April Fools (click to comment)

I have incredible news for you. My wife tells me that she’s expecting. It’s a miracle. A miracle! In other news, it’s April Fools. And you have been fooled. April Fools was a terrifying day for me as a child. As the youngest of five, I never quite knew what my siblings had cooked up for me. I would awake and look under my bed to see if my brother was waiting to grab me. I’d peer cautiously around corners and check inside sandwiches for earthworms.

April Fools isn’t an official holiday, but people have been fooling one another on the first of April for centuries. In March of 1860, many important Londoners received formal invitations that read, “Tower of London, Admit Bearer and Friend to view the annual Ceremony of Washing the White Lions on Sunday, April 1. Admittance Only at White Gate.” Many carriages arrived, but there is no white gate at the tower of London, and there has never been a Washing of White Lions ceremony. The important Londoners soon realized they’d been fleeced. Now, if you’re looking for some April first ideas, I might suggest a few things that have worked for me. If you have kids, bake them a chicken pot pie filled with vanilla pudding and starburst candies. Or bake a cake. Coat it with thick creamy icing, then fill it with meatloaf. You may start a family tradition. Ok. I’m glad I got that out of my system.

This is quite a time of year. Right around the time we engage in April hoaxes, Christians celebrate an event of two thousand years ago that some called a hoax. In fact, a few of the authorities of the day claimed that Jesus’ resurrection was a clever trick. But get this: historians agree that the letters of Paul were written just 15 to 20 years after Jesus’ death. So take it from a trickster – there is no possible way could Paul get away with writing his own eye-witness account of how the risen Jesus appeared to over 500 people at once, most of whom were still alive. Only one man in history had followers who died insisting he had been resurrected. Why would Jesus’ disciples have done this? There is only one explanation. They had seen the risen Jesus. If you doubt me, try faking a resurrection in your town. Let me know how that goes.

May April Fools day remind us of the certainty of the resurrection of Jesus, our true reason for joy. Now, I’d better go bake a cake for my wife. Though she says she has a craving for pickles and ice cream.