Boat of Blondes

Appreciating the immensity of our ignorance

LUKE 17:5-10.  

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

          One of my favorite sayings is, “you don't know what you don't know.”  I like it because it makes you have to think a little to really get the gist of it.  It's deeper than simply being ignorant of something like say rocket science.  I may not know any rocket science – and I don't – but I still am aware of this lack of knowledge.  And because I'm aware of it, I could fix that ignorance by going to school and learning rocket science.  This saying, however, goes one step further: it is ignorance of something I don't even know I am ignorant of.

          The best way to illustrate this point is with a blonde joke (my apologies to all your blondes).  A guy walks into a bar and orders a drink.  After a few too many drinks, he turns to the person sitting next to him and says: “You wanna hear a blonde joke?”  The guys answers: “I am 240 pounds, world kickboxing champion and a natural blonde.  My friend here is 190 pounds, world judo champion and a natural blonde.  My other companion is 200 pounds, world arm wrestling champion and is also a natural blonde.  Now, do you still want to tell me that blonde joke?”  The man thinks a minute and replies: “Not if I have to explain it three times!”  The gist of the joke is that blondes do not know what they do not know; that's the gist of all blonde jokes.

          Now, I'm not really picking on blondes today because we're all in the same boat: no one knows what they do not know.  Try to think about it like this: when you were 10 years old you thought you understood a few things about life, but when you turned 20 you realized how ignorant you were at 10.  And then when you turn 30 you look back at your 20 year old self, and you realize you knew very little at 20.  At 40 you look at the “30 year old you” and see what a fool you were at that age.  At 50 you do the same and see how silly you were at 40.  What happens at 60?  What might likely happen at 70?  Let me ask you something: when will that end?  When will you finally understand everything?  Maybe 80?  Perhaps 90?  But by then you get Alzheimer’s and forget everything you learned!  And this kind of ignorance you can't “fix” like going to school and learning rocket science.  Why not?  Because we don't know what we don't know; just like you didn't know at 30 what you learned at 40.  In other words, we're all in the same boat as blondes; we’re all blondes.

          In the gospel today, Jesus insists on the ignorance of the apostles, too.  They say to Jesus, “Lord increase our faith.”  And Jesus replies: 'If you have the faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.”  And clearly none of them had even that much faith because they could not have told that tree to jump into the sea.  In other words, it is good to pray for more faith, but first realize the immensity of your ignorance.  If your faith – what you believe, what you think you know – isn't even the size of a tiny mustard seed, then how much more must there by that you don’t even know that you don’t know?  A lot.

          My friends, may I suggest a few ways to embrace our own ignorance, and by doing so, start to grope in the darkness and inch toward the light of truth?  First, don't be too smart for your own good.  In other words, be willing to admit when you make a mistake and learn to say, “I don't know.”  Can you say that easily?  Let’s say you really are a rocket scientist and know many things, but there are still immeasurably more things you do not know.  The ancient philosopher, Socrates, famously said: “The only thing that I know is that I don't know.”  There is more wisdom in that one line than in all the information on the internet.  Our ignorance is much larger than the internet.

          Secondly, pray.  Like the apostles ask the Lord to give you more faith.  If it is true that we don't know what we don't know, then faith is knocking on the door of the Unknown, and hoping Someone will open that door and let us in.  And what lies on the other side of that door we'd never guess in a million years.  St. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him.”  Through prayer we begin the scratch the surface of all that we didn't know we didn't know.

          Thirdly, ask for help, and accept other people's offer of help.  Sometimes when a church staff member asks me about a difficult situation, I'll turn around and ask them, “What do YOU think we should do?”  And very rarely do I disagree with their suggestion.  In fact, often they come up with solutions I'd never imagine.  They help me to know what I didn't know.  Fr. Norman McFall, a friend, visited a lady in the hospital and before he left he asked her, “Would you do me a favor and pray for me?”  She was shocked, and said, “How can I a lay person pray for a priest; you don't need my prayers.”  He answered, 'If Pope Francis can go around the world asking for people to pray for him, I figure I need to ask also.”  Ask for help, ask for prayers.  Why?  Because there are so many things you don't even know you don't know.

          And fourthly, don’t be afraid or angry when someone questions you or contradicts you.  Has your husband or wife ever pointed out things you do that really irritate them?  How did you respond?  Many people get upset.  Why?  Because the spouse is point out something we didn't know was a bother, but it's something we need to change.  And what happens when those things go unchanged or ignored?  The answer is simple: a 60% divorce rate in the United States.  There can be a steep cost when you don't know what you don't know.

          During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington paid a visit to Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams.  They enjoyed some tea together, and General Washington thanked Abigail for her letters to John Adams while the Continental Congress was in session.  He said, “We will miss your letters.”  Why did General Washington say that?  Because Abigail Adams helped the Founding Fathers begin to know what they didn't know.  By the way, I don't believe Abigail Adams was blonde, but George Washington might have been.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!