Faith Matters | We have a plethora of El Guapos but a dearth of Jefes in this world
My all time favorite comedy, “Three Amigos,” contains far more than just silly humor, but exemplary wisdom.
While seeming to enjoy his birthday party, the Mexican thug El Guapo asks Jefe, his No. 2, if he has a “plethora of piñatas.” Jefe answers in the affirmative, using his context clues to assume a plethora of pinatas — whatever a plethora means — would no doubt please his superior.
Unfortunately El Guapo pushes him to define “plethora,” quickly angered that Jefe actually has no idea “what it means to have a plethora.”
But instead of “bowing up” to his infamous counterpart, a move likely to land him somewhere less pleasant than his present company, he bows down in humility by affirming his own lack of “superior intellect and education.”
Because of Jefe’s gentle disarming, he can rightly propose the possibility that El Guapo’s feisty concomitant comeback may have had nothing to do with an obscure definition. Perhaps his agitation actually stemmed from his kidnapped prisoner Carmen’s refusal to sleep in the same bedroom? This gentle redirection in the form of a question enabled honest reflection and discernment as to the true cause of his anger.
Despite not having a “superior intellect or education,” Jefe embodies what Daniel Goleman describes in his book Emotional Intelligence.
“Their ability to reason and logic is superior to others…. persist in the face of frustration to control impulse, delay gratification, to keep distress from swamping the ability to think, to empathize…”
Old Testament biblical scholar Tremper Longman III finds this definition of emotional intelligence to be synonymous with the wisdom presented in the book of Proverbs.
In this extended season of COVID-19, with its ebbs and flows that are almost like their own mini-seasons, we have all gone through a lot. Can we at least admit that?
And one more thing that the “we can’t wait to get back to normal folks often forget,” is that the “normal pre-COVID” problems haven’t stopped (and will continue Post-COVID if we ever get there). Aging, taxes, bills, family drama, health diagnoses and treatments have not received cease-and-desist memos. Aren’t we all to some degree exhausted and angry, prone to look for a scapegoat?
None of us is as mature as advertised or as we appear. Very few of us take the time to actually process Jefe’s question, “Is it possible that you are mad at something/someone else and simply taking it out on me?” We emotionally choose the path of an angry consumer, incorrectly yelling at the customer service representative for something that wasn’t his fault and which he has no power to fix.
We have a plethora of El Guapo’s but a dearth of Jefe’s. But if El Guapo reflected on the real reason for his anger, can’t we? Instead of engaging in the fight, maybe we can deflect with a question: is there perhaps more going on?
We need more E.Q/proverbial wisdom today, but we also need more than E.Q/proverbial wisdom today.
The path of wisdom is ultimately a Person. Christians boast of a “wisdom with hands:” a wisdom that waves down the weary and angry in order to offer rest for their souls. Jesus is the path that grabs, holds, brings back, and brings back to life. He responds kindly to our anger, and enables us to do the same to others.
Faith Matters is written by members of the Bradenton area clerical community. Geoff Henderson is pastor of Harbor Community Church (harborcommunitychurch.org) in Bradenton. You can reach him at geoff@harborcommunitychurch.org.