Foolishness, Martin Luther King Jr and the Resurrection

April 1st, 2018 by Charles Cameron

One form of the ascetic Christian life is called foolishness for the sake of Christ. The fool-for-Christ set for himself the task of battling within himself the root of all sin, pride. In order to accomplish this he took on an unusual style of life, appearing as someone bereft of his mental faculties, thus bringing upon himself the ridicule of others. In addition he exposed the evil in the world through metaphorical and symbolic words and actions. He took this ascetic endeavor upon himself in order to humble himself and to also more effectively influence others, since most people respond to the usual ordinary sermon with indifference.

**

In the Orthodox tradition — in which, this year, Easter and the Resurrection will be celebrated next Sunday — the foolishness of saints is a recurrent story. As I noted, quoting from the National Catholic Register in an earlier post:

In Russian history the greatest of the “holy fools” was Basil the Blessed, a man so revered that the famous Cathedral in Moscow’s Red Square next to the Kremlin was named in his honor. Basil walked through Moscow wearing nothing more than a long beard. He threw rocks at wealthy people’s houses and stole from dishonest traders in Red Square.

Few doubted Basil’s holiness. Tsar Ivan the Terrible feared no one but Basil. Basil was also given to eating meat on Good Friday. Once he went to Ivan’s palace in the Kremlin and forced the tsar to eat raw meat during the fast saying, “Why abstain from eating meat when you murder men?” Countless Russians died for much less but Ivan was afraid to let any harm come to the saintly Basil.

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I don’t suppose one could speak of left and right wing parties under the Terrible Ivan, but evcen if one could, I don’t think St Basil’s approach would fit either description — he’s acting in a manner that is plain contrary to all sane opinion — and indeed, the term “Contraries” is applied by anthropologists to trickster shamans and holy foots in many traditions. Interestingly, in Sufism the “path of blame” has at times been highly esteemed — its practitioners, like the Russian Holy Fools, draw blame on themselves to awaken those around them while subverting their own propensity to take pride in how “spiritual” they are.

**

Mullah Nasruddin really didn’t want to loan his donkey to a neighbor.

My brother borrowed him yesterday and hasn’t brought him back, the Mullah said..

Just then, the donkey brayed.

Who are you going to believe, the Mullah asked hastilyy — me or a donkey?

Now, who in that little vignette is more of an ass?

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Posted in MLK, music, poetry, russia, scriptures, Uncategorized | 5 comments

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  1. Jim Gant:

    April 3rd, 2018 at 5:13 pm

    Charles, This is one of my favorite posts of all-time! I read for several hours each morning and then write down my thoughts in a journal. Here is what I wrote this year on Easter:
    .
    Each day is a miracle. Today is the miracle of all miracles. The day that changed all things for all time. Today is the greatest miracle in the history of histories, the day that we all put our trust and faith. Today is the very foundation of the universe. For if it happened, it changes everything. If it did not, nothing matters. I, for one, believe. I, for one, know.
    .
    Holy Father, make us all one even as You and the Lord Jesus are one – You in Him, and Him in You – and us in You all, that the world may believe that You sent Jesus Christ. – John 17:21
    .
    Take care and march on!
    .
    Your friend,
    .
    Jim

  2. Charles Cameron:

    April 4th, 2018 at 2:32 am

    Thanks, Jim.
    .
    Here’s the poem I wrote that accompanies that piece. I don’t often post such things on ZP, but just between the two of us, on this occasion — it’s a bit twisty, as I’lll explain below:

    He is Risen!

    .
    This bag follows me around like a shadow:
    it contains my urine
    and if I summon up a spiritual perspective
    it serves to remind me
    I am a body, natural, imperfect,
    with waste to be disposed of,
    not some spiritual entity, perfect, incorruptible,
    all intellect and will..
    .
    I thus embody paradox,
    and take refuge in the Creed of Aristotle:
    If A, then not Not-A.
    He descended into hell;
    on the third day He rose again from the dead;
    He ascended into heaven    .

    .
    and here’s my explanation, which may help:

    That’s a sneaky-snaky one, eh?
    .
    The first stanza sets up the paradox. The trope of the body being a bag of shit is found in Kabir, for instance, a terrific Indian poet in the tradition of Rumi and Hafiz, and in François Villon, pretty much France’s founding poet. My leg-bag is a modern variant. Well within the great poetic tradition. And the spiritual intuition proving the naturalist hypothesis and vice versa — pure Jordan Peterson, and good theology.
    .
    SO the second stanza takes up the discomfort of living the paradox, angel / animal, and resolves it with Aristotle — essentially the secular equivalent of a creed, the basic statement of pure logic — if you’re one thing, you’re not another.
    .
    Only problem — the Catholic creed, with three statements in a row, one which proclaims resurrection from the dead framed by two, in one of which there is a descent into hell, in the other an ascent into heaven. Very tidy, very symmetrical. And if you think about it, if the two outer lines are true and there is a hell and a heaven, then the middle line, with resurrection, makes sense (is logical) too — hell, immortality, heaven, no problem. For the believer.
    .
    I think that’s a pretty neat poem, but not an easy one.
    .
    Just sneaky-snaky..
    .
    What say you, Jim?

  3. Sally Benzon:

    April 6th, 2018 at 10:23 pm

    I also really enjoyed this post, Charles. Nothing illuminating I can say, but then there isn’t darkness anyway, is there?

  4. Charles Cameron:

    April 7th, 2018 at 3:26 pm

    Thanks, Sally! Not if you bring the light with you..

  5. Jim Gant:

    April 10th, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    Charles,
    .
    Ah, the poem and the poet. You cannot have one, without the other…? Since it is just the two of us…:)…I really enjoyed your words (the poem) and the thoughts (belief) behind the words. He is Risen! The world and it’s great dichotomy, its great paradoxes…and our shadows…which belong only to us. We can share many things but shadows? Only if we stand right next to each other can our shadows meet…Yes, there is deep meaning here. Thank you for sharing. I would definitely not want to go head to head with you in a ‘Glass Bead Game’ So I will submit to you (since it is just the two of us) two lines from a poem I recently wrote while reading ‘The Bhagavad Gita’ for the umpteenth time…
    “Unbelievable the words; Unimaginable their meaning”
    Thanks Charles!!! Your friend and ally, Jim