A story about Francis of Assisi goes like this:
Two men came to him with interest in joining his order. So Francis brought them both out to the garden and asked them to help prepare the garden for the friars' meals. He asked that the two men plant and work the garden as he did. He then planted a few cabbages upside down with the roots up and leaves down. One of the men went about his work reflecting Francis' odd styling. The other was critical at first before simply becoming resentful. "This simply is not the way you do this." He refused to imitate Francis' planting methods because they were foolish and a waste of time.
Francis said to him, "Brother, I see that you are a great master. Go your way! For a simple and humble Order does not need such masters, but rather simple and foolish persons."
This makes me think of a few people who were foolish and nearly mad in comparison to those who determine what should be 'normal' and 'acceptable'. I think of names like Francis of Assisi. Then I think of people like Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. But I, of course, think of Jesus.
Jesus continually lived in ways seen as blasphemous, looney, and impure to everyone else. Jesus would do something which may be the most foolish and crazy thing ever. He dies a horrific death that would 'save' countless people from sin and disconnection from his Father God. That is crazy!!!!
But Paul also reminds us that faith in Jesus will be foolishness to the Greeks and those without the Spirit.
I think of Jesus reminding us in Matthew 18 that unless we embrace some level of foolishness, Heaven will be filed with five-year-olds.
In Matthew 11, he thanks God for hiding things from the master know-it-alls and revealing himself to the little and foolish children.
I want to know how to see God's true wisdom. I want to really experience the love, grace, and reality of God. But I have to come with a level of foolishness I am rarely willing to revert to.
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LISTENING TO: "Mean Everything to Nothing" by Manchester Orchestra
