Wisdom and foolishness are often found at the end of one’s tongue, and often though not always found in the actions that follow these words.

Do you ever look around and sometimes say to yourself, if only there was a vaccine for stupid, or as the good book calls it foolishness, because some people need to be double vaxxed for some of the comments they make publically and some should also get a booster shot for good measure.

We all have moments when we do and say dumb things. I have had plenty, and have fortunately always had good friends and family who have called me out on those times, and after checking myself prayed and asked for wisdom. Because wisdom is the only tonic for foolishness and wisdom can make the difference between being a fool and staying a fool.

Wisdom and foolishness are often expressed by the tongue, the words we say or don’t say, and is today often expressed online by social media comment for all to see. We now have a public platform to vent and publicise our inner thoughts and feeling, though I do wonder sometimes if people have given much thought to two things. Firstly, just how public their comments are and two, just how much they say about themselves when they do. Words reveal not just our thoughts but also the wellspring and state of our heart – what we see, what we hear and what we meditate on. Our words are the overflow of what we fix our eyes and ears on and the overflow often spills out on toxic social media platforms for all to see.

Proverbs is a great book on wisdom and foolishness, but there are others also like the Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, or Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albon. There are resources available to us of lives lived, and of those who share their wisdom so we don’t have to make their mistakes because, we don’t have to make those same mistakes to learn the lesson – when we can learn from them. That’s wisdom, when you come to that point where you realise you don’t know, and when you don’t know, you seek out that wisdom from others. Not on Facebook, which in fact works by grouping us with people that agree and against those that don’t or YouTube, which the last time I looked up is yet another toxic mess with little scrutiny or accountability for what people post or share.

There is an arrogance that exudes from those that believe they know it all, that have the secret that you don’t know, or that feel they own or possess knowledge that you are not also privileged to know. They often throw out comments like ‘wake up, you’re asleep’, accuse people of being sheeple as they continue in their own arrogance seemingly unaware of their own deep and blinding slumber.

Sometimes it’s a religious arrogance, where their certain view on scripture or Bible interpretation and experience is more real, deeper and authentic then others. You see it in people who believe their church is “the church” not a church and that their experience is deeper than any others, teaching more of the truth and often separate themselves from others, because they do not see themselves as the same as others in the faith. Sometimes its academic arrogance and I have come across this often in my work and studies where people have simply dined on their own sense of self-worth because of what they know.

Though the opposite can be true where those with little clinical or academic expertise or acumen become “scientists” on matters they have little formal training on. Either way, it’s not the knowledge that is the problem or lack of it, rather it is the state of one’s heart that their words simply expose.

Wisdom and foolishness are often found at the end of one’s tongue, and often though not always found in the actions that follow these words. We haven’t yet found a vaccine for foolishness, but wisdom is a strong medicine against it; and should you decide to take it, you may need to listen more then you speak and to listen you may need to hop off your high horse because it can be hard to hear anything from up there. I have been a fool more times than I can mention and have ridden high horses like a rodeo, been arrogant in what I thought I knew only to find I knew very little eating humble pie by the oven load. They say there is no fool like and old fool, but I choose wisdom, because a young fool I could excuse but an old fool there is no excuse for.