The Wise and Loving Fool
Christianity and the Courage to Challenge Kings
The old man, nearing eighty, had become a shadow of his old bullying self, worn down by age and the power he had once wielded but foolishly relinquished to those who flattered him. For much of his life, he had been like an overgrown teenager—petulant, demanding, and insecure. He still had the trappings of power; he loved the pomp and circumstance. But he knew, deep down, that he was loosing control. It might look like he was making decisions. but they, the flatterers to whom he relinquished power, were the real decision-makers. He was becoming a shadow. I am talking, of course, about King Lear.
Only one person had the freedom to tell him the truth—to mock him without fear, not out of cruelty, but out of love: the Fool. As court jester, the Fool was paid to be funny, to disrupt the status quo, to mock—even the king himself. His role was to destabilize, to expose absurdity, to say the unsayable. And yet, beneath his jests lay something deeper: not just wit, but wisdom; not just mockery, but love - a love of truth, yes, and also an affection for the king. Not unlike another Holy Fool, Jesus of Nazareth, he spoke truth to power.
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In Shakespeare's King Lear, the Fool is the sole voice of reason, using humor and candor to convey truths that others, the flatterers and sycophants, dare not express. Through quips and riddles, the Fool speaks truth to power - highlighting Lear's folly in dividing his kingdom. He tells Lear that he, the king, is the real fool, because he lacks wisdom. And yet he does so with spirit of affection. He wants the best for the King.
Thus we have two kinds of Fools: the Wise and Loving Fool (the court jester) and the Self-Centered and Self-Deceived Fool (Lear himself). The tragedy of King Lear is that he does not heed the advice of the Wise and Caring Fool. There is a stage in the play when the Wise Fool simply disappears, and Lear is left on his own. Lear goes mad.
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There is a lesson here. Modern leaders often lack advisors who challenge their decisions, leading to echo chambers that reinforce their beliefs. This absence of honest feedback can result in misguided policies and personal downfalls. The tragedy of Lear lies in his inability to heed the Fool's wisdom until it's too late. Today's leaders, too, risk ignoring dissenting voices, favoring flattery over constructive criticism. Encouraging a culture where advisors can speak truth to power is essential for effective leadership and the prevention of avoidable failures.
The "wise and loving fool" embodies a paradox where an individual, often perceived as simple or foolish, reveals wisdom others lack or are afraid to express. This wisdom arises from the wise fool's unique perspective, unbound by societal norms or intellectual pretensions, allowing him or her to observe and comment on human nature and societal structures with clarity and honesty.
In Shakespeare's King Lear, the Fool serves as a truth-teller, using humor and simplicity to convey insights that others overlook. The wise fool perceives truths that escape others, questioning assumptions and highlighting contradictions within societal norms. Their virtues include humility, openness, authenticity, and a distinct form of courage. This courage enables them to speak candidly and act without pretense, often challenging established norms and confronting uncomfortable truths.
Jesus as a Holy Fool
As a Christian I see Jesus as a Fool. He was a truth-teller, unafraid to expose the contradictions and hypocrisies of his time. Like the Fool in King Lear, Jesus saw through the illusions that others accepted as reality. He unsettled those in power, not by wielding force, but by speaking in riddles and parables, by embracing the lowly and outcast, by refusing to play the games of empire and religious legalism.
The Fool in Lear doesn’t rule, but he sees. He doesn’t command, but he reveals. And so does Jesus. His wisdom is not the wisdom of the world—he upends expectations, blessing the poor, the meek, the mourners, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. He tells people to love their enemies, to turn the other cheek, to give without expecting anything in return.
Like the Fool, Jesus operates on a different frequency, one that the powerful and the rigid cannot comprehend. He is a Fool in the divine sense—a holy fool—one who upends reality so that we might see more clearly. He is the wisdom of God that appears as foolishness to the world (1 Corinthians 1:25).
And yet, his foolishness is not foolishness at all. It is a deeper wisdom, a path that leads not to domination but to love, not to self-preservation but to self-giving, not to victory in the worldly sense but to resurrection beyond suffering and death. The Fool may be laughed at, dismissed, even crucified—but in the end, his is the last word.
The Courage to Follow Jesus
As a Christian I wish that more contemporary politicians were Foolish. Too often, politicians—especially those who claim the name of Christ—align themselves with power rather than challenge it. They seek influence rather than truth, security rather than sacrifice. But Jesus was not concerned with preserving the status quo; he was concerned with revealing the deeper reality of God’s kingdom—a reality where the last are first, where love overcomes fear, and where power is found in service, not domination.
To follow Jesus in the political realm should mean having the courage to speak truth to power, not merely in opposition but in love. It should mean advocating for justice even when it is unpopular, lifting up the poor and marginalized rather than exploiting them, and rejecting the temptations of wealth and control that so easily corrupt. It should mean embodying the foolishness of Christ—the willingness to stand outside the systems of exploitation and say, “This is not the way.”
