Friday the 13th

My son Jake was born on a Friday the 13th so I don't get real excited about the terror of the day anymore although maybe I should.

The movie 2012 is about to be released and it talks about the end of the world in one fell swoop. There are actually people out there who've sold everything they owned in preparation for such a day. They seem to be idiots to me.

Yet we are just a couple of weeks past Halloween too and this morning I read a story about John Wetteland, the relief pitcher from the 1996 27-TIME WORLD CHAMPION NEW YORK YANKEES, and he had to be rushed to the hospital. A quote in the story said that Wetteland had always battled demons.

And that's the sort of thing that caught my eye.

Who isn't battling demons of sorts?

Aren't we all sort of in that fight on a day-to-day basis? Whether they are demons that result from reliving a prior tragedy, or demons that show themselves through the face of addiction, or just demons that come as the part of the original sin package, there are certainly demons that exist in our own mind that need to be battled back.

Isn't that the eternal struggle? Doesn't it all boil down to good versus evil?

I'm fond of saying that no one gets through unscathed, but to blame it all on demons seems as silly to me as saying that we are not in control of our own destiny. Obviously we don't have ultimate control, but action is required, right?

I've heard of people who speak of giving up complete control in their lives and make decisions on what they believe God tells them to do. I'm thinking of those who do not believe in treating illness because God will provide.

That won't quite work, right?

I'm not trying to get too philisophical this morning, but saying that you were captured by demons feels to be a cop-out of sorts. Just as saying that God will provide when you don't sort of force the action in one way or another.

I knew a woman a few years ago who owed me rent money but was a few hundred dollars shy. She softly told me that she was flat broke with no chance of earning anything more that month. She was sitting on the couch eating a take-out breakfast that she had delivered, and when I pressed her a bit she pointed to the crucifix hanging high on her wall.

"He will provide an answer," she said as she blessed herself with pieces of egg rolling down her chin.

"Yeah, well where is His checkbook?" I asked, "because I need the money you owe me."

She laughed and shook me off as though I were completely in the dark.

"He is in control," she whispered.

I never did get that money.

Now that's not to say that there is no guiding hand in all of this, but believing that every day living will be handled by a higher power without you so much as getting off the couch is crazy talk. So is blaming your problems on demons.

I'm just saying.

Friday the 13th is all just a bunch of crap, right?

Comments

CorLeone said…
Point one: We were given free will as a gift and God will guide us and help us with that gift. Some seem to............aw, forget it........
Point two: When my Godson came into the world on that day I thank God at 3:03 in the afternoon, every Friday the 13th and my LUCKY stars, too!
"Struggling with demons" is such an idiotic phrase because it is used so carelessly. I agree with you though, everyone has something to get through but believing in God blindly, without making the effort to move forward is laziness. As Cor began, we all have free will - that means we get off our asses and work, speak, and believe... yet, ignorance is bliss so I can see why egg face relied on the hanging crucifix... an easy out, no?

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