Fool

April rushed in today with its usual merriment, that wonderful day of pranks and gags. I was curious and did a little research about the origins of April Fools’ Day but didn’t find anything all that interesting. I’ve always wondered if it had anything to do with the Eastern Orthodox practice of telling jokes on Easter to remember the “joke” God played on the devil with Jesus’ resurrection. But alas no insight there either…

Yet the day has reminded me how much I like pulling April Fools’ jokes and even better, thwarting other people’s jokes! Maybe that’s because I, like most people, never like being the fool. From the playground in pre-school, to the locker room in high school, to the boardroom of corporate America, to the bedroom of husband and wife; no one wants to be the fool.

Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-30 (check out http://www.biblegateway.com for a easy way to find it)

So, to be honest, I’ve never really understood what Paul was talking about when he wrote, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27) I mean I’ve understood in my head but never really been able to put into words what it looks like. How do you tell someone to be a fool for Jesus, don’t we have enough TV evangelists?

But then I had children and learned what it really means to play the fool. From the moment I uttered my first “cootchie coo” and on until now when the girls “do my hair” in bows, I’ve been the fool. In fact, as time goes on, it seems that I accept this more and more as a way of life. If I’m not careful I might even end up in a princess dress next Halloween! There seems no end my foolishness when it comes to my children. It is almost as if the outside world doesn’t even exist, as if I don’t care how I look in the eyes of the world. All that matters is how I look in their eyes.

And maybe that is the kind of foolishness that Paul is talking about. Not the bumbling Jerry Lewis kind of fool, but the kind of fool that doesn’t care or even know how he is seen. The kind of fool who only focuses on those whom he loves. Because that’s the kind of foolishness that God seems to have. That’s the kind of fool God seems to be. No matter how foolish we are he never stops loving us. No matter how senseless the choices me make, no matter how insane the paths we choose he always loves us. How it must look to the rest of the world that he could be so foolish, to let his children walk all over him. How foolhardy to allow them another chance… again. What a fool to give them everything and spare nothing … not even his own Son.

In fact there may only be one thing more foolish than a parent’s unconditional love - Our Father’s unconditional love for us.

Happy April Fools’ Day…. Go ahead and play the fool!