Fool For Christ

Fools For Christ

 

I have not always made the wised decisions in life, obviously, or maybe I would not be continually getting myself in the precarious situations in which I often find myself…

I admit, if my concerns were only about wealth, I have been so gullible to believe in and trust the inherit goodness I believe lives in every human being created in the Image of God.  I am just a fool, according to some.  I hope it is not all my fault, concerning my business problems, that is, although I believe much of it is obviously my fault, but I believe the economic conditions of our United States economy decimated by our warlike inclinations affirmed by the President Bush administration, and confirmed by the current King of Drones, President Obama, causing a collapse in our economy, which, just today, has been pronounced as “healed,” according to the jobs report that indicates we have recovered every job we lost…. (what about the millions who have entered the job market since 2007?)

“Oh, here we go again!”  According to some I know and love, it is just John the radical preaching and ranting again…  Really?

Am I just a fool?

I would rather be a fool, if I am to be one, for Christ!

Take a look at this link:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foolishness_for_Christ

A lot of people have been fools for Christ, Western, and Eastern, and even some in the Sufi sect of Islam, (which I would like to be in, if I were Muslim) have been just “crazy” for God.  Pope Francis has chosen his name from St. Francis of Assisi, whose followers gave up their possession and preached Jesus in the streets.  Just Fools, in their day….

 

Reminds me of the lady I and others call “Preacher Lady” here in Tuscaloosa…. I have written about her before….   I just spoke to her again this past week.  She was standing in the middle of the street beside our business property, open Bible in hand, preaching away.  I went over and talked to her again for quite a while.  I asked her if she was a Prophetess, and offered her a glass of water.  We spoke of the Bible.  Apparently she feels called to preach to the City of Tuscaloosa…  Reminds me of Peace Pilgrim, who walked thousands and thousands of miles in the 1950s, 1960s, and up into the 1970s preaching about Peace….  Reminds me of the Prophet Jonah, whom Ben Talmadge is preaching about this month, who knew in advance he would be a Fool for Christ because of the message he was to preach to Nineveh.  Jonah knew God was Gracious and Merciful and would change his mind, and Jonah did not want to look like a fool… Reminds me of the Jewish Fool for God, Isaiah who walked around naked for a while…

 

Reminds me of the Apostle Paul, giving up his “religious”  position, to be quoted:

“We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.” (KJV).

And also:

“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” (1 Corinthians 3:19)

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

“For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:21)

 

Reminds me a little of myself too, with my concerns for the Kingdom of God and the Gospel of Peace, which few seem to deem important in our United States warrior society…  Give us a gun, not give us peace….

Oh Well….

Just one more reminder, and I will shut up my foolish mouth….  I am reminded of Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, and a fellow Pacifist and  “Fool for Christ.”  Below is a link to a one woman play about Dorothy Day, entitled “Fool for Christ:”

 

http://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/fool-christ-dorothy-day-story

 

It is a long play, so I will shut up and give you time to watch it. I would advise you to watch and consider our belief systems…

But, I am just a fool…

While you are watching, I will put on my dunce cap, and go sit in the corner on a stool…

Let me know what you think!

 

Fool for Christ,

 

John Cooper