Headlong Into A Boulder

“A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.” (Pr 18:2 AV)

The fool does not want to know anything that might spoil his fun.  If someone is caring enough to warn him of the dangers of the fool’s fun, he is labeled a killjoy.  Safety first is not the motto of the fool.  He believes fun without risk is not fun at all.  Suffering consequences of unwise fun are seen as fun in and of itself.  Like a fool who would try something dangerous and suffer injury enough for a visit to the ER, the fool will glory in his bruises or broken bones. 

When I was a kid, I used to watch this sports show that was on Saturday afternoons.  This is before college sports and football got as big as they are today.  This was before ESPN.  This sports show featured a lot of different venues.  There as bowling, figure skating, track and field, and Olympic trials.  One of the events that fascinated me was cliff diving.  These divers would dive off cliffs almost one hundred feet above the water.  They had to time their dive so the hit the water as ebb came in.  Otherwise, the water would be too shallow.  It was fascinating to me why anyone would want to jump off a cliff.  It would be very foolish, and even deadly if they did not investigate the depth of the water and what lies underneath.  If they went headlong into the water and boulders met them a few feet below the waterline, serious injury or even death may occur.  There was some thinking that went into that event.  I read of another sport which was taken to the extreme and cost several their lives.  Wing jumping, as opposed to parachute jumping, is done with a winged suit.  There were some of these jumpers who decided it might be a thrill to fly through openings in rocks.  This is illegal.  But they wanted the ultimate thrill.  Adrenalin junkies, all of them.  What strikes me is if tragedy befalls them, society is supposed to feel sorry for them.  Understanding will tell you certain thrills come at great risk and it is better they be not pursued.

The LORD has created us, in part, to be blessed in this life.  He desires to grant us a life that is enjoyed.  He has come that we might have life, and have it more abundantly.  Part of that enjoyment is disciplined enjoyment.  Trust me, planning for and packing for, a camping trip makes the camping trip far more enjoyable than running out into the wilderness with nothing by way of preparations.  There were two shows that featured wilderness survival.  What these men had to go through simply to get rescued does not look like something I would enjoy doing.  We go through life on a dare.  We do not have enough sense to know when something is unwise, nor care to know.  It is like we are all lined up at the ghost pepper booth and are willing to cause severe harm to ourselves for the mere pleasure of our heart discovering a thrill.  God calls that foolish! And so too, should we.