Of course, there is some point to such an objection.  Having been asked to teach the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we cannot defend the practice of bringing in all kinds of material just because it is funny.  And, of course, it is true, too, that some lesson outlines upon first thought do appear rather forbidding.  But it is equally true that there is a path of interest through the most unpromising material, though that path does not always run alongside the teacher’s highroad of ease and unconcern.  A false notion of interest is that it denotes mere amusement—­that it is something aside from serious and sober thought.

The writer recalls visiting a class taught by a person holding such a notion.  Having given his lesson but little thought he apologized for its lack of interest by saying, “Now, boys and girls, if you will just be quiet while we go over the lesson, even though it isn’t very interesting, I’ll read you our next chapter of Huckleberry Finn.”  And yet the lesson, hurried over, with a little intensive study could have been made as fascinating as the reading of Huckleberry Finn and notably more profitable.

Another misconception relative to interest is the idea that to make a subject interesting you must so popularize it that you cheapen it.  This idea is typified in the “snap” courses in school—­courses made interesting at the expense of painstaking application.  As a matter of fact, to cheapen a thing is ultimately to kill interest in it.  Genuine interest of real worth is born of effort and devotion to a worthy objective.  Far from dissipating the mind’s energies, it heightens and concentrates them to the mastery of the bigger and finer things of life.

A subject to be made interesting must present some element of newness, yet must be so linked up with the experience of the learner as to be made comprehensible.  It must, moreover, be made to appeal as essential and helpful in the life of the learner.  The two outstanding queries of the uninterested pupil are: 

  What is it all about? 
  What’s the use?

Let us, then, turn to two or three subjects which at first thought may appear more or less dull to see whether there is an approach to them that can be made interesting.

Members of the teacher-training class at Provo were asked to name four or five subjects which they regarded hard to stimulate interest in.  They named the following: 

  Fasting. 
  The Fall. 
  The Atonement. 
  The Resurrection. 
  The Story of Jonah.

Let us suppose that I have met my Second Intermediate class of eighteen boys and girls to discuss the subject of fasting.  I might begin by relating an actual experience in which through fasting and prayer on the part of the members of a particular family a little boy has just been most miraculously restored to health, after an operation for appendicitis.  It was an infection case, and three doctors agreed there was no possible chance of recovery.  A fourth doctor held out the possibility of one chance in a hundred.  And yet a two days’ fast, coupled with a faith I have seldom seen equalled, has been rewarded by the complete recovery of the boy, who is now thoroughly well and strong.