Jack’s Winning Words 8/13/21

“I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.”  (Michael Scott)  Does it bother you that today is Friday, the 13^th?  How about walking under a ladder?  I do so if somebody’s up there holding a paint can.  Do you say “Bless you!” when someone sneezes?  “Knocking  on wood” originated with the idea that the gods lived in trees, and it would be good to get their attention.  The root meaning of “superstitious” is fear of the gods.  {n the midst of a storm, Jesus said to the disciples, “Fear not; I am with you.”  I’m not stitious (plain or super), because God is always with me.  Remember the words of Jesus during troublesome times: “Fear not; I am with you.”  ;-)  Jack

FROM MAGPIE:  Good morning, Jack. I was born on a Friday the 13th. My mom, Eileen, and I would celebrate together on any Friday the 13th. It was fun when my birthday landed on a Friday. Stay well.===JACK:  I wonder if the Lord's Supper was on Friday, the 13th?  Oops!  The Gregorian Calendar had not yet been invented...but there 13 at the table, according to daVinci.  Your birth date hasn't seemed to affect your luck, one way or another.

FROM THE CAT: I was born on a Friday the 13th so consider it a lucky day! ===JACK:  It was lucky for the world, too...especially for JCC.

FROM SHARKLER:  Good words to live by. Fear not. I am with you! Love this. I think we learned the habits of knocking on wood and a Bless you after a sneeze as a kid and we just keep doing it. Ha!  But Friday the 13th always gives me the “Willies” ha!===JACK:  "The Willies......."  I haven't heard that in a long time.  I'll have to look up the source.

FROM SALON SUZY:  Like this one today!===JACK:  I, too, liked it...especially the word, stitious, when it's attached to "super."

FROM JU IN NC:  What a wonderful reminder. ===JACK:  Did you ever have superstitions while growing up...or even today?===JU:  Never that I can recall.  My family life always helped me trust in reality.===JACK:  I wonder if that wasn't a characteristic of people who lived "off of the land" and had a basic trust in God? 

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  13 is a lucky number, especially for women.===JACK:  Enlighten me....Why is 13 lucky for women?  Because there were only 13 males (no females) at the Last Supper?

FROM HOMELESS:  This was our mantra one summer at the lake cabin. (The O girls and my two boys had been at Vacation Bible school with Gramdma. "Fear not; I am with you" was the theme for that summer's camp. We all used this Bible quote when we were on the inner tube being whipped around the lake by Uncle R,. Good memories.===JACK:  It brings to mind, little Siggy in the movie, What About Bob?  

FROM 'MAD' SCIENTIST:  Been talking to my kiddo about superstitions. I said I sometimes find myself doing superstitious things, but that I know better. Funny I didn’t even recognize today as Friday the 13 until I was leaving work and heard it said on the radio. Now it’s on my mind… and in conflict with my rational self. Ha ===JACK:  As I stop and rhink.....I don't know of any personal superstitions,

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  13 has always been a lucky number for me.  i don't want to jinx anything, but it has been good to me in the past. ha!===JACK:  The origin of the word, jinx, refers to putting a "spell" on someone.===LIZ:  i listen to father simon on relevant radio (catholic) in car when i flip stations and he's on. he is an old school latin and greek student, and translations can be very different when you know the word origins.