Monday, August 24, 2020
Sirach 22 – Fool or Friend
![220px-RWS_Tarot_00_Fool[1]](https://thenoontimes.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/220px-rws_tarot_00_fool1.jpg?w=137&h=240)
This chapter opens with some marvelous images of those who are lazy: The sluggard is like a stone in the mud; everyone hisses at his disgrace. The sluggard is like a lump of dung; whoever touches him wipes his hand. Images of people I have known through my life move before me in a motion picture of stories I had forgotten. They are awakened today as I read about unruly children, a hussy, fools – teaching a fool is like gluing a broken pot, or like disturbing a man in the depths of sleep. Still further on we are admonished to steer clear of brutes and stupid men, people with timid resolve.
Then we arrive at a wonderful didactic piece on friendship in which we are asked to remember that a contemptuous insult, a confidence broken, or a treacherous attack will drive away any friend. And before flames burst forth an oven smokes; so does abuse come before bloodshed. A final warning about the importance of friendship closes this song: From him who brings harm to his friend all will stand aloof who hear of it. But this anthem to friendship seems to me to hinge upon verse 21: Should you draw a sword against a friend, fear not, you can be reconciled.
Finally we read a simple prayer: Who will set a guard over my mouth and upon my lips an effective seal, that I may not fall through them, that my tongue might not destroy me? This last verse of Sirach 22 is an effective morning prayer that any one of us might want to intone as we rise. Who among us has not regretted words that were said in haste or without having undergone serious thought before leaving our lips?
As we consider Fools and Friends, we remind ourselves that the links we create with others and the manner in which we interact with others tell the world about our relationship with God. We pause in our reflection to consider our relationships with others, including God. We take some time over the next twenty-four hours to discover something old and something new about ourselves. We consider what kind of fool we have been, what sort of friendship we nurture, and how much room we make for God in the bonds we forge in life.
To investigate how and why others forge relationships, go to the Blogroll in the column to the right on this blog and choose a link. As we explore, we have the opportunity to discern something new and something old about ourselves; we are offered the opportunity to define the fools and friends in our lives, and what they have to tell us about ourselves. Tomorrow, Part II of Fool or Friend.
Image from: http://thefoolsquest.blogspot.com/
First written on December 28, 2008; re-written and posted today as a Favorite.
The Noontimes 
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