St. Basil, Fool for Christ

From the blog Mere Comments...

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The iconic St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square was not named for Basil the Great but for a fool-in-Christ named Basil, whose feast day in the Russian church is today. He lived and witnessed while Ivan the Terrible was Czar. The Russian Fools-in-Christ are essentially a testament to the other-worldly foolishness of the Gospel, which as the foolishness of God is wiser the wisest of man's philosophies. He once laughed while a rich merchant ordered multiple expensive, sturdy, long-lasting boots from a cobbler. Why? Because, Basil said, the merchant will die tomorrow. He did.

Perhaps the most important thing to take away from these odd saints is that God calls the ultimate shots; the second most important thing perhaps is that you can't take it with you, just your self, either clothed in Christ or clothed with your sins and all your words and actions, and maybe your bank statements (minus the funds). In a sense, we all die tomorrow.

The architecture of this church is not typical of Russian churches--multi-colored multiple domes--and is a unique statement that took on the name of a foolish saint whose only appeal was to the mercy of God in Christ. The man in the photo similarly has nothing upon which to hope other that the Lord's grace and mercy. The Lord does call the shots, and the Resurrection is the biggest of all. To all the movers and shakers Basil essentially says, "Okay, Mover, now you're dead. Your move."