What you don't know CAN hurt you

  When I was growing up, my parents were full of idioms they felt compelled to share with me as points of learning. Two I remember repeated often were "Ignorance is bliss" and "What you don't know won't hurt you". They seemed to go hand in hand, and when mentioned enough times i became convinced that there were things in life which I was better off not knowing. I bought the concept at the time but as I grew older and wiser, I came to see the flaw in the supposed logic.

While competing for Team USA and getting ready for the World Triathlon Championships off the Gold Coast in Australia two years ago, I did most of my pre-race swim training in the channel adjacent to my hotel. It was always clear of boats and there was never another swimmer to worry about. I had the water to myself. After a few days of mile swims back and forth across the inlet, I was finishing up my last swim and heard some local Australian yelling at me from the bridge above. He called me out of the water and waved me up to where he was, right next to a sign that I obviously hadn't seen from my entry point beach-side each day "WARNING: DO NOT swim in this channel, it is full of Bull Sharks!"

I went back to my room and became less ignorant about bull sharks. Here's what I learned - they are the world's most likely shark to attack humans.They favor shallow, coastal waters, which is also, not coincidentally, where people swim.  They average 7-11 feet long, far smaller than their Great White cousins but more prone to travel in and attack in packs. They love to rip and shred those things with which they come into contact. Nice :)

The obvious lesson for me was to have been better informed. Ignorance could have been deadly. What I didn't know could have killed me. Literally. It goes without saying that I steered very clear of those waters from that day forward. Not knowing something or lacking an awareness can seem momentarily blissful, but life is filled with things that we must come to know if we are to minimize pain, suffering, or in the worse case, a premature death. The signs are often everywhere, but in our blissful and ignorant nature, we often miss them. As a Believer, I've come to know that the One who created me put all of the warnings and instruction in one place for me to read. And He did so out of LOVE. Knowing this now, the choice remains mine. I can remain ignorant and temporarily blissful by ignoring His word and wisdom, or I can strive to gain and apply the His knowledge to my walk in this world. It's not a guarantee that I'll avoid all of life's problems, but it will no doubt keep those problems I would have created on my own to the absolute minimum. And it will surely keep me out of the life's shark-infested waters. BELIEVE.  

"My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep the in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their whole body" - Proverbs 4:20-22