I confess. I read the comics every day. There’s not always something profound in them, especially not “Pearls before Swine,” but Stephan Pastis wrote a winner, published August 30, 2020.

Here’s the text:

Rat’s question for the guru: How do we rid ourselves of the pandemic that plagues us?

The guru’s answer:

• We must all read more. Not your Facebook news feed but good books that inform and enlighten.
• And pay for local journalism because if you don’t, it’ll go away.
• And strive to be informed, actually informed, instead of only seeking information that conforms to your world view.

Rat’s response: And this will end COVID-19?

The guru’s clarification: I thought we were talking about stupidity.

Rat’s conclusion: Apparently there’s more than one plague.

So many applications. For example, I am working through several books to try to better understand racial issues. I’m finding this book very disturbing: The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby. Disturbing because of the decisions made within various churches and denominations as well as silence in the face of atrocities committed against black people. It’s definitely a book that enlightens, informs, and is outside the way I used to see the world.

A more general application is, am I teachable? Jesus spoke to this.

You have been given a teachable heart to perceive the secret, hidden mysteries of God’s kingdom realm. But to those who don’t have a listening heart, my words are merely stories. Even though they have eyes, they are blind to the true meaning of what I say, and even though they listen, they won’t receive full revelation. (Luke 8.10, Passion Translation)

God calls us to not be stupid.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge… (Hosea 4.6, ESV)

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. (Amos 8.11, ESV)

If you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2.1 – 5, ESV)