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The origin of April Fools' Day is uncertain. However, using the first day of this month as an excuse to play a trick on someone or to get them to believe something that isn't true has certainly become the norm nowadays.
What follows are four items that are neither pranks nor falsehoods. Whether they constitute foolishness must be left to the determination of the reader. In deference to the skeptical, we label these four items foolish Christians, foolish Muslims, foolish Jews and foolish mercy.
Foolish Christians
This semester I decided to give a special assignment to the students in my Christian Spirituality course. I asked them to read the Creed, which all Catholics recite each Sunday at Mass, and indicate which of 15 professions contained in the prayer they thought was most difficult to believe. Oddly enough, many of them had a problem with the Virgin birth because it sounded so unnatural to them. This struck me as odd because several scholars in the class are biology majors who expect to become medical doctors in the future. But for the present, they might significantly advance their knowledge of both science and faith by returning to their high school texts and rereading the chapter on parthenogenesis, which literally means virgin birth. In this process, female copperhead snakes, for example, are able to reproduce without any contact whatsoever with male copperheads. This phenomenon has also been observed in various reptiles, birds, sharks and is especially common in insects. Obviously, asexual reproduction in nature is not so uncommon after all. Are Christians foolish for believing the precepts of the Creed?
Foolish Muslims
Ramadan is a most sacred time for devote Muslims. Not unlike the three major elements in the Christian season of Lent, Muslims increase their practice of fasting, prayer and charity during this month. If onlookers would accuse the Christian observance of the Lenten 40 days as foolishness, they would most likely look askance at Ramadan as well. Are Christians and Muslims foolish for fasting, praying and being charitable toward others?
Foolish Jews
Kaparot is a Jewish ritual in which a chicken is lifted up and circulated around a person's head three times. The belief is that the person's sins are transferred to this other living being, which is then sacrificed and its body given to the poor as food for their nourishment. Frankly, I find it difficult to label such conviction as foolish since it appears to mirror the core confidence of Christianity so closely. Namely that Christ took upon himself our sins, sacrificed his life for our salvation and continues to nourish our souls in Communion. Are Christians and Jews foolish for believing that the price of sin can be ransomed through surrender and sacrifice or that the fruits of such an exchange can result in life-giving sustenance for others?
Foolish Mercy
Perhaps most foolish of all is any belief in the efficacy of mercy, human or divine. People may be tempted to shy away from showing mercy for fear of being hoodwinked. Brainpower and savvy are directly linked with our ability to perceive if someone is trying to trick us. If another's false appeal to emotion blinds our ability to reason, then we are being played for a fool. So to avoid manipulation some humans may decide it's best to show mercy sparingly or not at all.
However, there is no excuse for God. He has too much intelligence to be outsmarted by fallacies and too much integrity to be outwitted by lies. Nevertheless, God continues to show mercy, which leaves us with few conclusions. We can assume that in some mysterious way God is able to balance justice and mercy equally. Or we must admit that we have a Creator who is foolishly in love with his creatures and prefers to be forgiving rather than condemning. Is God's continuous mercy the height of foolishness or the unfathomable depths of love?
For Holy Homework: Preferably on April 1, but at least once on any day during this month, play a good April Fools' trick on a family member at home or on a colleague at work. The good part can be as simple as completing a chore that they normally do like mopping the kitchen floor or sorting the incoming mail. The trick part is not letting them know you did it as a favor for them.
Comments can be sent to: FatherBobPagliari@Yahoo.com
