"You know nothing..."

"But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said."

(Luke 18:34)

In the TV series "Game of Thrones," wildling Ygritte made famous the saying, "You know nothing, Jon Snow!" In part, it was referring to how little the Knight's Watchman knew about life North of the wall. But on a deeper level, it was a lot of other things (like the relationship between a man and a woman, etc.) that Jon also didn't know. And in all honesty, one of the marks of maturity is knowing enough to know what you don't know.

Jesus took three times to tell his closest followers what was about to transpire during his last week of life. They couldn't hear it. They couldn't grasp it. They couldn't comprehend it. "But they understood nothing about all these things," says Luke. Saviors don't die... they save! That's what they do!! How could the disciples get what Jesus was trying to impress upon them? (Even though they were with him every day and should have known, they didn't!)

There are many of us who have "grown up in the church," or at least have been in the church for a significant part of our lives. We often think we know what's what when it comes to faith, God, theology, and Christianity. But the (painful) reality is that "we know nothing." There's so much we don't know, or understand, or are probably just plain wrong about when it comes to issues of faith. So we should have a healthy dose of humility, folks! May we have the grace to know that we probably don't know everything there is to know about God, faith, and spirituality.

And may each of us be open to learning all that God has still to teach us!