Daily Proverbial, 1 September 2010

The discerning heart seeks knowledge but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly. Proverbs 15, verse 14.

Why do you think that is? It could be because we're humans and humans have a natural yearning for knowledge. It's a natural thing to want to know more, and it's usually healthy to seek knowledge. We want to 'do things' in our lives, and to do them, we need to know more about them. We, who are fools, want to know more and be more.

Actually, though, I think the truest answer is "because that's how God made us." To me, this verse confirms it. Our healthy hearts are hungry for love, and it is naturally apparent that God is who he says he is. We want to know more about that because we desire real love. Understanding God's place in, above, around, and throughout our lives is real discernment. He made us this way, able to love and understand and discern and seek, because He loves us and wants that love to grow.

So, is the verse also saying that God also made us fools who feed on folly? We are full of foolishness, full of sin, full of wrongdoing and God lets it happen so therefore God made us this way and it's all his fault? That almost seems like inductive reasoning, but it's actually a logical fallacy. It falsely infers that because God made us and we are sinful that God made us sinful. Don't fall for it because don't forget about that idea that we choose the sin, and God allows us the choice. Does God allow us to sin? Sure. Does that mean He's responsible for it? No, not really. No more, that is, than you are responsible if your kid shoplifts at the store, or if you see your neighbor watering their lawn when they aren't supposed to but you do nothing to stop it.

And what does it mean, to 'feed on folly?' That seems like a clever but strange phrase; what's up with it? It goes back to that whole sin thing. Think about it: don't our wrongs feed on each other? Some are like snowballs rolling downhill, while others are like monsters growing larger and larger despite our efforts to contain them. That's especially true with a talker. This one I know too well because, well, I'm a talker. I'm the king of tall tales and I can talk (or write) for hours just to hear myself do it. To be honest, sometimes it's a feast of folly. When that happens, it becomes self-serving (and dull). It slips into the gray area between what is good and what isn't, and it becomes all too easy to slide over to that 'isn't' side. Talk is cheap, and it makes sin even cheaper.

What's the cure for that? Said Thumper, "If you don't have nuthin nice to say, don't say nuthin at all." That's good advice, even if it comes from a cartoon character. In order to minimize the folly-filled-foot-in-mouth syndrome, I need to remember to clam up and listen. Listening is the first part of discerning, and of remembering that some things don't need my commentary. It's the start of remembering to put all my things, including my words and my big mouth, at Jesus' feet. And it's by listening that I find I can open my heart again to let out the stale air of folly and wrongdoing and breathe in the fresh air of redemption and discernment.