Sitting at Mass this weekend, there was a line in the second reading that caught my ear. But first, some context.
Over the course of the last few weeks when I have been traveling in the car, I have hooked up my phone via Bluetooth and just let the music play. I chose the entire music library (several thousand songs) and hit the “random” button. There are tons of songs I love, and I am always amazed at how many a human brain can remember. But let’s be clear, there are lots and lots of songs that I hear and wonder why in the world they are on my phone. The Countdown Kids compilation that was fine when the kids were younger but now make me want to intentionally hit a tree. Then there’s the Veggie-tales, which are worse. Those I skip. Anything that makes the children groan, I skip. Anything that has inappropriate lyrics (I’m a grown up, don’t judge), I skip.
That still leaves several thousand songs to play and it’s made driving back and forth to drop off and pick up the kids, especially when Maureen is out of town, all the more enjoyable.
There was one song that came up last week that I love, sang along too, and remembered long after it was over.
That brings me back to Sunday’s second reading. In the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, we hear:
Let no one deceive himself.
If any one among you considers himself wise in this age,
let him become a fool, so as to become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God,
for it is written:
God catches the wise in their own ruses,
and again:
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are vain.
This brought me back to that song in the car. It’s called, God’s Own Fool and was written and sung by Michael Card a generation ago, when religion was more touchy-feely, and we used songs at retreats the way people use apps to pray.
Still, the lyrics are a great reminder of our call to live a life worthy of imitation.
Seems I’ve imagined Him all of my life
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God’s Holy wisdom is foolish to men
He must have seemed out of His mind
For even His family said He was mad
And the priests said a demon’s to blame
But God in the form of this angry young man
Could not have seemed perfectly sane
When we in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
When we in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
And so we follow God’s own fool
For only the foolish can tell-
Believe the unbelievable
And come be a fool as well
So come lose your life for a carpenter’s son
For a madman who died for a dream
And you’ll have the faith His first followers had
And you’ll feel the weight of the beam
So surrender the hunger to say you must know
Have the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see
So we follow God’s own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable,
And come be a fool as well
As Lent begins, may we all be a little foolish this week. A little less wise in the know-it-all sense, and a little more willing to let others know whose we are but showing them who we are as a child of God.
pjd
To hear the artist sing the song, click here.