On this day in 1877, Rosa Matilda Richter was the first person shot from a canon. Rosa was no stranger to the circus. Her father was a talent agent who often supplied animals and performers for the circus while her mother was a dancer in the circus. She studied ballet and gymnastics at an early age and started to perform as an acrobat at the age of six. She thrilled audiences everywhere with her talent on the high wire. She was a danger junkie that was always looking for the newest and most dangerous performance. She would push the limits and people would flock to performances that billed her name. She became aquatinted with a Canadian daredevil named Willian Hunt, who was nicknamed the “Great Farini.” Hunt was already a household name due to his high-wire performances over Niagara Falls. He had invented a mortar-like device that was designed to fire a human being from it. It wasn’t an actual canon, it was an elaborate device that relied on springs and tension to propel a person through the air. Spectators filled the London Royal Aquarium on that Easter Monday. Posters invited people to see someone do the impossible. Rosa was billed under the name “Zazel.” A hush fell over the crowd as fake smoke and a fake explosion bellowed from the ‘canon.’ Then Rosa was propelled sixty feet in the air. She landed safely in the net and gave a gracious bow to the roaring crowd. There is a debate over the distance that she traveled; some say 20 feet, others claim 70, but either way, the crowd was astonished and demanded more. She continued to perform the act daily, sometimes twice a day. Some crowds numbered in the tens of thousands. She eventually signed with the famous P.T. Barnum. Tragically one day she missed the net and broke her back. This injury put her in a full-body cast for months, forcing her into retirement. In her later years, she became a safety advocate and fought for the rights of circus performers.
I don’t know about you, but the thought of being shot out of a canon seems treacherous. I am not a danger nut, if anything I’m probably a safety nut. I get lightheaded being on a step ladder! I don’t take many risks. I credit that to being an only child who might have been slightly overprotected as a child (by slightly I mean majorly). My dad would often say that risky things were foolish. Getting shot out of a canon seems like a definition of foolish. The Bible has a lot to say about the subject matter of foolishness. Psalm 14:1 tells us that “a fool says in his heart that there is no God.” But can Christ's followers be foolish sometimes? You better believe it. Proverbs 28:26 says “whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.” The Word of God gives us a stern warning that a person who trusts in their mind, in their own way is a fool. How often have we forsaken the way of wisdom just to do something our way? How often have we gone headfirst into a situation without praying about it? How many times have we forfeited the peace of God because we wanted things our way? Why is there such a strong desire to follow our hearts? First, because our flesh desires to be fed sinful things, second because the world wants to press us into its mold, and finally because Satan wants Christians to always be pursuing things below, not things above. One Bible commentator said that trusting in your own heart is like trusting an imposter who has deceived you hundreds of times or believing a traitor who has proved himself false every time. If we can’t trust our fickle hearts and minds, what can we trust? We seek our wisdom, we seek out the truth, and we seek out the mind of God. We take the path of wisdom from above instead of feelings from below. Most of you would never get into a canon to get shot into the air because it's foolish, and yet this week we will enter into a spiritual canon of foolishness by trusting our way instead of God. This week, seek God’s counsel, not your mind.
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