To Read: Click on song title to watch a video

What Kind of Fool Am I?

from ‘Stop the World I Want to Get Off’ 

What kind of fool am I
Who never fell in love
It seems that I’m the only one
That I have been thinking of

What kind of man is this
An empty shell
A lonely cell in which
An empty heart must dwell

What kind of lips are these
That lied with every kiss
That whispered empty words of love
That left me alone like this

Why can’t I fall in love
Like any other man
And maybe then I’ll know
What kind of fool I am

What kind of clown am I
What do I know of life
Why can’t I cast away
This mask of play
And live my life

Why can’t I fall in love
Till I don’t give a damn
And maybe then I’ll know
What kind of fool I am

  

From the Scriptures:

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

1 John 4.7-12

  

To Reflect:

We stand on the brink of Holy Week and I am sure more than a few of us who are preparing for the week ahead may agree with the title of today’s musical, ‘Stop the World, I Want to Get Off’. 

A play within words on the play itself – the on stage action is ‘stopped’ occasionally whilst one of the characters sings about their circumstances – it describes how many of us may feel in the middle of the busy-ness of life and faith and cause us to hanker after a simple life.

The iconic song from the show, and to be honest the only memorable one, suggests that the world would be a somewhat less frenetic and confusing place if we took the foolish step of letting ourselves fall in love instead of thinking only ever of ourselves.  Which is indeed a greater foolishness.

But how do we do this without letting the worldly treadmill we are desperate to get-off run away with us?  Easier said than done!

The answer is to love fully, completely, and recklessly without thought for self or consequence.

The answer is to, instead of being selfish fools, allow ourselves to be fools for love.

It will mean putting others first and our self last.

It will mean spending ourselves for the good of others rather than for our own comfort.

It will mean giving up on our hopes and dreams and embracing another’s plans.

It may well mean having to die just a little…

But, unlike our lovesick songster, we are not simply letting ourselves foolishly fall in love; we are willingly allowing ourselves to fall ‘into’ Love.  We are trusting the nail-scarred hands of our Beloved to carry us through the days ahead to the joy of new life.  When all things are taken into account being a fool for ‘this’ love is a very wise thing to do indeed. Let us together be reckless in following the footsteps and example of our ‘foolish’ Beloved this Holy Week and every week,

 

To Pray:

Lord,
it is utterly wonderful being in love.
The whole world looks different;
it is transformed, joyous, and shining.
I cannot thank you enough
for letting this happen to me.
Never let me fall out of love.
I know the way of loving
must change,
must deepen,
perhaps even become
less obviously joyful,
but please make it endure.
Help me always
to be considerate and understanding,
and stop me from causing pain to the one I love.
I ask this in the name of your son, Jesus.

Michael Hollings and Eta Gullick, England

  

To Do: 

Look at your plans for Holy Week and:

1)    Do one thing (devotion or act of worship) less than you usually do.

2)    Do one thing (devotion or act of worship) that other Christians do which you find strange or perplexing.

Encore: Click on song title to watch a video

‘Stop the World’ does not have many memorable songs so for today’s encore please come with Amy Grant as in the song Imagine she wonders what heaven will be like. Why not take the time out to journey there with her?

 

Acknowledgements:

Prayers are from ‘Prayers Encircling the World’ and are copyright © SPCK: 1998.
Scripture quotations are copyright © New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
These Reflections, ‘A Song for Lent – 40 Days in the West End’ are copyright © Andrew Dotchin 2018