Proverbs 17:12 says: Better to meet a grizzly robbed of her cubs than a fool hellbent on folly. (The Message)

Those vivid words caught my attention last week and I’ve thought about them since. In my mind I see an angry and desperate momma bear, growling and stood straight up. She’s sniffing the air and wailing. It’s a sight I prefer to imagine but never experience. And yet, the author of Proverb 17 says it’s better to stumble into such a moment than into the company of a fool.

When I read Proverbs, I can’t help but feel like a fool. That whole book is full of “do’s and don’ts” and I feel like I tick the boxes on the “don’ts” more often than not. And it’s good for me to see myself as such. Can’t improve or repent without first admitting the need for improvement and repentance. And fortunately, there’s no verse in Proverb about “once a fool always a fool.” People can change. I’m in some sort of process as we speak, have been for a while.

About damn time.