The Fool

"Look at him. What a fool." Can't you hear the crowd of onlookers laughing at this man as he dances along the edge of a cliff? He's carrying all of his belongings in a bindle over his shoulder as he looks up to the sky and sings for all the world to hear, without a single care in the world.

His face is aglow.

He's gazing up at the heavens.

A flower is even blooming out of his hand, showing that his body is fertile with joy and goodness and peace - the perfect place for beauty to grow.

But, the people call him a fool. Why?

Maybe because ...

He's happy with only a few things.

He's taking a risk by dancing along the cliff.

He's dressed in (what looks like) Joseph's coat of many colors (Genesis 36,37).

He doesn't care what anyone thinks of him - he shows zero regard for the conventions of his society.

... And maybe that strikes up some jealousy in their hearts - maybe they wish THEY could be happy with just a little, THEY could be brave enough to dance into the risky opportunities of life, THEY could be courageous enough to not care what anyone thinks of them; and so maybe it's what they see lacking in themselves that makes them lash out at his courageous bravery, condescendingly labeling it as "foolishness".

I hope you can realize today that what others see as foolishness in you is likely just something they're unhappy about within themselves. They call you a fool because they wish they were like you, but they aren't.

So, keep dancing today. That's the message: keep being happy with the little that you have, keep taking courageous leaps into the risky opportunities that life throws your way, keep being yourself - refuse to be and live and look like everyone else expects you to be, live, and look.

... Let them talk. This card is your permission slip to joyfully be YOU.

Glenn Siepert