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Today is the first of April and, of course, that means April Fool’s Day.
One of my favorite
April Fool’s jokes was about ten years ago when Pat Sajak and
Vanna White from the Wheel of Fortune switched shows
with Alex Trebek and hosted
Jeopardy. Kathe and I make it a point to watch Wheel every night and after all
these years
I still have questions about that show. Does Vanna really turn on
the letters or does she just touch them and they are
turned on electronically?
Even more impressive, how come, when Pat spins the wheel for the last time of
the evening,
he never lands on Bankrupt?
So, where did April Fool’s Day come from? There are many possible answers and
Wikipedia
offers a wide variety. My favorite comes from an English newspaper
article published in 1789. The writer claimed
that the day had its origins in
the time of Noah when he sent out the dove too early. According to the article
he
sent the dove out on the first day of the Hebrew month that corresponds with
April.
I like that explanation because
it shows that even someone as connected to God
as Noah could do something foolish. If you go back and read the story (Genesis
Chapter 8) Noah first sent out a Raven. Ancient Jewish stories say the Raven
didn’t want to go, even accused
Noah of not liking him. Noah replied that he
didn’t like the raven because he was good for nothing – couldn’t
be used for
sacrifice or even eaten. He didn’t want to bring the raven in the first place
but God made him since
the raven would be needed to carry food to Elijah in the
wilderness.
I think there are several lessons here. Even
Ravens are good for something. Even
foolish people are valued by God. When Jesus tells us to love our enemies, do
good
to people who hate us and if someone asks for help, give them more than
they ask for, he is telling us to act outside
the normal way of thinking – to do
something foolish. So, maybe we should celebrate April Fool’s Day by doing
something foolish – being nice to someone.
And if you know how Pat manages to always miss the bankrupt space
on Wheel,
please let me know.
See You in Church
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