Fear Makes Foolishness Seem Wise

Today’s reading: Matthew 25:14-29

Several times during my school days — even in graduate school — I avoided “hard” teachers, the ones that I knew would challenge me.

It’s funny. Those teachers I dreaded were always considered “the best” — earning teacher-of-the-year awards, achieving impressive accolades in their fields, winning great respect from their colleagues .

Today’s reading helps me understand this disappointing phenomena (in myself and many other students I’ve known through the years).

Just before he receives his “butt-chewin'” from his master, the servant who squandered his opportunity to double his 1 talent says something very similar to what I once thought about the teachers I avoided: “Lord, I knew thee that though art a hard man, reaping where thou has not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed.” (Verse 24)

Fear disguises foolishness as wisdom. Clearly, based everything the servant says after “hard man,” the better adjective for the master is “blessed.”

Yet the servant is blind to those blessings.  He seems to see them as a curse, something to be dreaded.

I now understand that I was following this same ridiculous logic each time I avoided the best teachers. How many more talents might I have today, had I not been so foolish? (I am happy to report that I did not always make this mistake. I have been blessed by many great teachers!)

Thanks be to God for the world’s hard (i.e. blessed) teachers. May I always find the wisdom to learn from their successes.