Being Foolish?

Anyone who knows me would never say that I'm a rebel. . .and I'm not-- but I want to suggest something that might make some wonder if I am a rebel. . . Read for yourself. . .

In the eyes of the world, Jesus was a fool. He did not abide by the rules of his day; the people he associated with were shunned by society; his Sermon on the Mount reads like a primer on being left behind, stepped on, and ignored. In order for us to truly be the people Jesus wants to us to be, we too must learn to become "foolish."

Becoming a Christian is not a magical enterprise by which we are automatically transformed into better people. We must train to become who God intends us to be. I think we need to try to understand how to think like Jesus. By reorienting our lives according to the gospel we may appear to be fools in the eyes of the world, but maybe that's exactly what Jesus wants.

Our obsession with security, pleasure, and power prevents us from living rich and meaningful lives. Our endless struggle to acquire money, good feelings, and prestige yields a rich harvest of worry, frustration, and resentment. I think we need to explore what Christ's mind was truly focused one: finding the Father, compassion for others, a heart of forgiveness, and the work of the kingdom.

What do you think?

A Prayer

Lord God Almighty,

Holy is thy wisdom, power, mercy, ways, works.

How can I stand before thee

With my numberless and aggravated offences?

I have often loved darkness,

observed lying vanities,

forsaken thy given mercies,

trampled underfoot thy beloved Son,

mocked thy providences,

flattered thee with my lips,

broken thy covenant.

It is of thy compassion that I am not consumed.

Lead me to repentance , and save me from despair;

Let me come to thee renouncing, condemning,

loathing myself,

but hoping in the grace that flows

even to the chief of sinners.
At the cross may I contemplate the evil of sin,

and abhor it,

look on him whom I pierced,

as one slain for me, and by me. . . .

Thus may my soul rest in thee, O immortal

and transcendent one,

revealed as thou art in the Person and work

of thy Son,

the Friend of sinners.