“They are Man's and they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance and this girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.”
It's not the cheeriest of meditations for a Christmas morning, but I think of these two especially today, because we live in a world where ignorance and want are not mere human conditions created by the lack of something denied: learning and nourishment; but where poor information, misinformation, and pockets of human poverty are designed. Like Dickens' s Christmas spirit, I think there is terrible danger there.
The Christmas gift we have is the one given Scrooge--to know that and to make a choice. Ignorance and want are not someone else's problem but add to the chains weighing down all our human existence. Better is possible. But when I see the gospel preached that ignorance is safety and want builds character, I know why "better" stays a struggle.
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