Hands up everyone who has ever been in love.  Gosh, that's a lot of you.  Ok, now put your hands down if you have never done something foolish while being in love.  I thought so. You can all remember the rush, the need to be with that one, special person. The over-riding desire which values that person above everything else, and puts your own needs and desires on the back burner.  So, what's this got to do with Christianity?

Well, there's this verse in the bible which some of you may have come across, and wondered at. It says that the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of man. It came back to me while I was listening to "For the longest time" by Billy Joel. It's a great track, I think, but then I have just got married.  One of the lines in it goes something like "I don't care what consequence it brings, I have been a fool for lesser things".  And that line suddenly struck a chord in me.

What have I been a fool for?  What things have I valued as so important that it didn't matter what other people thought of me, or that other parts of my life might fall by the wayside, that thing was worth it. The consequences were a side-issue.  Well, one thing was my husband. I definitely put him above other things in my life, and that is right and proper. But what about that object which I had to buy, no matter what the price was, or indeed the cost. What about that extra bar of chocolate which I had to eat. What other things was I being a fool for? And, indeed, what things should I be a fool for?

It seems that human beings are most foolish when they place value in one thing above others. When they say I have to get to work on time, no matter what, that's when they speed.  When they say I have to have that item, no matter what, that's when they spend more than they can afford.  When they say I have to be accepted by that group, no matter what, that's when they act in ways that cause the people closest to them hurt.  However, that foolishness can be for good as well. When you meet that one person, who you want to spend your life with, it's the foolishness which enables you to let go of lesser things.  When you find the one thing which makes sense, it is our foolishness which enables us to grab it, hold it, and keep it, no matter what.

But what about God?  What about his foolishness?  The bible claims that it is wiser than our wisdom. Perhaps it is just that God knows when to be foolish and when not, when to say - that is important, and everything else is irrelevant compared to it. Perhaps true wisdom is knowing when to be foolish, and when not!  Anyway, what is that one thing, which God says was more important. What was it that God didn't worry about the cost, in fact paid it gladly, rejoicing in gaining what could be obtained no other way.  What is God's foolishness - I'd argue that it was you and me. We are the precious pearl, which when found the merchant sold all he had, and went away rejoicing over having obtained the perfect pearl.  We are that treasure, hidden in a field, which the man sold all his worldly goods to obtain. In the words of Billy Joel, we are that which God intends to hold for the longest time.

So, let us be a little foolish for God, after all, he was foolish enough to die an ignominious death for us. Let us live ignominious lives for him. After all, we are going to hold him for the longest time as well.