Unknown Unknowns

Matthew 25:5 – “Because the bridegroom was delayed, the bridesmaids slumbered and slept.”

This reminds me of Donald Rumsfeld and “unknown unknowns.” Talking about the invasion of Iraq, he famously said, “There are things we know we know. We also know there are some known unknowns. That is to say there are things we know we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns. The ones we don’t know we don’t know.” Despite the awkward phrasing, this is true. Unknown unknowns are things that have not come up in our contingency plans. We can’t know everything, nor can we think of every contingency.

Looking at our verse today through these various “knowns,” the bridegroom being delayed was an obvious hitch in the plan. Definitely a known unknown. Not being prepared for that was unjustifiable. Yet, if we got a group together and came up with all the known unknowns about this situation, we still wouldn’t account for all the ways the plans could go wrong. There would still be some unknown unknowns. This is not denial of these contingencies; not looking through rose-colored glasses. We’re human, and that means our knowledge – about anything – is limited. 

Today, in the US, this is a problem. There is an expectation of perfection in famous people, politics, sports, newscasters – everyone. The slightest flaw in another person can have twitter raging for hours. Pointing out the flaws of others, especially those who are famous, is an easy way to feel good about ourselves. We expect our leaders to not have any unknown unknowns, we expect them to make perfect decisions, we expect them to do this on their own.

In many cases, the fault is pointed out with glee. That is destructive criticism; it pulls people apart into camps. This attitude precludes forgiveness. This expectation of perfection goes beyond constructive criticism. Constructive criticism recognizes that perfection is not an option, but tries to point out errors or alternate ideas in a way that keeps people together; keeps the conversation going. It is criticism that leads to solutions. 

Jesus has foreshadowed the need to criticize or critique the five bridesmaids who did not bring extra oil with them. His critique is meant to lead us to think about being prepared; the bridegroom being late is an obvious event to prepare for, and five of the bridesmaids failed to do so. Jesus wants us to learn from their mistake. We cannot be prepared for every contingency simply because we cannot imagine every contingency. That does not absolve us of the responsibility of having a plan for those contingencies we can imagine.

 Having said that, I feel the need to address the conduct of Donald. Our current government has a lot of unpreparation to answer for. (Yes, it’s a word now.) They have a lot of criminal acts to answer for. Criticism of this administration does not fall neatly into these categories of constructive or destructive, simply because they exhibit no desire to learn from their mistakes, and their mistakes are not garden-variety miscalculations but rather intentionally criminal conduct. Ironically, many people were not prepared for Donald to act exactly as he has acted for the last four decades. Many people in government were slow to recognize or don’t care about the threat he posed and continues to pose to our democracy.

Today, let’s be intentional about our thinking and our decisions. Sure, we cannot imagine every contingency. But we have a duty to ourselves, our neighbors, and our country to be prepared for the dangers that are obvious when we’re not wearing rose-colored glasses.

B