The TV show “Jeopardy” is known for having contestants who are exceptionally smart. The show’s questions range from less hard to harder in different categories, the choice of question chosen by the players. Recently on that show there was a surprising missed answer.

The clue was “Matthew 6:9 says, “Our Father, which art in Heaven, [THIS] be Thy name.” (Complete the blank). None of the contestants knew the answer. None. Not one of those with high intellect who typically answers questions that the viewers cannot answer could fill in this blank.

How is this possible???? As the many comments online reflected, even a four-year-old knows that answer!!!

There was a flurry of media attention to this miss, with many theories. The most common focused on the fact that our society is becoming less God-centered. These articles gave sobering statistics of the growing number of especially young people who no longer identify with any religion, let alone Judeo-Christian. These also emphasized general societal decline as evidenced by the lack of this knowledge by these brainiacs.

The other major reaction was that so much flap should not have been made about this missed answer. After all, there are many religions so why make such a big fuss about missing this Christian reference.

Of course other possibilities include the fact that academic communities are often more resistant to religious influences, the category heading was confusing, the question was so easy that it was tricky, the contestants were nervous. I’m sure there were other possible reasons for such an obvious missed answer.

Actually, the Lord’s Prayer is fairly mainstream rather than just theological at this point. Its reference has even made it into a number of secular movies over the years, non religious literature, and casual conversations. That is a good thing.

I don’t really have one conclusion for the missed answer of an obvious question given the many ways one could know this information. Maybe it is all of the above depending on your viewpoint. What I do know is that this non-religious major media event created a social media and news media field day! It actually was refreshing that an occurrence that became so widely discussed was not about another mass shooting or devastating weather.

So perhaps another possibility is that HaShem facilitated yet another way to reach us all. He meets us where we are. For those who walk closely with Him, for those who do not yet do so, for those who have no intention or desire to seek Him, He created quite the conversation for all to ponder. After all, negative publicity is better than none, and actually is a great way to raise awareness to people of multiple perspectives. Many people had God on their lips this week as a result of such an extraordinarily widely viewed and commented upon surprise.

“Jeopardy” is the most watched show on broadcast or cable. Millions saw it that night and thousands reacted. And as we know, conversation leads to understanding. 😊

Shabbat shalom.

Diane