Contemplating Foolishness

Christian history and tradition are rich with stories of the “holy fool” and the mendicant religious pilgrim. I possess neither the inclination nor the mettle to say goodbye to my wife and family and life to pursue such a course.

And yet…

There is a facet of my spirit’s personality, obscured usually even to myself, that is drawn to the idea of solitude and wandering and abandoning the things of this world. I have known a handful of people whose lives have been so marred by sudden and devastating tragedy that I cannot imagine how they found the grace and strength to soldier on until the end of their own sojourn here. And when thinking on these folks, I have sometimes wondered what I would do if such sweeping loss were visited upon me. Would I pick up the pieces and continue my life as it is, seeing where the road leads? Or would I do something drastic, something foolish, if you will, and set out on a pilgrimage to parts unknown to see how God would provide and guide?

I’ve written a series of short stories based around a character who finds himself in just such a situation. I’ve never published any of the stories except one, here on this blog, back at Christmastime. I abandoned the idea of submitting the stories for publication after I learned that a fellow published a couple of bestselling books about just such a character, and who knows if I will ever take them up again? But writing the stories and contemplating the theme underlying them, I found myself wondering about the reality of such a life.

And not just the “I lost everything and now I just wander from place to place, seeking God’s leading” concept, but also the true idea of the mendicant Christian. How would it play out in real life? How would a man who holds no job and travels with little except the clothes on his back and a small sack of books fare in 21st century America? I imagine he would spend a fair amount of time in jail and perhaps even in a psychiatric facility or two.

During the Dust Bowl and Depression years, hobos were common in certain areas of the U.S., and while few people welcomed the sight of a shabbily-dressed man approaching their house, many were quite generous, providing the wandering men with a meal and sometimes even a chance to earn the meal with a chore or two.

But now we have an entirely different situation. Some people are truly destitute. I know from personal experience how quickly a few financial setbacks can avalanche into a horrific situation that leaves one dazed and wondering what in the hell happened to everything. There are entire families who live in the most deplorable conditions because they were caught without resource in a time of great vulnerability. I have no data to back this up, but I suspect that such people are the exception nowadays. Today we see a cadre of professional Homeless People. These people, found largely in the urban areas, know how to game the system. They forgo the way of the mendicant and hobo, who tended to keep apart except when needing to directly interact with others. The Professional Homeless have taken over some public libraries, storefronts, public transportation hubs. They have helped an already suspicious local populace to fear and resent them, especially with the advent of aggressive panhandling, public urination, and other charming habits.

So I doubt that a pilgrim Christian would be left alone very much. He would have a difficult life, difficult in ways very different from the difficulties faced by mendicants in past ages.

Is there anywhere a man might go and simply live alone? I do not think this could ever happen in my lifetime. I do not think we will ever be left alone again.

I’m aware that some of my acquaintances — perhaps even some of my family and friends — consider me somewhat eccentric because of my habits and beliefs and quirks. And nothing in AD 2020 is more oddball than expressing a desire for solitude. Try telling some of your church friends that you find something appealing in the idea of withdrawing from people and watch the facial expressions.

If anyone in times past ever prayed, “Lord, deliver us from holy fools,” it would seem that their prayers have been answered, at least in this time and place.

~ S.K. Orr