Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 08 November 2026
We go funky this Sunday with the Doobie Brothers’ 1978 hit What A Fool Believes so related with the gospel on Jesus Christ’s parable of the ten virgins waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom: five were foolish, five were wise.
While praying over the parable with the Doobies’ music playing inside our head, we wondered why Jesus mentioned first the foolish, then the wise.
Answer: because most people in the time of Jesus even now are foolish! (See at how most of elected officials anywhere in the world are corrupt and inept put into office by fools like them! https://lordmychef.com/2026/11/07/being-wise-not-foolish/)
Being foolish like those five virgins who did not bring extra oil for their lamps is to live as if there is no God, that there is no final reckoning with God at the end of time, acting impiously with what the psalmist says, The fool says in his heart, “There is no God” (Psalm 14:1).
The fools are always the most self-centered, selfish people who think only of themselves, believing the world revolves around them, so foolishly convinced they are indispensable in life not realizing we would be better off without them actually. They may have lamps lighted for a while but are soon dimmed because inside they are empty and shallow, with nothing substantial really to keep their lamps. Exactly like that fool described in What A Fool Believes:
But what a fool believes he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be
Is always better than nothing
And nothing at all keeps sending him...
Composed by Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald in 1978, What A Fool Believes is the usual story unrequited love of some men who develop illusions of being romantically involved in a relationship with a woman they have foolishly fallen in love with. It was first recorded by Loggins but it was McDonald’s version with The Doobie Brothers he had joined in 1975 who made it into the charts, giving them two Grammy awards in 1980 as Song of the Year and Record of the Year. In 2024, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame becoming a certified classic.
Like the parable narrated by Jesus more than 2000 years ago with a dash of humor, What A Fool Believes teems with a lot of humor too set in the superb musicianship by The Doobie Brothers with McDonald on vocals with his most distinctive voice honed in his many recordings as one of the very talented session musicians of the famed Steely Dan composed of the late Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.
What A Fool Believes is very catchy and danceable driven by its syncopated rhythm of percussion and drum track with McDonald’s bouncy keyboard stabs and riffs, blending so perfectly into a smooth groove of soft-rock, jazz and blue-eyed soul music now labelled as yacht rock which we personally strongly dislike. Anyway, we are so glad that even the GenZ’s and Millennials love What A Fool Believes which is actually very intelligent music, from the lyrics to the instrumentations.
He came from somewhere back in her long ago
The sentimental fool don't see
Tryin' hard to recreate
What had yet to be created once in her life
She musters a smile
For his nostalgic tale
Never coming near what he wanted to say
Only to realize
It never really was
She had a place in his life
He never made her think twice
As he rises to her apology
Anybody else would surely know
He's watching her go
But what a fool believes he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be
Is always better than nothing
And nothing at all keeps sending him...
Somewhere back in her long ago
Where he can still believe there's a place in her life
Someday, somewhere, she will return
She had a place in his life
He never made her think twice
As he rises to her apology
Anybody else would surely know
He's watching her go
But what a fool believes he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be
Is always better than nothing
There's nothing at all
But what a fool believes he sees...
It seems the man here is someone we describe as hindi nakayanan his rejection by his beloved kaya bumigay at tuluyang nabaliw, living in that grand illusion of being once the boyfriend of the love of his life.
Like the ten virgins who fell asleep while awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom, we too fail and falter many times in life. But what distinguishes the wise from the foolish ones is that faith in Jesus Christ who sustains us and enables us to weather every storm in this life.
Let me end this with another round of praise and thanks to the great Alex Eala – not only for her athletic prowess but for her simplicity and humility, beauty and maturity when she said in her press conference yesterday after that cardiac game with Tereza Valentova that being tired is a blessing.
Very true!
We all get tired and Jesus assures us in his parable that’s fine like those ten virgins who fell asleep. What matters is we keep that fire burning within us by always having that extra oil in Jesus, always believing, always hoping and always loving as we strive to become better like Alex.
With some great music of course like What A Fool Believes by The Doobie Brothers.
