SO WHAT'S WRONG WITH A LITTLE IGNORANCE?

"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise...!" When Shakespeare penned those waggishly insightful words, he set down a marker for all of us. In today's age of such accomplishment and sophistication, it may seem counter-intuitive to demean wisdom. But not really. Not when you plumb the true bliss of true ignorance. Here, lets consider some obvious examples...


CHILDHOOD

Be honest -- can you think of any ignorance more totally blissful than your childhood? Those first six or seven years when life is a butterfly you cup in your hands...when what you feel you do...what you fear your parents take care of...what you know of the world outside the lair you know only through the protecting eyes of a tigress of a mother.

St Paul speaks truth when he speaks of "putting away the things of child." Still, those early years were blissful in direct proportion to the ignorance within which we moved. And played. And dreamed. And slept totally secure every night.

Victor Herbert spoke truth too when his lyric said "we can never go back again." And yet, the fragile memory of such bliss is locked somewhere inside the vault of our heart. To be gently taken out every now and then in order to re-polish its shine.

DEATH

For a long time, death is simply a word. Not even a fact. Certainly not a reality. In our Western culture. death has been politely excised from our lives, and placed in the hands of antiseptic processionals in hospitals and funeral chapels.

The duration of this bliss depends on how early and how often death intrudes upon our ignorance. This usually means we are starkly unprepared when its black wings suddenly hover over our lives. And yet, the dark angel's banishment may help explain how we manage to survive. Somehow always with the ignorant expectation that: What is, will always be.

So yes...death, take your place in line while my ignorance of you helps get me through another day. Time enough when the time comes.

SMALL AFTERTHOUGHTS

If Childhood and Death are part of this little tale, two smaller thoughts also come to mind: The Ten O'clock News every night and Spring every March. No, seriously...! Let me explain.

The Ten O'Clock News may be the most insidious of modern institutions. Why one wonders would anyone planning to go to bed want to first watch this 30 minutes of murder, madness and mayhem? Also, why do we so anticipate Spring when what it really means is all this sunshine now illuminating all this dust and dirt the clouds of Winter have kept hidden from our eyes?

I know, I know -- strange reactions. But once again, just a matter of trying to hang on to the bliss of igorance in the face of the folly of facts...