Thought for the Day

Rabbit, Rabbit

Perhaps you don’t remember the very old wives’ tale requiring you to say ‘rabbit, rabbit’ as the first words out of your mouth upon waking and greeting another person on the first day of the month. Supposedly this would bring both of your good luck in the coming month and your relationship would flourish.

Well, I can’t very well say the phrase to all of you because I’m in print! So you will just have to rest easy with the Thought for the Day.

And here it is…drum roll please…:

            “In the age of information

                                    IGNORANCE is a CHOICE!”

The author of this beauty is unknown but the words resonate well, don’t you think?

Information abounds in our lives. It is easily accessed. Research today is so much easier than ten or 20 years ago. No more library card files, or note cards dragged from library to library. Now it is a quick Google search on the internet. Of course to be thorough a person has to check references, read some cited authors, and understand the context of the facts gathered. 

The sweep of history is less a sweep than a dogged slog through minutiae. We live the details day by day, sometimes hour by hour, let alone years strung together. It is easy to lose the thread of relations of facts and their inherent meaning. This is why historians pore over materials endlessly to capture meanings years and decades later. 

Perspective lends understanding. Context is part of perspective.

Information is available. To ignore it is to make oneself a fool. And be so wrong about things for years and years.

It takes discipline to choose fact and information. It takes dedication to seek meaning. To do otherwise is lazy and clearly a choice to remain ignorant.

May your days be blessed and rooted in fact!

June 1, 2013