Ignorance

Beth and I were watching a show on CBC tonight that was quite like when Jay Leno does Street Walking. A guy who is quite prominent on television here--Rick Mercer--toured the US asking Americans questions about Canada. At one point he was in Des Moines, Iowa, facetiously asking people if Canadians should adopt a 24-hour day instead of a 20-hour day. He actually got former Governor and one time presidential hopeful (he was still in office when the show was taped) Tom Vilsack to say on tape, "Congratulations, Canada, on adopting a 24-hour day." (Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee also congratulated Canada on preserving the national igloo--a made-up seat of government.)

Now I can understand how some people would not know some of the things Rick Mercer was talking about (like understanding that Peter Mansbridge is an anchorman here, not an actual bridge), but he got people to protest a rhinoceros hunt in Saskatchewan. Professors at places like Harvard and Columbia would even go along with some of his statements.

In high school I was at a national FFA conference in Kansas City once and we were asked by a group of students from Oklahoma if we had running water and electricity. I guess it's just a good reminder that there's a larger world out there to be aware of. Now we don't all need to be world travelers, but let's never stop learning. At the risk of turning everything into a spiritual application, we sometimes do the same thing to the Bible. We read the stories while being ignorant of the culture, customs, geography and history of the time when it was written. Sometimes it turns out okay, but sometimes we get into trouble doing that as well. Ignorance may be bliss (I doubt that's true--though I know a few people who claimed to be exuberant), but God urges us to grown in wisdom (especially that which is found in Him).

"Congratulations, Canada, on 800 miles of paved roads!"