IGNORANCE IS NOT, IF EVER, BLISS

What we don’t know can hurt us as we have all learned the hard way – which, unfortunately (perhaps) is the only way we seem to learn. What we do know can also hurt us if we ignore the truth, especially when it is right there in front of us, up front and personal. This is certainly true about the virus that is consuming the news, our world and each one of us personally.

I was reminded of this truth amid this pandemic when Arlena and I were out for a drive with her Mom. Nanny is 98 and doesn’t drive, but she has a 1999 Lincoln Towncar with 54,000 miles on it sitting in her carport that needs to be driven on occasion. She also needs to get out of the house on occasion. Thus, we merge the two needs and take her for a drive anywhere she wants.

The last time out we were turning onto a country road. There was a poster on the corner that announced a wedding and reception. The first words out of Nanny’s mouth: “They don’t know what they are getting into.” So true. For that couple, ignorance, at moment, is blissful. There will be unblissful moments to come when they learn how difficult marriage can be at times no matter how much they love each other.

Why? Even if they have lived together, marriage changes reality. Living together is usually a 50-50 proposition. That’s manageable. Marriage is 100-100. That’s difficult. Learning that the other always comes first is not always blissful. In fact, it can be painful even when what is done is done out of pure and total love. So, yes, Nanny is right. We really don’t know what we are getting into when we marry.

I dare say that the same would be true if we had to make a decision today whether or not we wanted to be a Christian. The same is true even as we have made that decision. We really don’t know what we are going to get into when our faith is put on the line, when we are called by circumstances to prove that we truly are Christians. As in a loving marriage, so in living out our faith: for the most part, it is not all that difficult. It can even be blissful.

We will never know what demands will be placed upon us as we live out our faith (or our marriage). That ignorance of the future can be blissful. Why worry about what might happen because it just as well might not? The point is that when the difficult demand does happen, when there is nothing happy or blissful about it, we need to remind ourselves that it goes with the territory, if you will.

The difficult and hard times come and they must be faced honestly and not with blissful ignorance. Otherwise we will indeed learn the hard way just as those who thought the virus is/was a hoax. Ignorance, especially chosen, is not and never will be bliss. It is always painful. So, as well, is the truth sometimes. We need to be prepared to face it.