Have you ever noticed all the characters in comic strips, cartoons, stories, plays, films that delight or fascinate us in countless ways…
…that if you met someone like that in real life, they would be supremely annoying and avoidable. If for no other reason, you’d reject them because of their ability to “destroy” (that is, deliver you from) your “reputation…social status…tribe…self-image…” (When there are a million different names for something, look for the hidden agenda of which we are or should be ashamed.)
Here is the final irony: these annoying or ridiculous freaks — rejected by the tribe, with their off-putting social skills, pitiful embarrassments to all who take any notice — always seem to end up in some hero role, usually with little awareness of the fact. The obnoxious rooster humbles the lazy arrogant watchdog while saving the hens from the predator. The big dumb infant duck defeats the ravenous fox merely by being playfully naive — and freakishly strong.
Jesus advises us to be, not child-ISH, but child-LIKE. There is much wisdom there.
