Ignorance, they say, is bliss. But it’s not. It leads you down dead end alleys and into wastelands of emptiness.
When I was five, for example, I didn’t know about homonyms. I had no idea that the words gorilla, the fascinating primates at the zoo and, guerilla, men in camo with machine guns, are pronounced exactly the same despite their very different meanings.
Back then my ignorance of homonyms ruined what should have been a nice family outing for me. One night my parents took my brother and I out to dinner to celebrate our first night back after an extended visit with relatives. As we drove along, they quizzed us about our trip. Then my dad turned on the radio.
Shock and dismay paralyzed me as a news announcer spoke of guerilla warfare in a place called Vietnam. What my parents didn’t know is that during our visit someone had taken us to see a The Planet of the Apes, a film that depicted militant gorillas who had taken over the world and were especially brutal to humans. When I heard the news story about guerillas fighting U.S. troops, I was sure they meant gorilla warfare, and that the movie was more of a documentary than a fictional story.
Tears ran down my cheeks as I pictured my little brother with an iron collar around his neck in a filthy loincloth subserviently serving tea to militant orangutans, yet we drove merrily along. I couldn’t believe we were heading out to a restaurant while such madness was taking over the world.
Needless to say, I was elated to learn the truth about homonyms.
Ignorance in other areas of life has cost ne just as dearly. The problem is, you don’t know what you don’t know. You discover your blind spots as your shins bang into coffee-table reality. So, here’s to grace, mercy, forgiveness and love as we navigate life’s twists and turns with limited knowledge. 
