Savants are pretty fascinating.
What’s not fascinating about someone with abilities beyond their level of training?
When someone sits down at the piano and seems to pick it up quickly…or paints something beautiful after picking up a brush for the first time…that’s pretty darn interesting to me.
Where’d that come from? How did that happen?
Now, the people some of us call “idiot savants” are even more fascinating.
How do these people who we are anxious to write off as viable human beings…who we question their ability to contribute anything to “our good society”… surprise us with their talents?
These people were never trained to excel. They weren’t exposed to opportunity. They didn’t “catch a break”.
There was something inside of them that wasn’t held back by our preconceptions. There was something inside of them that wasn’t constrained by our lack of faith.
Maybe it’s the lack of self-consciousness that lets them “get out of their own way”? Maybe not being really aware of what’s going on around them is a good thing?
I guess we’re all kind of like that, to some degree.
Maybe we’re not easily classified as being “idiots” (someone, somewhere, is thinking, “Man…you a idiot. YOU IS A IDIOT, BIG TIME.”)…maybe it’s hard to figure out exactly what we are…most of us are pretty good at masking who we really are…but I don’t think any of us lack some hidden ability.
Maybe it’s not something that would really draw attention (in a good way), but I’ve been surprised by people enough that I wonder if we all aren’t “little savants” in some ways.
There is something inside each of us that has the opportunity to shine and sustain…but usually just remains dormant and unexposed.
What do they say about the nail that sticks up? It gets whacked down?
Who would want to risk anything knowing that?
I don’t want to get “whacked down”…I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get whacked down.
Maybe that’s what’s so fascinating about the “idiot savant”… they don’t even seem to know that somebody has a hammer.
What these people carry inside of “themselves” isn’t afraid to come out. They don’t know that they should be afraid to show what gifts they carry.
Maybe…hey, how about this? OK, maybe…maybe it’s not that they harbor such rare treasure as some sort of compensation for lack of ability in other areas…maybe it’s just that the real gift they have is that they aren’t “aware” to the point where they can let out the gifts that all of us carry?
Maybe the real “savant” part is that they can get out of their own way? Not knowing about limits must be pretty close to being limitless.
They say that a big percentage of atheists come out of the seminary.
That’s pretty sad…well trained atheists who had designs on entering the ministry, but somewhere along the way…after all the study and training….they lost their way.
Chowing down at the “tree of knowledge” and they lost their way.
Who’da thunk it?
I don’t know…sometimes it seems like we can train all the joy out of things. “Spirit” doesn’t need direction, sometimes.
We can’t outsmart God…and we can’t get smart enough to learn how to get out of our own way.
Those dang “idiot savants” sure do have a leg up on me.