It’s Not Always What I Don’t Know

I would be the first to admit one truth about myself: I don’t know everything. To quote a politician, “I don’t know what I don’t know.”

That has been the theme of my life for as long as I can remember.

It all began with my parents. Whenever I got into trouble, they would usually respond, “Don’t you know anything?”

Of course, as all parents are, they were right.

It’s not that my memory is getting worse as I get older. It has always been bad since the day of my birth. I can’t remember anything about the day of my birth or the weeks after.

One thing I don’t remember very well is names. For example, I know 10 people whose first name is George. They all look different, so I do not know what a George looks like.

I think that’s the reason somebody invented the name “Buddy.” So confusing.

It also may be why I call my wife “Honey, my dear, sweetheart,” because I don’t remember her first name.

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage does not have any memory failure. She can remember every day and what she has been doing since the day of her birth. Fortunately for me, I can count on her pristine memory.

The other day, on my way to my office, I walked through the kitchen where she was preparing lunch. As I walked through, she said, “No, and I haven’t seen it in weeks.”

I stopped, looked at her quizzically and said, “What?”

She just smiled, so I continued to my office to begin work.

As I began, I looked for my tape recorder, which I use Sunday mornings to record my sermon, and I couldn’t find it. I looked and looked and looked, but it was nowhere to be seen.

After 30 minutes, I peeked into the kitchen and said, “Did you see…?”

“Didn’t you hear me?” She said, “I said no.”

I stood there a little stunned, and all I could say was, “What?” How did she know what I would ask her 30 minutes before I asked her?

I sat in my office and thought about this for a moment. How could she know something like this before I even asked the question? What enables her to know ahead of time? Is she a prophet?

As I was trying to process this, I found my tape recorder under some papers piled on my desk.

A few days later as I walked through the kitchen on way to my office, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage looked at me and said, “It’s this Thursday at 9 o’clock.”

I stared at her and said, “I didn’t ask you any question. What’s this all about?”

She returned to her work, and I continued to my office.

About an hour later, I was updating my schedule for the week. I wanted to know when my next doctor’s appointment was, but I didn’t have it on my schedule.

I peeked into the kitchen and asked, “Do you know when my doctor’s appointment is?”

She looked at me and said, “Don’t you listen to me? I said this Thursday at 9 o’clock.”

I then remembered she said that, but when she said it, I had no idea what she was talking about. How did she know I wanted to know when my doctor’s appointment was? How did she know 45 minutes before I asked her what I would ask her?

It was a Monday morning, and as I went to my office The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage said, “They’re in your vest pocket in your closet.”

I was hurrying to get to my office because I had an appointment at the bank for business. I didn’t listen very carefully to what she said.

I looked around for my car keys and could not find them. Finally I went to the kitchen and said, “Do you know...”

“If you remember, I said earlier that they were in your vest pocket in your closet.”

Thinking about it, I remember her saying that, but I had no idea what she was talking about at the time. How did she know I was going to look for my keys?”

When I returned home from the bank that afternoon, I pondered all of this. When I see something, I think of how to use it to my advantage. It then hit me. I think I’m going to ask her which horse is going to win the race this weekend. I figured out how to present it so she does not know what I am doing.

I walked into the kitchen later, and she looked at me and said, “No, I am not helping you on the horse race.”

Later, I thought about that and said to myself, "I did not know we were so intimately connected."

Sitting in my office I was thinking about this and was reminded what wise old Solomon said.

“1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;” (Proverbs 2:1-2).

My take is, I need to be proactive when it comes to knowledge. My knowledge will feed my wisdom, which in turn will apply my heart to understanding. I can’t take for granted what I hear and I must learn how to pay attention to all that is around me.