Fool Aware

A few weeks ago in Alaska, a man and his dog were hiking when the dog spotted a bear cub. The border collie chased the cub away, but mamma was not pleased. She went after the hiker, bit him a couple times before she gave up and went on her way. Bear attacks are rare because bears generally will avoid people if they can help it, but they have limits. Messing with her cub is one of mamma bear's limits. Earlier this summer, I preached a meeting out west, and much to the dismay of my boys (and the joy of my wife) we didn't see any bears in our travels. But I did see a lot of fools doing foolish things and that's more terrifying. Proverbs 17:12 says, "Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly." Since I was heading into grizzly country I read up on some helpful literature from the Forestry Service on being "Grizzly Bear Aware". The Bible has good information about being "fool aware."

Folly is being ridiculous, absurd, and frankly, stupid. Coming back home, we stopped at a National Park for a few hours and went for a hike on a pretty famous trail. It has a beautiful view at the end, but a tad perilous in places. Just past a sign on the path that said, "Dangerous Cliff. Keep Right," a group of impatient teenagers, who thought we were walking too slow, passed us on the left (the side with the dangerous cliff) and jumped off a rock to get around us. One girl slipped when she landed, but was able to get her traction before she plummeted to her death. I passed erratic drivers texting on their phones while driving 90 MPH. I saw people shooting off fireworks in the middle of a drought, in the middle of a dry-as-bones prairie.

God made the world and the world operates according to God's rules. Folly is when you act contrary to or in defiance of God's world. Jumping off a roof is dumb, because in God's world, there is gravity. When silly people act without considering the consequences, or without wisdom, you get a dangerous situation. Most sane people know better than to get in the way of a bear and her cubs, but don't know better than to get in the way of God and His prophets (2 Kings 2:22-24). Sinning is also dumb, because in God's world, there are consequences for breaking his moral laws too. Many cultivate common sense, but not spiritual sense. We warn teenagers about texting and driving, but don't consider where they are going or who they are texting. We caution Jonah to wear a life jacket to stay safe, but not to consider the danger of rebelling against God.

I made it back to West Virginia without any bear encounters, but plenty of fool sightings. I was in much more danger of the fool than the bear.