farm and forest Photo by Dee Kamp
Some Might
Call Him a Fool
Some
called him, “the fool on the hill”. He
lived alone with his aged and sickly mother in a house tucked up in the
foothills deep in the woods. They said he rarely spoke and when he was around
others would lower his head when spoken to looking down at his shoes. Some had hired him at haying time for he was
big and strong. They said he was a
gentle giant, a bit of a mystery.
“Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that
few of you were wise in the worlds’ eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called
you. Instead, God choose things the world considered foolish in order to shame
those who think they are wise, and he chose things that are powerless to shame
those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted
as nothing at all and used them to bring to nothing the world considered
important. As a result, no one can ever
boast in the presence of God.”
1 Corinthians
1:26-29 NLT
I
heard about him back when we owned our little country store. But we had been there for several weeks and I
had yet to see him come into the store. But one day when I was all alone I
turned and found him staring at me from across the counter.
He
didn’t have to introduce himself for others had described his looks to a “T”.
He wore bibbed coveralls, and a red wool plaid shirt. He was clean shaven with
dark brown hair cropped short and bangs hanging low over his forehead. He stood there quietly and did not speak a
word so I finally spoke first. I was delighted to see his smile in answer and
for a brief moment before he tilted his head in shyness, I saw eyes that were
filled with great gentleness and kindness. I sensed there was more to this
young man than people perceived.
Our
friendship began that very day. He would wait outside on the bench to come in
the store when it was empty of locals and tourists. He often brought me little
gifts of apples, a flower, and once a freshly caught trout. We sipped coffee
and he shared the books he read and that his favorite book was the Bible. He told how he had been brought up mostly on
his own after his father died and his older brothers and sisters had moved away
from the farm.
“There
isn’t much of a farm to speak of now, but I sometimes keep a cow to graze, a
few chickens and one old goat to keep the brush back,” he said.
He
mostly lived off the land fishing the streams and lakes, mushroom picking and
hunting in the fall. They had an old orchard with some good apples on the old
trees and he would make cider and even canned applesauce.
He
knew the local forest like the back of his hand. He was a great story teller
often sharing me his adventures and making me laugh at many of his
misadventures with beaver, bears and times he was hunting local honey.
He
did handy work at the farms and haying in the fall. The locals told me you
could depend on him to give you a hand anytime you needed help. Those that knew
him like this said he was wise in the old ways and they respected his love for
the Lord. I could tell by these stories God was using him and his humble faith
in many ways.
To
some who didn’t take time to know him he may not appear wise or worldly, he
could boast of no great awards or achievements. But to God he was His beloved
humble servant. Some might call him a fool, but God called him wise and
faithful.
"Thus
did wisdom publish itself in every place, upon every occasion; the well, the
table, the highway-side,---every place was a pulpit, every occasion a text, and
every good lesson a sermon."—Anthony Farindon, Preach, 1596-1658
“Some
Might Call Him A Fool” by Dee Kamp, Grace Every Morning Ministries© August 6,
2013
