Day 31 – Wisdom VS Folly

Today is a day normally reserved for pranks and practical jokes amongst friends. I admit I enjoy April first with the best of practical jokers, but this year I’m not so much in the mood for practical jokes. I wish this entire Coronavirus (COVID19) thing was a practical joke. Alas, it is real, so we must make the most of the challenges for God’s glory.

As you can imagine I’m sensitive to Christians being called foolish by secular society. I realize society doesn’t comprehend our way of thinking as Christians, but faith is not foolish. In my own area of Tampa Bay, there is an Evangelical Pastor who has made his splash in the news the past few days because he refused to close his church to believers. He took it one step further by, as characterized in the news coverage, practically taunting his members to attend Church, even go so far as to mock the CDC health guidelines as foolish.

Who is the fool? Does he have faith in God? Do his members have faith in God? I have no reason to doubt their faith, and that is the reason for today’s choice of blog for the Daily Lenten Journey. It isn’t foolish to have faith in God’s protection, but it might be foolish to think that we gain physical immunity ‘no matter what’ when we express our faith in God by venturing out into known danger. Would it be an act of faith or folly to take his bible and roll his pulpit in the middle of I-4 to preach?

Today’s reading in Proverbs (you can read it below) expresses the difference between wisdom and folly. It is foolish to act without caution and counsel. Pride leads to destruction. Arrogance is an abomination to God. In the midst of our challenge to remain in our homes, even during Church services, I invite you to take advantage of the wise counsel of our Church Fathers. Today is the Feast of Saint Mary of Egypt, who in repentance fasted in the desert for forty years before receiving Holy Communion. The stay at home order this Great Lent, and most likely Pascha, is our desert this year. It is our fasting from Holy Communion. It is our repentance. Let’s make the most of it, and return to Church for Holy Communion when it is safe to leave the house. Our wisdom will be God’s joy when we allow Him to direct our steps.

A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. Folly is a joy to him who has no sense, but a man of understanding walks aright. Without counsel plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed. To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is! The wise man’s path leads upward to life, that he may avoid Sheol beneath. The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but maintains the widow’s boundaries. The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD, the words of the pure are pleasing to him. He who is greedy for unjust gain makes trouble for his household, but he who hates bribes will live. The mind of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous. The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones. He whose ear heeds wholesome admonition will abide among the wise. He who ignores instruction despises himself, but he who heeds admonition gains understanding. The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor. The plans of the mind belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Every one who is arrogant is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished. By loyalty and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil. When a man’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. A man’s mind plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. – Proverbs 15.20-16.9