The Society of Foolishness
When we reflect on behavior in media and society we notice they mirror in many respects. For example, we witness the behavior of cartoons and staged satires bleed into our social life— our greetings turn indiscrete and obnoxious; our conversations denigrate into a stream of inanities and jests; and our bearing becomes silly, frivolous, and fidgety. In short, society becomes foolish.
We are led to ask, "What could account for the seemingly blind imitation of folly displayed in media?" An answer we could propose is a dulled sense of judgment caused by recoiling from wisdom.
Dullness of the Judgement, a Source of Folly
A fool is one whose sense of judgment has been dulled to the point that he has become uncircumspect and unreflective. Uncircumspect he does not keep a log of members' deeds. And unreflective he does not judge whether they are in harmony with higher things such as our Lady's example of discretion.
Examples of dulled judgment are abundant in comedy. For instance, Michah is approaching Jim, as if to greet him cordially, only to insult him in a jocular manner. They both have a 'good' laugh, bump fists, and judge themselves sincere. If, however, they judged their interaction according to St. Paul's words, "Only let your conversation be worthy of the gospel of Christ," they would realize their insincerity. For they would have judged themselves at variance with sincerity in light of something higher— the words in Sacred Scripture.
For the fool, however, to judge himself according to higher things is superfluous. Thus, his judgment remains dull and his folly increases.
The Cause of Dullness
If dullness causes folly what causes dullness? Recoiling from wisdom. The fool could be sobered if he took on a practice of the wise— keen discernment. He would go from a worm to an eagle; his mind would move from the earth to the heavens. For by discernment he tranquilly watches his body's every movement as an eagle in the heavens his prey, judging carefully whether they accord to higher things. By this practice, he becomes a man of wisdom but by its negligence a man of folly.
St. Clement a Sterling Example of a Discerning Mind
An example of an eagle is St. Clement of Alexandria. His instruction on laughter demonstrates he took on keen discernment. "...Laughter," he begins, "must be kept in check." "When given vent to in the right manner it indicates orderliness, but when it issues differently it shows a want of restraint."
Laughter, St. Clement notes, is disorderly when it exceeds restraint in expression and quantity. When it exceeds restraint in expression, he observes that in women it appears as "gaudy and showy" and in men as "savage and insulting." As for the proper quantity of laughter he states, "Man is not to laugh on all occasions because he is an animal capable of laughing, any more than the horse neighs on all occasions because he is a neighing animal." What a keen sense of judgment! He could distinguish when laughter exceeded the bounds of temperance in two ways-- in expression and quantity. It is this kind of discernment, evidence of wisdom, that purges foolishness.
"'Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written'" (On Loving God by Saint Bernard, Chap. 6, Pg. 9).
Patience in Pruning Folly
The Almighty observes what we do with every member— our gaze, our smile, our posture, our gait, and so on are all before Him. Perceiving this may cause some minds trouble, we should remember the perfection of our members requires knowledge, experience, and time, as would the cultivation of a garden. Furthermore, St. Bernard notes, that although God records in his book what we do with our members, He has in mind "all who do what they can, even though they cannot do what they ought."
When we cultivate a garden we are not wearied by impatience because we have been taught by experience that it takes time. Thus we go forth calmly to prepare the ground, plant the seed in a suitable location, and water it sufficiently and regularly. We toil diligently without trouble, content with our capacities and the incremental growth of the garden. Similarly when we cultivate our members, pruning from them the branches of folly, we serenely endure the toil and suffering, and with contentment progress steadily.
As mentioned earlier, the wise man is discerning of all his ways judging them according to higher things. Returning to our garden analogy, as the gardener prepares his ground for the seed by a resolution the wise man determines to plant knowledge into his actions. For example, he would resolve to apply what St. Clement has said about laughter. Next, the gardener plants his seed in a suitable location; similarly, the wise man, when a suitable time arrives, plants the seed of knowledge by action, laughing temperately according to St. Clement's counsel. Finally, as the gardener sufficiently and regularly waters his germinating seed, the wise man waters his growing habit by the constant recollection of the counsel and subsequent action. Otherwise, if he forgets his new habit would die as a seed without water.
In time if we perform the application of knowledge to every member we would steadily purge the stains of modern folly from the media. Our tongue would utter wisdom, our eyes would be restrained, our body would be still, and so on, all evidence of a wise mind with a keen discernment that judges himself according to higher things. This soul would be unspotted from the world, which St. James says is, "Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father."
Our society has become foolish because we have shrunk from wisdom and become dull. Patient training in wisdom, however, is its cure. With the help of our Lady may we go forth then with zeal to become wise, kindling others to do the same, that we may be a fit generation to receive her glorious reign.
Painting by Antonio Moro (1519 - 1576)
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