about giving up a few beloved train cars on Christmas Day in order to brighten another's life, don't start falling asleep- listen! There is another side. He is telling your story! It will always go a little deeper if we take the time to ponder on it- and especially act on it.

I wonder if I would have dismissed the Savior as a "teller of simple tales" had I encountered him in his ministry.

"And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it."
-Mark 4: 33