Isn’t it nice to know a lot?
I am a huge fan of musical theatre – was a theatre major for a hot minute. Changed to theology, because a career in the arts wasn’t going to pay the bills (joke’s on me). I love so many lines from Sondheim’s classic Into The Woods. He has such a fun grasp on the reality of life and relationships.
Among my favorite is an ironic lyric sung by Little Red Riding Hood: “Isn’t it nice to know a lot?”
I was watching the Disney adaptation of Into The Woods the other evening, and this line struck me. This year has been characterized by so many, including myself at times, living by this mantra: isn’t it nice to know a lot.
When things feel grey, out of our control or unpredictable, the human spirit works overtime to move us towards certainty. We would rather know the truth in its entirety and be absolutely unshaken in our version of reality than live in the tension of life. So, we move to polarities: everything and everyone is either all good or all bad. Communities are categorized into predictable boxes, and are expected to stay there. We become experts on the experts and declare our version of expertise to be the real expertise.
Just think about all the categories that we suddenly “know a lot” about:
Novel viruses
Masks
Social distancing
Race relations
Politics
Election results
Economic theory
Russia
China
Outdoor dining
Vaccines
Aren’t we amazing?
And, not only do we know a lot about these things, but we know a lot about those who disagree with what we know about those things! And whoever disagrees with our expertise is clearly the ignorant fool who wants to destroy liberty, grandma, small businesses, large businesses, racial minorities, etc.
How did we get here?
I made the decision as a pastor to reopen our gatherings to the public in November while requiring masks, temperature checks, social distancing, holding to 25% capacity, restricting children programs to CDC daycare guidelines, closing all food and drink distribution, shortening the time we were together and continued to push viewing live from home. I encouraged everyone to prayerfully consider what was best for themselves and their family. And the experts came out – on all sides. Some experts told me I wasn’t loving our neighbors, that we clearly didn’t care about 300K+ deaths and obviously believed that COVID was a hoax. Other experts told me I was living in fear because I had so many restrictions, was bowing down to our governor and had been duped into believing that COVID was real.
I wish the first group of experts got a glace into the many conversations I was having with people that were overwhelmed by depression, drowning in addiction and trying to figure out how they were going to pay the bills, all while planning memorial services for friends that took their lives during this season. I wish the second group of experts got a glance into the many conversations with concerned people who had family in the hospital on ventilators, those struggling with their autoimmune disorders or caring for elderly parents with preexisting conditions, all the while encouraging our frontline workers who are caring for the sick.
So, am I the villain or the hero?
Probably both.
Look, I get it. It is so convenient to put things into nice boxes, and then vilify anyone who thinks in another box. It’s so much easier to believe everything is black and white, so we then know what memes we are supposed to post to attack the others. It’s certainly appealing to do this with God, an assume our expertise of Him is the Truth. A God we know is much easier to deal with than a God who surprises us.
But what if we allowed ourselves to step back and realize we only see truth and reality through a mirror dimly? What if we paused to think about how complex this year has been and lean into the juxtaposition that is 2020? This isn’t to say that we don’t hold tight to convictions. However, it’s possible to have deep convictions and still see that the person holding the other conviction may not have evil motives. It actually requires of level of humility that many of us are uncomfortable with.
Little Red Riding Hood’s full lyric is “Isn’t it nice to know a lot – and a little bit not.”
