Advent Thought 13 and Number 13

Was it because of the thirteenth and last god in the Viking pantheon? Maybe the number of times the Israelites are said to have murmured against God? That the Code of Hammurabi reportedly omitted a 13th law? Or perhaps the number of people at the last supper? There are all sorts of reasons why 13 is deemed unlucky, although I reckon the last one is unfair on the women who almost certainly  prepared the food.
Whatever, our first house after marriage was number 11 and the next door neighbours were numbers 9 and 15. Bryants the builders would not sell a number 13 in the 1970s. Don't know if they do today. Frankly I wouldn't have been bothered if we'd bought number 13 on Friday 13th and stapled a black cat and a sweep to the door.

In my imagination
There is no complication

Superstitions are determinative. You read your own bad luck back into the circumstances. You tend not to have easy power of recall over the many times you spilt the salt and nobody died.

We can even treat our prayers as if they were a superstition. 'I prayed about it and things still went wrong,' I heard someone say only this week.

So why not take a moment today to drift into your own Advent destiny, in control of the response to the circumstances, which may be lucky or unlucky. And trusting in a God who has a bigger picture. That ladder you need to walk under? Do it, rather than step into the road and risk being knocked down.

Trust me when I say, as a Christian minister, that any day you aren't crucified is your lucky day.

New for the Noughties 6

'Very superstitious' said Steve Wonder. 'Writing's on the wall.' And forgetting for the moment that it is wrong to write on walls and that is a problem to be solved by education not mumbo-jumbo, how do superstitions begin?

The song goes on, 'Ladder's 'bout to fall.' Which may be a good reason not to walk under it or an alarming lack of health and safety awareness by the wall-writer. Whatever. Presumably, once upon a time, someone had a stroke of good fortune whilst pulling a rabbit's foot from out of a sweep's black cat and the rest is mystery.

Today I found three Royal Mail elastic bands on the floor and had the good luck not to fall on a treacherous journey to the shops and back. It is only relatively recently that Royal Mail operatives have taken to saving us all the necessity ever to purchase a rubber band again which is what is new for the noughties by the way; tentative link I agree. I feel that I should honour this with a new superstition. Since we never see magpies any more then a Magpie-like (it was a short-lived TV programme rivalling Blue Peter) rhyme based on red bands is apposite:

One for enthusiasm
Two for pluck
Three for passion and
Four for good luck
Five for sarcasm
Six for cant
Seven for having a bit of a rant
Eight's for courtesy
Nine is rude
Ten is bingo oh don't be a prude

E la la lastic band
E la la lastic band

Let me know if it works.

Unlucky

All the check-outs seem pretty busy at the supermarket? Have a look at number 13. The queue may be shorter. Likewise gym locker 13 is one of the last to go even though it is in a prime site near the TV.

If the ladder covers the whole of the pavement walk under it rather than stepping into the road. Being splashed by window cleaner's water is marginally less bad than being knocked down by a truck. D'yer get me? What do you mean they're called transparent wall maintenance engineers now? That joke wasn't funny in 1985.

Still you survived. I'm glad. The sixth of the sixth o six came and went. I had a good day. You? There'll be the seventh of the seventh o seven along next year and that should be such a perfect day.

Anyway a line from the music of my youth pops into my head so I don't see why I shouldn't annoy you with it too. Unlucky.

'666 is no longer alone
He's getting out the marrow in your back bone
And the 7 trumpets blowing sweet rock and roll
Gonna blow right down inside your soul.'
(Genesis, Supper's Ready from Foxtrot 1973)

Didn't really know what it meant then, which was probably the whole point of sixth form prog rock, and I still don't know what it means now but if I can find it I may play it later.

Have a good June 7th. Don't be complacent now the bad day's gone. Look out for the scythe wielding maniac in aisle 13.