Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Derrick Porter every Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir broadcast from Temple Square. Delivered on Sunday, June 7, 2026. This week is the 5,047th broadcast.
Please note that reservations are required to attend Music & the Spoken Word at Salt Lake Tabernacle. Click here for more information on how to make a reservation.
John Locke said, “No man’s knowledge can exceed his experience.” (See John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Volume 2, Chapter 1, Section 19, published in 1690.)
Of course, knowledge has value. However, we gain experience when we try to apply what we learn rather than just learning. And lived experience leads to the precious gift of true understanding.
The book of Proverbs teaches the importance of the principle, “Do everything to gain understanding” (see Proverbs 4:7).
When we seek to understand, we can more easily relate to other people, other cultures, and other ways of doing things. We can more easily understand patterns and principles that expand our learning capabilities. And we don’t just become better learners. We also become better teachers.
I once observed an experienced corporate finance executive explaining a complex accounting problem to a group. He explained it to me in less than 90 seconds and I was amazed. Entire articles were written to explain the same idea, but here was this guy who taught it in plain language in a way that everyone could understand.
True understanding helps make complex problems simple. However, the work required to obtain it is far from easy.
I have a friend who has struggled with learning for years. He had difficulty concentrating and his dyslexia made reading and studying difficult. He fell behind his classmates and graduated near the bottom of his class.
He began working in a fast-paced and demanding industry. One day, exhausted by years of feeling incompetent, he decided to do something about it. He set a goal to listen to audiobooks every day and studied everything from business to relationships to political science and even chiropteralogy, the study of bats. He listened to music three hours a day for nearly five years. Since then, I’ve continued that habit for at least an hour every day for over 10 years.
As the hours and years passed, he applied what he learned to his daily life, turning knowledge into experience and experience into understanding.
The price my friend paid to “get it” paid off. He learned how to succeed in the things that matter most: love at home, connection with God, and confidence in himself.
The process of gaining understanding is not just about increasing knowledge. The understanding we gain through experience stays with us. It changes us, teaches us, and guides us along the journey of life.
Tuning…
“Music & the Spoken Word” broadcasts are available on KSL-TV, KSL News Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirecTV, SiriusXM (Ch. 143), tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoir, and Amazon Alexa (skills must be enabled). The program will be broadcast live on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time on these stations. Find airing information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedule.
