We’re talking about being diligent in study this week.  But what is diligence in the first place?  Well, the dictionary definition is “having or showing care and conscientiousness in one’s work or duties,” and also being “attentive and persistent” in accomplishing a task.   So, at first glance, it may seem that there is little more to diligence in study than grinding your way through your schoolwork to completion.  But, it turns out, there’s a bit more to diligence than that.

The etymology of the word diligence is…you guessed it, from Latin.  Diligence comes from the Latin word diligere (some of you Latin whizzes can probably tell me if I butchered that pronunciation).  And you might be surprised to learn that diligere actually means to “love or take delight in.”

And so it is that to be truly diligent in your studies is not merely the act of doing them with care and persistence, but it is the posture of the heart that actually delights in your studies.  Now I’m not so foolish to think that you all will love every minute of school or of your homework—but I do think there is a valuable lesson here: if you learn to love the knowing that comes from your studies, then you will love the learning that gives you that knowledge—and being diligent, i.e., taking delight in, your studies won’t seem so farfetched after all.

Have a wonderful day.