This week in my religion class, our teacher started off by telling a story that really stuck with me. To put it simply,: there was a poem written about a group of blind men who went to see an elephant. Each of the men touched different parts of the elephant and stated what they felt and thought it was. One touched the trunk, another a leg, another a tusk, and so on and so forth. Therefore they all thought they were feeling something different, and none believed the animal before them, was actually an elephant. Where each of them were right to some extent, they were all in the wrong.

Because of their lack of both trust in and communication with one another, none of the men were able to see the elephant for what it truly was: an elephant. Instead, they were too concerned with being correct and saying everyone else was wrong.

This exact thing happens to us in life all too often. We know an elephant when we see one, but when we gain bits and pieces of truth about all sorts of topics through the media, word of mouth, and our own experiences, we take it as truth and run with it instead of asking questions and figuring out the full story. This is such a dangerous and inaccurate thing that we must avoid when trying to acquire knowledge, especially when it comes to spiritual knowledge.

When you look at the phrase “acquiring spiritual knowledge,” you can see that the first letters form the acronym “A.S.K.” A.S.K. can also represent the words, “ask, seek, knock.” The word ask and the sub-parts of this acronym are all verbs, which indirectly show us that gaining any kind of knowledge requires action.

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

If the blind men had listened to each other, heard about all of the things they each felt, and then put them together, all while trusting each other, they would have had the whole truth. The same goes for us. When we say our prayers, we ask Heavenly Father for guidance. When the time is right, He answers us. If we trust in Him and listen for those answers throughout our lives, we are able to find the things we are meant for on this Earth and eventually knock on the doors of heaven and enter into His kingdom.

We should also put this practice into our everyday lives in circumstances other than prayer. When we are told things, when we hear things, when we read things, we should constantly question them, investigate them, and truly attempt to understand them in order to discover truth. People all too often hear something and react rather than discovering the full truth, and really end up regretting it or messing things up, consequently destroying relationships, hurting people, etc. If we are spiritually ready for life to happen to us because we are constantly asking, seeking, and knocking, we will be much more successful, happy, and knowledgeable.