February 18, 2009
The recent (and excellent) Veritas Academy Madrigal Feast caused me to do some theological reflection—particularly on the jester! Here are my thoughts. Tell me what you think.
Jesters are sort of court comedians for Medieval Christian kings. They are not, however, just stand up comics. Jesters—as our skit pointed out—can say anything to the king. They are there to make fun of the king and to humble him. My bet is that something like this happens exclusively (I think of no non-Christian instances of this in history) and best in Christian countries. This sort of thing is deeply Trinitarian. Kings and rulers in the rest of the world have to project an image on power. They want to portray themselves as sort of a monolithic unity of power that is to be feared and obeyed. Not so with the best of Christian rulers. Just as each person of the Trinity does not hoard power desperately worrying that the other person or persons will push them out. Christian kings built in and hired people to remind them that they were to hold power loosely—that they were not all of that! We see this in Narnia. This is why the Calormenes are scandalized by the penchant of the Narnian rulers to walk their streets bare-faced and chatting. The Calormene rulers travel in great carried chairs with great pomp making their subjects bow and call them by endless titles. Not so with Christian lords. They have to come to grips with the fact that they are a functionary, a place holder for the real King. They serve their people just as Christ came to serve and die for His flock, just as Father, Son and Holy Ghost continually pour themselves out in love for the other and for creation—not for themselves.
Now to Iraq, the Jihadist allure . . . .
Now to
Iraq
, the Jihadist allure, I think, has some resonance with Christianity. Unlike most of the Islamic rulers, Bin Laden is a popular leader and a man of the people. He practices a level of humility relative to other Muslim leaders (think of the Saudis). The populace loves him for this reason. (Do not mention to him, however, that he is borrowing from Trinitarian Christianity to find this sort of leadership—or do if it would make him less effective.) The Madrigal exposed the falseness of his charade, however. He has no jester. Can you imagine an Al Qaida jester? How ridiculous! Unitarian religions die the death of grasping longing to be what they can not be—self-sufficient, independent, non-relational sources of power. The true God is all powerful, but not grasping; self-sufficient, but lovingly reaching out within the Trinity and reaching out to creation in love. This love shatters worlds. It brings down powers. It exposes injustice and fraud simply by showing up and being what it is. May it keep you, bless you and protect you today.
