Hi, all! Just a thought.

The towns of New Haven in Connecticut, Cambridge in Massachusetts, and Providence in Rhode Island are each home to one of the great Ivy League schools — namely Yale, Harvard, and Brown Universities, in that order. We made a point to visit all three of these while in New England recent-ly. We saw beautiful campus buildings, interacted with a few students, and visited the bookstore at each of those locations. The handsome mannequin in my photo is sporting one of the nice-looking Yale sweaters we spotted while there.

An education is a very important thing, whether it be from a local school or from one of the world’s leading institutions. The more we learn, the more there is to learn. It becomes contagious when we set our minds to knowing more than we currently know. We study the Bible to know more about the Scripture, to become closer to the Lord, to learn more about our callings and duties and mis-sions in this world. An education is something no one can ever take away from you.

My wife, accompanied by our youngest daughter, who traveled with us, stood in the store on Yale’s campus and called our other two daughters. That phone call resulted in all four ladies now owing a sweatshirt with the Yale name and/or logo emblazoned upon it. Yours truly found a nice one when we visited Harvard.

We didn’t purchase those items to make us look smart. Ha. It would take more than that for me! We now own those items as reminders of our trip and of those great institutions.

I am better educated because I have visited Yale and Harvard and Brown, not because I have earned a degree from those places, but because of the experience of my visit. I would like to think that my travels make me a little more educated than I was before. I learn from the places I go, the people I meet, and the food and scenery I experience. I learn because I go.

Perhaps, just perhaps, part of the command found in Matthew’s Gospel to “Go” into the world and preach and teach is an opportunity not just to help others learn, but to learn something new for my-self! By studying to share with others, I learn. Many times, I preach my sermons aloud from the pulpit, but directed mainly at myself.

Visit the Word. Take it as your own. Wear it like a badge of honor. And tell somebody about it this week! What good is the experience if you keep it all to yourself?

Just a thought.

’Til later.

Brad Campbell can be reached at mastah.pastah@yahoo.com.