My significant ignorance…

Three things in which I’m significantly ignorant have set me musing…

Yesterday we learnt of the discovery of seven new species of frogs in Madagascar. They’ve been named after Star Trek characters – Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, Burnham and Pike,

Apparently, instead of croaking they make high-pitched whistling noises which are supposed to sound like something from Star Trek… and the major expeditions to remote forests and mountains to find and study these frogs had a real ‘Star Trek’ sense of scientific discovery and exploration.

I have significant ignorance in Madagascan frogs.

My friend Mary once told me, with a smile, that she was going to hospital for a ‘procedure’. I understood; it was a ‘lady’s matter’. She was going to give me no further details; I preferred to stay ignorant. We still smile about hospital ‘procedures’.

Yesterday Stevie told me that she had a doctor’s appointment. I asked if she was OK; she quickly changed the subject. I thought ‘procedure’. The conversation moved on.

This morning, I read about Jesus healing the woman who ‘had suffered from bleeding for twelve years.’ Jesus didn’t show a personal knowledge of her medical condition; He did show empathy and his power to heal…

My friend Roger was describing his time serving as a soldier in Northern Ireland. I’ve never experienced war…

Roger’s friend, John, was going home to be with his wife for the birth their new baby. The night before he was due to return home a bomb exploded in his face, blinding him. John never saw his baby…

As Roger told the story his eyes filled with tears. All these years later Roger still feels John’s pain… In that moment he showed me something of both human empathy and the horrors of war.

I’m musing on St Paul’s words: ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep’… Even in those areas of life where I have significant ignorance, I can still seek understanding and show empathy.