Imagine politicians who truly lived by the Sermon on the Mount, who refused to demonize their enemies, who sought reconciliation rather than division, who embraced humility rather than arrogance. Imagine leaders who embodied the love that casts out fear, who saw governance not as an opportunity for self-advancement but as a vocation of service. They, too, would be considered Fools - in the best of senses.
Only one person had the freedom to tell him the truth—to mock him without fear, not out of cruelty, but out of love: the Fool. As court jester, the Fool was paid to be funny, to disrupt the status quo, to mock—even the king himself. His role was to destabilize, to expose absurdity, to say the unsayable. And yet, beneath his jests lay something deeper: not just wit, but wisdom; not just mockery, but love - a love of truth, yes, and also an affection for the king. Not unlike another Holy Fool, Jesus of Nazareth, he spoke truth to power.
*
In Shakespeare's King Lear, the Fool is the sole voice of reason, using humor and candor to convey truths that others, the flatterers and sycophants, dare not express. Through quips and riddles, the Fool speaks truth to power - highlighting Lear's folly in dividing his kingdom. He tells Lear that he, the king, is the real fool, because he lacks wisdom. And yet he does so with spirit of affection. He wants the best for the King.
Thus we have two kinds of Fools: the Wise and Loving Fool (the court jester) and the Self-Centered and Self-Deceived Fool (Lear himself). The tragedy of King Lear is that he does not heed the advice of the Wise and Caring Fool. There is a stage in the play when the Wise Fool simply disappears, and Lear is left on his own. Lear goes mad.
*
There is a lesson here. Modern leaders often lack advisors who challenge their decisions, leading to echo chambers that reinforce their beliefs. This absence of honest feedback can result in misguided policies and personal downfalls. The tragedy of Lear lies in his inability to heed the Fool's wisdom until it's too late. Today's leaders, too, risk ignoring dissenting voices, favoring flattery over constructive criticism. Encouraging a culture where advisors can speak truth to power is essential for effective leadership and the prevention of avoidable failures.
The "wise and loving fool" embodies a paradox where an individual, often perceived as simple or foolish, reveals wisdom others lack or are afraid to express. This wisdom arises from the wise fool's unique perspective, unbound by societal norms or intellectual pretensions, allowing him or her to observe and comment on human nature and societal structures with clarity and honesty.
In Shakespeare's King Lear, the Fool serves as a truth-teller, using humor and simplicity to convey insights that others overlook. The wise fool perceives truths that escape others, questioning assumptions and highlighting contradictions within societal norms. Their virtues include humility, openness, authenticity, and a distinct form of courage. This courage enables them to speak candidly and act without pretense, often challenging established norms and confronting uncomfortable truths.
Jesus as a Holy Fool
As a Christian I see Jesus as a Fool. He was a truth-teller, unafraid to expose the contradictions and hypocrisies of his time. Like the Fool in King Lear, Jesus saw through the illusions that others accepted as reality. He unsettled those in power, not by wielding force, but by speaking in riddles and parables, by embracing the lowly and outcast, by refusing to play the games of empire and religious legalism.
The Fool in Lear doesn’t rule, but he sees. He doesn’t command, but he reveals. And so does Jesus. His wisdom is not the wisdom of the world—he upends expectations, blessing the poor, the meek, the mourners, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. He tells people to love their enemies, to turn the other cheek, to give without expecting anything in return.
Like the Fool, Jesus operates on a different frequency, one that the powerful and the rigid cannot comprehend. He is a Fool in the divine sense—a holy fool—one who upends reality so that we might see more clearly. He is the wisdom of God that appears as foolishness to the world (1 Corinthians 1:25).
And yet, his foolishness is not foolishness at all. It is a deeper wisdom, a path that leads not to domination but to love, not to self-preservation but to self-giving, not to victory in the worldly sense but to resurrection beyond suffering and death. The Fool may be laughed at, dismissed, even crucified—but in the end, his is the last word.
The Courage to Follow Jesus
As a Christian I wish that more contemporary politicians were Foolish. Too often, politicians—especially those who claim the name of Christ—align themselves with power rather than challenge it. They seek influence rather than truth, security rather than sacrifice. But Jesus was not concerned with preserving the status quo; he was concerned with revealing the deeper reality of God’s kingdom—a reality where the last are first, where love overcomes fear, and where power is found in service, not domination.
To follow Jesus in the political realm should mean having the courage to speak truth to power, not merely in opposition but in love. It should mean advocating for justice even when it is unpopular, lifting up the poor and marginalized rather than exploiting them, and rejecting the temptations of wealth and control that so easily corrupt. It should mean embodying the foolishness of Christ—the willingness to stand outside the systems of exploitation and say, “This is not the way.”
Imagine politicians who truly lived by the Sermon on the Mount, who refused to demonize their enemies, who sought reconciliation rather than division, who embraced humility rather than arrogance. Imagine leaders who embodied the love that casts out fear, who saw governance not as an opportunity for self-advancement but as a vocation of service. They, too, would be considered Fools - in the best of senses.