April Fools Day

It's been a year since my hysterectomy. (That's not a joke -- I really did let a doctor operate on me on April Fools day.) I went in today for a check up, and my doctor (not the surgeon) said that it was a dangerous thing to have let someone operate on me on April Fools day. I knew that she was kidding, but I half expected that after her examination she would tell me that it was all still down there!

I haven't explored the origin of April Fools day recently, so I don't know exactly how it got started and why it continues. I like a good joke as much as the next person, but wonder a bit about a day that is set aside for us to intentionally make 'fools' of someone else. The essence of the April Fools' day joke is to try to pull the wool over someone's eyes by telling them a story that, while it sounds true, is just far-fetched enough to catch someone off guard. "Did you hear that Barack Obama made all of his staff stand up before him and recite the entire Emancipation Proclamation?" Sounds like it could be possible, but is on some level a bit disconcerting; we don't want to believe its true, but we also don't want to belittle the person telling us the story by not believing her. (If this little sentence about Obama becomes an internet hoax I'll feel really bad that I started something!) But if you buy into it, and then someone says "April Fools!" then you are the one who has been belittled.

In my life I have honed sarcasm to a fine point. I can't imagine ever being willing to let go of it entirely. But the more I try to follow the ways of Jesus, the more I'm convinced that he never had fun at someone else's expense, except perhaps vicariously. If he saw someone pull a good prank I imagine he laughed the same as you and I would. But I don't think he would be the prank puller. I'm pretty convinced that Jesus was a fun-loving guy, but not fun at the expense of another person. And no matter how much someone laughs when they are at the cutting end of a sarcastic remark, it's still cutting nonetheless.

There's no reason we can't have fun without being sarcastic. It may take me a lifetime to learn, but hopefully I will master the skill someday.

And that's no April Fools.