Foxes Have Holes

I went to church the other day. The pastor was talking about how easy it is to understand Jesus' parables. Hey, even a child can get them.

Actually though, I can hardly understand anything Jesus says. He seems to me more like a Zen master cracking people's brains with his koans rather than a Sunday School teacher with charming illustrations of moral points for the chillun.

For instance, there's a guy comes up to him and says, "Jesus, I'll follow you wherever you go."

Now you or I probably would say, "Great!" or "Oh, OK" or maybe "Well, did you bring a sleeping bag?" But Jesus answers him "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man (that's what he likes to call himself) has no place to lay his head."

It's a real conversation stopper. If I was the guy I would wander off to the back of the group feeling vaguely put down but not really sure if I was or not. Did he mean if I follow him we will be sleeping out under bridges a lot? Cause I already knew that.

He can't mean I should feel sorry for him or something. He's like the kid in that old Kinks song "Life on the Road"...

Now I've got holes in my shoes
'Cause I've been walkin' the streets all night.
And I'm livin' the life that I chose.
Livin' my life on the road.

Jesus was living the life that he chose and this guy wants to live it too. So what's with the foxes and the birds? I think I have to go ponder now. Let me know if you think of anything.