🎵 What a Fool Believes ♪♪

Field Note: A Note for April First

April the First is almost here—and I love it. Always have.

Somewhere between spaghetti trees and Big Ben going digital, there's something enduringly whimsical about April Fool's Day. We laugh, we groan, we fall for it. And if we're honest, we kind of like being tricked (think magic shows!)… just a little. And we certainly love pulling one over on someone else.

As a kid growing up, let me confirm: Oreos with toothpaste as the creamy centre? Look exactly like the real thing. Just ask my siblings.

As a teacher and youth minister, I've seen enough April First antics to know: there's nothing new under the sun—just old pranks, repackaged with fresh enthusiasm. And maybe that's part of the charm.

We've all heard of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds. Classic. But a few others rank right up there. In 1957, BBC viewers tuned in to a report showing a Swiss family harvesting spaghetti from trees. Happy villagers smiled as they plucked long, delicate strands from branches. Richard Dimbleby, a trusted broadcaster, explained that the crop was thriving thanks to the defeat of the "spaghetti weevil." Viewers bought it—literally. They rang in, asking how to grow their own spaghetti trees.

Then, in 1980, the BBC's overseas service announced that Big Ben was being modernised—fully digital and rebranded as Digital Dave. Outrage followed. Some listeners were genuinely distressed. One Japanese sailor, mid-Atlantic, even radioed in, hoping to claim one of the clock hands being offered to the first callers.

We fall for things. All of us do.

But here's the thing: gullibility and trust can look the same at first glance. One is passive—being duped. The other is a kind of open-heartedness. A willingness to believe. A posture of faith.

Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 3:18:

"If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise."

It's counterintuitive. But it tracks with the way of Jesus: loving enemies, forgiving freely, walking by faith, not sight. The world calls it foolish.

But maybe that's where wisdom begins.

So if April the First rolls around and you find yourself chuckling at a harmless prank—or wondering how anyone could fall for a spaghetti tree—take a breath. And remember:

Life doesn't always need to be serious to be sacred.

Sometimes, the best kind of fool… is the one who still believes.