“The ‘final stage’ of the wisdom of faith is what we might call the Holy Fool. Ironically the Holy Fool is one who knows he doesn’t know, but doesn’t need to either. That’s the freedom. I’m not saying the Fool sits in some kind of dull ignorance. I am saying there is a state of inner freedom into which true wisdom comes….
If we can’t laugh after 50 or 60 years, we probably haven’t done it right. We’re taking ourselves too seriously; we have not discerned the mystery. Everything finally belongs. If we can’t laugh, we are probably holding our debts against ourselves and we haven’t accepted forgiveness. The person of prayer, quite simply, is a person who can cry from the heart and laugh from the belly…. God forgives the world for being broken and poor. God forgives us for not being all that we thought we had to be and even for what God wanted us to be. That is probably why we fall in love with such a God. Why wouldn’t you? You would be a fool not to – and you will be a ‘holy fool’ if you do.”
– Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer (via inward/outward)
I’m coming back for some blogging on steriods … at least on Monday 🙂 there’s so much that has happened the past week. There’s 101 reflections floating in my head. When I saw the title of the quote above, I could relate. Not so much of the “holy” bit … hopefully more of that later … but frankly it was the “fool” bit I resonate a lot. I feel like a fool all the time. Perhaps I will approach the final stage of “foolishness” one day. For now, it’s learning to handle the whole feeling of being considered a “fool” or maybe it’s more like being treated like a”fool”. 🙂
To be fair, this morning it was wonderful it was encouraging to be welcomed with hospitality and respect as I was guest speaking at a friends’ church. And through the week there have been glimpses of when I felt that my contribution was of importance and people were genuinely listening to what I have to say. I celebrate those “gifted moments”.
But one wonders when is the next “you fool!”episode … and reality tells me this cycle will continue. And yet, this “Holy Fool” bit is pretty cool! 🙂
I like Richard Rohr’s writing and I think Everything Belongs is his best book. I was captured by his concept of the holy fool when I first read his book and had an “aha” moment. He is talking about contempative prayer and in a way being a holy fool is a form of ‘detachment’ from the world. We all need to detach ourselves from ourselves and from the world so that we can be holy fools. May we all be holy fools *grin*
Alex – I was looking at the diagram in one of Rohr’s book found it helpful as a model to look at myself. Of course, if I based it on the age ranges he mentioned – I’m growing older a little too fast 🙂