“There can’t be world hunger because I just had lunch.”

Cornell University psychologist David Dunning has spent 15 years studying stupid people. His findings, based on thousands of interviews, seem to demonstrate that dumb people can’t tell they are stupid. In fact, they are incapable of realizing it.*

All I can say is God loves us more than we can ever imagine because the “can’t fix stupid people” are multiplying in numbers daily. The COVID-19 pandemic has bred a whole new strain of stupid and it is beginning to evidence itself on a more paradoxical level.

 “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.”
Proverbs 28:26 ESV

The COVID-19 outbreak has forced us to come together as a nation. It has also forced us to prevail against the pandemic in a global effort to look inward and to see what is really important to not just us, but to our neighbor, the nation and the continuum of a global universe.

We have been put in a position to assess what is important to us, our reactions to the challenges before  us  and at best determine how we choose to serve; or not. For the ‘can’t fix stupid folk’ they can’t see the big picture, so they trust in their own mind and are clueless due to lack of care, reasoning or indifference. As psychologist David Dunning said, “They are incapable of realizing it.”

Even social distancing isn’t enough distance from stupid, and when you consider there are entire households quarantined in the same house with unlimited time to express their stupidity on electronic devices… well, it’s outright frightening.

Since we can’t fix stupid, how do we respond to it?

Answer: We don’t.

Even while on earth Jesus couldn’t fix stupid when it involved the human will fixed on a stubborn and rebellious heart. Our creator gifted us with a free-will.

Take a look at the Pharisees who were incapable of seeing the truth. To some extent, they were well-meaning people who studied the law and knew it as well as anyone; their downfall, among other things, centered on their self-justification and self-importance.

Because our Creator gifted us with a free-will, many things God wills and desires for us don’t  get accomplish based on our own choices, appetite for self-indulgence and lack of desire to align our hearts to God’s purpose for humanity.

Yet, because God is infinitely wise and retains over-all control of the world, we can rest assured that his promise to eventually overcome all opposition and achieve his purposes will come to pass.

TODAY’S PRAYER:

Father God, you are merciful and full of grace to all of mankind. Allow me to step back and recognize that I can’t change the hearts of man, only God can condition a heart for change.

When faced with a “Can’t Fix Stupid” situation, let me step back in love and kindness with the knowledge that I can’t fix everything; I am not God. Instead, I offer a silent prayer that the light of Jesus shines a spotlight on their spiritual heart. That all stubbornness and rebellion are divinely opposed and replaced with the purposes and paths God has planned for them.

AMEN

* David Rutter, Chicago Post-Tribune | Feb