April Fools

I could say that April is finally here, but that would be a misstatement of sorts. I actually do not know where January, February, and March went. Just a couple of days ago, it seems, I was taking down the Christmas tree. I guess it has actually been more like 3 months. My brother Don was home from Germany, but we did not get to spend much time together, since Tim had fallen and hurt himself, and flu was going around, and I had just had half of my thyroid cut out.

Now, April has rolled around, and Don will be back in seven days for his twin's wedding. It is always good to see him. He owes me a tiramisu!

On first glance, my blog today might appear to have a punctuation error in it, but it does not.

All kinds of people will be screaming "April Fool's" today. I guess I am sensitive to the word "fool" today because it seems like, lately, that I have seen a lot of foolish behavior coming out of mankind, both within my "inner circle" and out in the world.

Merriam-Webster's defines a fool as "a person lacking in judgment or prudence; a harmlessly deranged person or one lacking in common powers of understanding." Sometimes we all feel like we are surrounded by fools. Some of the hype coming out of the mouths of people during this whole Schiavo ordeal has proven that fools do indeed exist.

I love the proverbs in the Bible. They tell us so much about practical living, and I just love to get down to the "nitty gritty" of a matter--no "fooling around." I have loved reading the proverbs about fools through the years, when I get discouraged with people in my town, people in the religious world, ex-husbands, school officials, customers, bosses, family and friends...you-name-it. Sometimes I read them just to remind myself not to be foolish.

These are some of my favorites verses about fools in the Bible:

Proverbs 12:15--The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise.

Proverbs 14:16 --A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident.

Proverbs 17:21 --He who begets a scoffer does so to his sorrow, And the father of a fool has no joy.

Proverbs 26:4--Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him.

Proverbs 26:5--Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.


There are also many other admonitions in the Bible about foolish people. The Bible speaks of the foolish virgins, the foolish builder, and the rich fool. (Matthew 7:24-27; Luke 6:47-49, Luke 12:16-21, Matthew 25:1-13) The story of the foolish virgins represents people who do not have their affairs in order when the Lord comes. They miss going to the wedding feast (symbolic of heaven.) The foolish man built his house upon sand instead of on the foundation of rock. We all know from children's class what happened to the foolish man's house! SPLAT! This, of course, speaks to building our faith on the right foundation--Jesus Christ! The rich fool was the man who had plenty of barns, but he decided he would tear them down for no good reason and build bigger barns to house his "stuff." The Lord sat up in heaven looking down at this fool and declared that He would "require his soul that night." The moral of that story is that "stuff" is not where it's at, and we had better not let "things" take precidence over our relationship with God and with other people. It saddens me that most people in our day are just focused on "stuff" and not on their relationships. The only thing they care about is having a nice house, nice cars, and plenty of other "toys," but they don't care a bit about making and holding on to good relationships with their mates, their families, or their brethren.

I was doing some research for a project and came across a good quote by Oprah. While I don't think she has her life entirely together in all aspects, she does seem to have a lot of common sense. I wish I had heard these words and believed them 25 years ago. It would have saved me a lot of hurt from the fools in this world:

"When people show you who they are, believe them, the first time. Not the 29th time! That is particularly good when it comes to men situations because when he doesn't call back the first time, when you are mistreated the first time, when you see someone who shows you a lack of integrity or dishonesty the first time, know that that will be followed by many, many, many other times that will at some point in life come back to haunt or hurt you. When people show you who they are, believe them, the first time. Live your life from truth and you will survive everything, everything, I believe even death. You will survive everything if you can live your life from the point of view of truth." --Oprah

As I get older, I am slowly learning the lesson. It is nigh to impossible to change a fool. I really believe that only God can do that. God is the giver of wisdom, and we are told to pray for wisdom when we need it. I hope that if I can teach my children anything before I send them out into the world that it will be to stay away from foolish people and to pray for wisdom in making the many choices that they will make. If they can just do this, they will be spared from a lot of the hurt I have experienced in my life.

Truth, light, love, a firm foundation, and preparedness----I am convinced, like Oprah, that therein lies the key to success and happiness. Have a blessed April!