April Fools Day

I was wondering what happened in history for us to have an "April Fools Day", so I did a little research on my favorite online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. April Fool's Day is a puzzle to historians. At first historians thought it was related to changing calendars in the sixteenth century. It showed up in vague terms in some writings from Femish, English, and French writers from 1300's to 1600's. Then in 1698 a British newspaper reported, "Yesterday being the first of April, several persons were sent to the Tower Ditch to see the Lions washed.""Sending gullible victims to the Tower of London to see the lions washed (a non-existent ceremony) was a popular prank."Almost every culture on earth has a day or more to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring. They are called "renewal festivals." Most often there is mayhem, pranks, and foolishness. Sometimes the social order is inverted, but only for a short time. The practice of sticking a fish to the backside of an unsuspecting person began in France in the 1560's. I can remember this prank being played out in High School. A classmate would write "kick me" on a piece of paper and sick it on the back of another classmate. All sorts of foolishness occurs in childhood. Some behavior has horrible consequences. I recently saw a very sad news story about a group of High School students who bullied a girl (she had moved from Ireland to the States). She was so bullied and in such emotional distress that she took her own life. There are law suits pending. What a loss; all because of foolishness.

I can enjoy some joking. The type that makes me laugh or smile. I enjoy watching funny videos. Our children make me laugh with their funny behavior or ideas. Recently, our Charlotte said, "I want to be a cat. You can call me Sushi." Another funny thing she said recently got quite a laugh out of me. "Here, have a banana peel. That will cheer you up".

We want our children to be kind to others, to not be bullies, to not be fools. I found some quotes about fools and foolishness, so I'll share them with you.

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." ~ Ralph Waldo Emmerson (1803-1882) in 'Self Reliance'

"A fool finds pleasure in evil behavior, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom." ~ King Solomon in Proverbs 10:23

"The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." ~ King David in Psalm 53:1

"No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master." ~ Hunter S. Thompson (1939)

"Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the wise." ~ King Solomon (the son of King David) in Proverbs 14:9What is not foolish contains wisdom and has understanding and is life to the listener and to the observer. I am in awe of this orchid. To me it holds perfection.  I find that the opposite of foolishness is love. Without love we have nothing. What is wisdom to you?