Wouldn’t it have been wonderful to wake up on April 1st and hear a voice from Heaven say: “April Fool! It was all a joke! Covid was not real! No one got sick. No one died. Stores were open. Children enjoyed school. Your favorite restaurants were open and serving your favorite meals. Ships sailed and planes flew. The pandemic and insurrection were jokes to make you appreciate your country and your neighbor and be thankful for your blessings. The election went smoothly and the results were graciously accepted by all. Everyone on both sides cooperated for the good of the people. No one belittled anyone. Leaders were examples we’d like our children to follow. The only four letter words heard were love, good, and kind. Well, I’m sorry! The foregoing is an April fool joke. A fantasy. A dream!
Are you old enough to remember, or did your parents tell you about, Orson Welles and ‘War of the Worlds’. I was remembering that as happening on April Fools Day. It didn’t (the ever reliable memory!). Anyway, 75 years ago, the broadcast caused a panic. Many believed aliens were invading the world. It took police to calm things down and assure everyone that it was not actually happening. But it seemed so real and was so frightening! Although it happened in October, it was the April Fools joke to end all April Fools jokes. Such jokes were more popular then than they are today. The National Geographic even propagated quite a few, including that they were going to stop publishing pictures of nude animals.
When I was a child, it was great fun to make an April Fool of parents, siblings, and class mates. I don’t know if anyone does that anymore. I was often, and easily, fooled. I believed anything anyone told me. Especially if they started by saying, ‘The Bible says…’ I’m still hung up on that one although I’ve read The Book cover to cover in four translations. It’s said that Lutherans are supposed to feel guilty. And when I became Lutheran, and Norwegian, I bought the whole ball of wax.
On a lighter, more beautiful note, have you ever spent April in Paris? I haven’t, not April, but I’d love to. Plenty of April Showers have come my way, bringing flowers. Our lovely bluebonnets bloom in early April. Let’s not let events beyond our control rain on our parade. The sun will come out tomorrow. You can bet your bottom dollar. Join me in looking somewhere over the rainbow to the far side banks of Jordan. I don’t know if time will be measured there. Or whether there will be an April. I don’t think we’ll try to make fools of one another, but I do believe there will be joy and laughter and the enjoyment of fellowship with our huge community of friends. Children of Our Heavenly Father.
Tess Todd
Comments are closed