A brother asked a certain Elder: How does one become foolish for the sake of Christ? The Elder replied to him:
There was a young boy in a monastery. He was given to an ascetic Elder to rear and to teach the word of God. So, the Elder said to the boy, ‘My child, when someone insults you, bless him; and when you are sitting at table, eat the spoiled food and leave the good. And when you have occasion to select articles of clothing, leave what is nice looking and choose what is ugly. ‘The child then said to him, ‘Are you perhaps telling me to do these things, Abba, because I seem stupid?’ And the Elder answered: ‘I told you to do these things so that you might become foolish for the sake of the Lord and so that the Lord might show you to be wise.’ behold the manner by which this Elder shows us that we can become foolish for the sake of Christ.”
