Posted on by Lori Cartmell

Fooled You, Satan!

Image by Marco Verch on Flickr

What is the best April Fool’s prank in history?

Many believe that a BBC TV hoax from over 60 years ago takes the cake.

In 1957 the news show Panorama reported that, thanks to a mild winter in Switzerland, the dreaded spaghetti weevil had been eradicated. As a result, Swiss farmers had enjoyed a bumper crop of spaghetti. The programme showed farmers carefully plucking strands of spaghetti from trees.

Scores of viewers fell for the prank, calling the BBC and asking how they could grow a spaghetti tree themselves. They were advised to “place a spring of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”

There must be something in the water at the BBC, because in 1980 their pranksters were at it again. On April Fool’s Day they announced that Big Ben, London’s iconic clock tower, would become digital and henceforth be known as Digital Dave. This “news” produced a flood of irate calls to the station.

Other European countries are no slouches at April Fool’s pranks either.

In 1969 the Netherlands’ public broadcaster announced that government inspectors would be roving the streets armed with remote scanners, detecting people who had not paid their TV/radio tax. It was suggested that the only way to stymie the scanners was to wrap the TV or radio in aluminum foil. The next day, all the supermarkets were sold out of foil, and suddenly a flood of TV/radio taxes were being paid.

These probably rate as some of the best wide-scale practical jokes ever.

But with Easter Monday falling on April Fool’s Day this year, it got me thinking of an ever greater example of someone being outwitted.

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

They Walked Away Winners

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

What would cause you to walk away from your greatest success?

It would have to be something pretty compelling, wouldn’t it?

Because people don’t normally throw in the towel when they’ve just achieved something unimaginable, when their wildest dreams have just come true.

If your business has finally had a banner year, you’d want to build on that and grow the company even bigger, not turn your back on it.

If you’ve just won several awards for achievements in your field, that’s probably not the time you’d suddenly want to quit.

So why would someone abandon it all right after a sensational triumph?

If they’d discovered something infinitely more valuable and worthwhile.

That’s how it was for three fishermen named Peter, James, and John.

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

Ultimate Victory Is Coming

Pont de la Concorde, Paris. Image by David Mark from Pixabay

If you’ve ever been to Paris, you’ll know that many of its bridges have a story to tell.

The Pont de la Concorde is no exception.

This stone-arch bridge across the River Seine connects the Place de la Concorde with the National Assembly.

Construction of the bridge started during the late 1700s and continued even during the turmoil of the French Revolution. It was completed in 1791.

Interestingly, some of the stones used for the Pont de la Concorde were sourced from the rubble of the demolished Bastille prison. The bridge’s architect, Rudolph Perronet, said this was “so that the people could forever trample the old fortress.”

Today you can traverse this bridge and trample under your own feet the stones from the once-feared stronghold which imprisoned so many.

It’s a satisfying feeling to show your contempt for something vile by actually stomping on it, isn’t it?

Scripture tells us that Jesus will do something similar:

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