“Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!”

Many of us can still remember television’s Jim Nabors as Private Gomer Pyle, USMC, his eyes closed, a broad smile creasing his face, weaving his head and shoulders back and forth as he said that phrase. Surprises always pleased Gomer. He accepted them as gifts.

Maybe that’s because Gomer was easy to surprise. He was naïve and rather simple. His heart was pure and he always assumed the best in, and expected the best from, people. Even when people, or the world, for that matter, didn’t meet his expectations he was able to put a positive spin on it.

His foil, Sargent Vince Carter, on the other hand, never liked surprises. He liked order, neatness, and predictability. He did everything in his power to prevent and avoid surprises — even the good ones.

So, con…