My Sunday Thought for 04032016: Fool Fest 2016

Spring comes to the heart

And fools fall in love.

Sad is the man without spring

And sadder yet, without love.

It is not person, place, or thing,

These are but recipients.

Spring is the intangible feeling;

An April state of mind.

Spring is new life and color,

a rebirth of the old,

Ebbing rains and arching rainbows,

Heralding the returning warmth of sun.

It is sprouting crops planted in fall,

Training for America’s game,

Planning of vacations

And summer cookouts.

The feeling is not person, place, or thing.

These are but recipients.

Spring is the intangible feeling,

An April state of mind, and thus…

Love is in the air!

Yes, "love" is in the air, and then you find you've picked the wrong guy for the umpteenth time.  Well, that's because springtime was made for breeding, not for loving.  It isn't love that's in the air.  That musky smell of burning desire is... LUST!  Lust is in the air.  Lust isn't only in the air; it's dripping off of everything capable of reproducing.  Birds, bees, cats, dogs, squirrels, mice, rats, and cousin Bob are all oozing with lust.

Pretty much the only sure thing to come out of this drool fest will be the number of men and women that make seasonal fools of themselves.  Yes, unless they get a clue, this embarrassing smack down will be another seasonal tradition for most of these folks that tend to use the brains south of their tummy button more than the spongy mass between their ears.  What many of our young will discover, when all is said and done, is that, with someone or without, many of them will remain discontented with their lot in life.  They may also discover the burning sensation they're experiencing in their nether regions may not be a hunka, hunka, burnin' love.  I'd have it checked out by a urologist.

Real friends are those who, when you feel you've made a fool of yourself, don't feel you've done a permanent job.

-- Author Unknown

If yesterday was the winter of our discontent, it was made glorious only in that it followed summer and fall of the same.  Our ides of March have exploded into spring with all hormonal targeting systems focused on the returning summer.  Our discontent is so definitively human in its recurrence, for only a human could be so self-absorbed by any emotion especially when said emotions are driven by the genteel manipulations of women.  Why are we like this?  What in heaven's good name was God thinking creating two creatures, so vastly different, to complement each other as boon companions?  Sometimes I think God is really a woman.  I mean, really, look at the humor of it.  Man never stood a chance.  Go ahead; tell a woman she wouldn't even be here if it weren't for one of your ribs.  Go ahead, I'm pretty certain any woman can make her six inch stiletto fit where the sun don't shine, right next to where you keep your head.  

A sense of humor is the ability to understand a joke-and that the joke is oneself. -- Clifton Paul Fadiman

We will, in all probability, and against our best efforts to avoid it, join those of lesser abilities in the Fool Festival of 2016.  On April 1, we will fall prey to even more elaborate, well thought out pranks which will evidence how gullible we humans can be when faced with unexpectedly clever tricks developed by equally unexpectedly juvenile coworkers hiding in the cubicles around us.  There will be shoe polish on the binocular eyepieces or phone earpieces, wireless mouse and keyboard receivers swapped with next desk, staplers and coffee cups Superglued to the surface, clocks set ahead or behind, salt in sugar containers and sugar in salt containers, bourbon in beer bottles and water in vodka bottles.  We will sigh, and we will laugh.  We will laugh because life has become way too serious, and monotony is made to be broken.

It is the ability to take a joke, not make one, that proves you have a sense of humor.

-- Max Eastman

So, we will fall in lust, and hope it develops into love, as we smile at the heartthrob across the room while wiping the shoe polish from around our eyes and trying to look suave.  Hopefully she'll see we have a sense of humor, and can take it all in stride... while we plot the required, and expected, revenge on the perpetrators of our embarrassment.  Of course this also means we must be prepared to give better than we got.  Payback is, after all, demanded by honor and the Code of Fools.  

Hopefully, we will discover, somewhere along our path, that even the best of us are fools or, more to the point, all of us are fools.  With this life epiphany will come the joy of being able to march proudly in the daily Fool Fest and enjoy the occasional joke at our expense.  It is called character building, and we are all characters in God's great comedy so, suck it up.

Suppose the world were only one of God's jokes, would you work any the less to make it a good joke instead of a bad one?

-- George Bernard Shaw

We will also discover the intangible reality of love.  It isn't something you can purchase, nor is it something you can touch.  Love is an emotion.  Love is an emotion that goes beyond sex and sexes.  It transcends beauty, intelligence, money and power.  Love is all around us.  It is a state of mind, a state of being.  You either are, or you aren't.

I think its better that you are.

Love is in the air everywhere I look aroundLove is in the air every sight and every soundAnd I don't know if I'm being foolishDon't know if I'm being wiseBut it's something that I must believe inAnd it's there when I look in your eyes.

-- "Love is in the Air," lyrics by George Young and Johannes Vandenberg

Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, and instructor. He is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path," which offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination.