I hope you don’t have a case of paraskevidekatriaphobia. That is the irrational fear some people evidently have of today-- Friday the 13th. Some people are so convinced that this is a day of extreme bad luck that they stay home where it’s safe. Of course, the majority of accidents happen at home, so staying home may be the most unlucky place to be. Why is Friday the 13th unlucky? No one knows. Some connect it to the death of Christ on Friday after there were 13 people present at the Last Supper... but that is a stretch. The DaVinci Code says the Knights Templar were betrayed and killed on Friday the 13th (Dan Brown is so careful with history that there must be something to that... not!) The truth is, there are no historical references to Friday the 13th as unlucky or sinister until the 19th century, so it is a thoroughly modern superstition. And it is likely that references to Friday the 13 in 20th-century books, movies and even TV have created the superstition.
My grandmother was superstitious about a number of things. When we moved her from
Have a great day today. And don't be lucky... be faithful!
3 comments:
Luck has been defined as success or failure apparently brought by chance. I believe it is foolish to stay home on Friday 13 because some say it is “unlucky” and those who say it is unlucky are unfaithfully foolish. That said, moving a broom to your new house means moving the dirt and dust from your old house to your new house (while calling it unlucky maybe a misuse of the word) I can see how that might be a distasteful carrying the dirt with you to your new place that is. I believe it is wise to leave the broom behind and start anew. Knocking on wood to emphasis a point is ok and throwing salt over you shoulder could temporally blind the person behind you and doing it on a regular basis will keep people from sneaking up on you but it has nothing to do with luck. It is just silly. Have faith, leave the supernatural to God who created it all for a reason. When we imagine things and start such superstitions and carry them on from generation to generation we are doing wrong. Let’s leave that broom behind with all it’s dirt and move on with a lighter heart.
True story. . . my present wife and our child went shopping at the “Christmas Mouse” in Williamsburg on Fri. 13th, they purchased a Virginia Tech freezer cup that cost a total of 13 dollars and 13 cents, the time on the register was 13 hundred hours. Am I superstitious? HE--, NO! Wow, what a coin incident, so much so I almost didn’t mention it because. . . who would believe it! I am looking at the recite, It wasn’t plained that way. . . it was just “luck?”. I will not hesitate to drink from that cup. . . after I have washed it from the inside out. (I was more than “lucky” to have meet such a wonderfully beautiful Christian woman who has loved and honored me in sickness and health during poverty and wealth. We are blessed to have such a good child and good friends. We have been showered with true blessings that no coinage can buy and “luck” has nothing to do with that. “Good” or “bad”. . . “luck?” there is no such thing. In the long run all things really do work for the good of those who love the Lord. Job did not have “bad luck” but he did have real faith and he never lost it even when his friends and family had no faith in him nor for him. In the end Job was restored and those who keep faith through the "bad times" can know this, that they can hold their heads high and look toward heaven were they will find their incorruptible treasures pilled up.
No matter how complex life becomes, it still comes down to the basic choice. Will we place our confidence in the All-Powerful, Supreme Being and Sole Authority of the Universe or will we place greater confidence in ourselves? Although the choice is black-or-white basic, God knows it’s not simple. But God, in his Holy Word, consistently sends the message, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” Our abilities, our resources – even a belief in the myth of luck – will not be what strengthens us for the journey. Our God whispers, in that still small voice, that he wants us to develop confidence in him and not in what we see or feel. Faith means we believe the truth. When we act in faith, we proclaim our belief in God, that he exists and that he cares about us. We need to continue to ask God to “help our unbelief” so we will learn to live by faith and not by sight, then we will become certain of what we hope for and sure of God, even when we can not see how he’s at work in our current circumstances. (Hebrews 11:1)
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