On Tuesday, July 9, Richard Gill, dean of undergraduate education and chair of BYU Biology, counseled students on how to navigate their spiritual journey.
Gill has served as Dean of Undergraduate Education since 2022. Her research interests include conservation biology, plant physiological ecology, and global change ecology. She also served as director of the BYU course “UNIV 101: BYU Foundations for Student Success.”
Gill began his talk with an anecdote from his father, a graduate student involved with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and the Polynesian Cultural Center. He taught Gill that Pacific Islanders use historically accurate navigational methods to navigate their canoes in the absence of modern technology. He said that at every sunrise and sunset, they constantly ask themselves two questions: “Where are we? Where are we going?”
Gill applied this concept to the spiritual aspects of BYU students’ lives: “As disciples and scholars, we should ask ourselves each day what observations and choices can tell us where we are and where we are going,” Gill said.
The lessons and advice Gill shared in his talk were based on the many stories of voyages and discoveries he has learned about through his research and experienced himself. He spoke of how voyagers used a variety of resources to discover far-flung lands like the Pacific Islands and New Zealand, but said those stories can also inspire BYU students.
“Our challenge is to find how we can use BYU’s refining experiences, resources and community to stay on the covenant path, build bridges of understanding that will help God prevail in our lives and reduce conflict and division in our communities, live lives of gratitude, be peacemakers, repent, seek forgiveness, forgive others and ultimately build lives guided by heavenly ideals,” Gill said.
Gill presented a framework to help students make critical observations on their own journey of discovery.
“First, observe how the Spirit draws you to certain people or issues,” Gill says. “Second, observe how you can develop your own spiritual strengths to be a better disciple. And finally, observe how God’s hand is blessing and guiding you, and be thankful for those blessings.”
Although Gill had many academic successes and led a busy life of research, deadlines and schoolwork, he found he needed time to stop and express gratitude for the Savior’s hand in his life.
“Gratitude comes when we recognize the sources of joy in our lives and combine that with wonder at the hand of God guiding and blessing us,” Gill said.
Gill went on to recount an experience he had while conducting research off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, earlier this summer. His team was using an underwater robot to explore a coral reef that had no GPS or Wi-Fi. After launching the robot in an unfamiliar area, the team found it stuck on top of an outcrop of an old lava flow.
Thankfully, Gill said, the team had programmed the robot to “fail gracefully” so it could crash through the rock and resurface, allowing it to be retrieved. Gill explained that the experience was a reminder that we all often face the need to course correct in life.
“Our covenant promises, coupled with the Savior’s promises, give us security as we journey into the unknown, when we stray from the path, when we encounter obstacles along the way, or when we know how to fail safely,” Gill said. “Failure, repentance, turning around, and starting again are part of the process of perfection. If we don’t sense the need to course correct, we’re probably not sailing beyond the limits of our abilities, experience, and current knowledge.”
Gill added that he and his family wish they had a “spiritual GPS” to guide them through life. Instead, they must rely on their own judgement to find their way.
“We sail toward the horizon with faith, a little bit of trepidation, sometimes a lot of anxiety, and of course excitement,” Gill said.
To truly be a Zion school, Gill explained, students must follow the example of the travelers who took a meek stance in building community. He referred to a BYU address given by President Jeffrey R. Holland in August 1988 and asked students to make it a priority to integrate a gospel perspective into all areas.
“To move in line with the ideals of mission-inspired scholarship and covenant-based belonging, we need to understand the sacred dimensions of all disciplines and be meek enough to integrate religious, general and professional education,” Gill said.
Gill concluded by saying that every journey ends in a return, and he explained this in the context of students being on a spiritual journey back to their Heavenly Father.
“My prayer is that as we reflect on our life’s journey, we will realize that our discipleship has shaped every choice we make,” Gill said. “I am grateful for the grace we have been given, and I hope that we can all journey together, surrounded by wonder and evidence that God’s hand is at work in our journey.”
