Ignorance

Watched "A Christmas Carol" with the kids tonight and the movie left out one of my favorite lines from the book.

Scrooge's time with the Ghost of Christmas Present is coming to an end and he notices a foot barely visible under the fringe of the ghost's robe. He asks what it is and two horrid looking children are revealed. He asks whose children these are. Dickens takes it from here.

"They are Man's", said the Spirit, looking down upon them. "And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware of them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased."

Ignorance, and the willingness to remain firmly entrenched in it, has a way of destroying life, rupturing relationships and continuing Want. Sometimes the best thing to do is to be quiet and listen. Learn. Open your heart. Put yourself in the other's shoes.

The grace of God, freely given to us, puts us in a position of knowing that nothing has been achieved on our own accord. There is humility that comes with that knowledge. Ignorance cannot survive in the presence of such humility.

Love your neighbor.

Peace.