Music
Conductors: Mack Wilberg and Ryan Murphy
Organist: Joseph Peeples
Announcer: Lloyd D. Newell
“Simple Gifts”
Shaker song
Arrangement: Ryan Murphy
“Hear Him”
Music: Ryan Murphy
Lyrics: Wendy Randall
“Fugue in C Major” (“Jig”)” (Organ solo)
Music: Dietrich Buxtehude
“Who Will Buy?” from Oliver
Music and Lyrics: Lionel Bart
Arrangement: Michael Davis
“O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright”
German hymn tune
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
“Let Us All Press On”
Music and Lyrics: Evan Stephens
Arrangement: Richard Elliott
The Spoken Word
Education for Eternity
May 19, 2024
By Lloyd Newell
(Recorded in Manila, Philippines, February 2024)
The oldest existing university in all of Asia was established more than 400 years ago here in Manila, Philippines. The University of Santo Tomas is named for the renowned Dominican priest Thomas Aquinas, a revered theologian and philosopher. This university is the largest Catholic university in the world in a single campus, and it stands as a beautiful monument to a long-standing devotion to education.
It feels fitting that this impressive university, so deeply rooted in the history of the Philippines, would also have religious roots. There is definitely something godly about education, about teaching and learning, about stretching the mind and deepening understanding. It has been said that “education is the key that will unlock the door of opportunity.”[1] And that door is not just academic or financial; it’s also spiritual. To increase in knowledge and truth is to grow a little closer to the all-knowing God of truth. We fulfill His purpose in our lives, at least in part, by becoming lifelong learners whose education never ends.
Learning is as eternal as God Himself, and it blesses both the mind and the spirit, the brain and the heart. Over the four centuries since the University of Santo Tomas was founded, people have too often assumed that there is a conflict between study and faith. But education for eternity comes “by study and also by faith.”[2] We don’t have to leave our faith at the door of the school or our reason at the door of the church. We need both.
Russell M. Nelson, renowned heart surgeon and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, explains: “There is no conflict between science and religion. Conflict only arises from an incomplete knowledge of either science or religion, or both.”[3] By study and faith, by schoolwork and soul-work, we gain knowledge with eternal value. If we use that knowledge to help others, the joy of our discovery expands.
When the Lord Jesus Christ invited those who “labour and are heavy laden” to come unto Him, He added, “Learn of me; … and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”[4] That’s an education of the highest kind. It’s an education of light and truth, of the head and the heart—education that will last forever.
[1] Gordon B. Hinckley, “Let Virtue Garnish Thy Thoughts Unceasingly,” Ensign or Liahona , May 2007, 116.
[2] Doctrine and Covenants 88:118; emphasis added.
[3] Russell M. Nelson, in Jamie Jensen, “Faith and Science,” Impact , July 26, 2022, lifesciences.byu.edu.
[4] Matthew 11:28–29; see also Doctrine and Covenants 19:23.