My father, who is in his nineties seems to get get a lot of phone calls. Dad answers his calls no matter where the call comes from. I wish he wouldn’t do it but he does. Most of the calls are not from family and friends. Too many of them are from scammers, all kinds of scammers.

For example:

“Is this Mr. Parker?” asks a somewhat pleasant female voice.

“Yes”

“Mr. George Parker?"

“Yes”

“Mr. Parker, this is the Social Security Administration, and we calling to let you know that this month’s payment is being held up due to a direct deposit problem with your bank, where you aware of that?”

“Ah, no I was not”

“Well we can take care of that for you, we just need to verify some banking information. Where do you bank Mr. Parker?”

“ Well since you are calling from Social Security, why don’t you tell me which bank you are having an issue with? You should have that information already.”

Silence then nothing.

My dad seems to like to give the person on the other end of these types of calls a hard time. I guess they deserve one.

In other words, my Dad is not easily fooled. I bet way too many people are, and not just by a phone caller.

I do wish he would not take those calls though.

There are lots of tales about being the fool and the one doing the fooling. Some folks just don’t listen to warnings. You just can’t tell them anything, their minds are closed. And about the third time you try to tell them something that just may save them from a lot of trouble, they let you know they have had enough.

“Oh be quiet, quit beating a dead horse” is the reply or something to that effect.

Some folks are just plain rebellious, won’t take advice, they won’t follow instructions, verbal or written. They think they know it all or at the very least they certainly know more than you do. The worse thing is they don’t consider the outcome of their actions. They lack the ability to listen to sound advice. They just think their way is the only way, come hook or crook. They will not admit they are wrong and trying to show them the error of their ways is just a waste of effort and time, in effect it is beating a dead horse.

They, according to Solomon are fools.

I bet we all have made foolish choices at one time or another. Hopefully, we learned from them, so that we reduce the chance of making more. Jesus said in Matthew 7 that a foolish person builds his life on sand. Sand, like a lie, shifts and moves and offers no support. It is foolish to build on it.

Matthew 7 From the Sermon on the Mount

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

There is no blessing, no honor, and no good reward for the fool. So don’t be fooled and don’t try to fool others.

Proverbs 26

1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
honor is not fitting for a fool.
2 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow,
an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the backs of fools!
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you yourself will be just like him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.
6 Sending a message by the hands of a fool
is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison.
7 Like the useless legs of one who is lame
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
8 Like tying a stone in a sling
is the giving of honor to a fool.
9 Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
10 Like an archer who wounds at random
is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit,
so fools repeat their folly.
12 Do you see a person wise in their own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for them.