Saint Patrick's Day is coming up. I love green so of course I celebrate this holiday! You always hear the phrase "Luck of the Irish" around this time. I don't really know what it's referring to. Are the Irish luckier than us? I'm sure there is a story around that and I should probably Google it.
Anyway, I happen to be listening to a book right now that takes place in Ireland. It's called Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy. It's a series of fictional stories of the people who are somehow associated with the town of Rossmore. Near Rossmore, in Whitehorn Woods, is a cave with a well. A statue of Saint Ann had been put there and thus it came known as St. Ann's Well. People believed that you could go petition St. Ann for your needs and she would meet them. Many of the needs center around wanting to be married or infertility or sickness. Most of the people in the stories say they don't believe in it, but it couldn't hurt to try. Some of them believe in it enough that they travel great distances to go there and present their petitions. The priest, Father Flynn, is concerned about it all but is too fearful to mention to his parishioners that this is a form of idolatry. Until he said that, I hadn't really connected it. But he's right.
The audio book I listened to right before this one was called The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. It was about a soldier who happened on a photograph of a girl. His friend told him the photograph would bring him luck. When the man survived three tours in Iraq and a fishing accident, he began to truly believe the photograph had power. All of the people in the story end up putting their trust in this photograph by the end, even though they question it and think it sounds crazy.
Why is it so easy for people to put their trust in a statue or a photograph and not in God? Do we have difficulty putting our trust in God because we think He fails us some? We trust our car to get us places and to start in the morning. When it doesn't, we take it to the mechanic. If it does it a few more times, we give up on it and get a new car. If a "lucky charm" didn't bring us luck, we would toss it and seek out something new. I think that's what we've done with God. Things don't go the way we think they should and we blame God. If it happens a few times, many people search out something else. I don't even think they try to take God to the mechanic or work it out.
But God isn't a lucky charm. I have a friend at church who refuses to say the word "luck," because he doesn't believe in it. He says there isn't luck; there is only God. Hebrews says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." My faith is one that realizes I'm not God. I don't always understand God. I do know that His love for us is so deep that He allows us the freedom of choices. And we don't always choose wisely. Some people refer to the consequences of our bad choices as "bad luck." No. I don't think I believe in luck either. I place my trust in God who lets me learn from my mistakes and always welcomes me with open arms when I mess up which unfortunately is often. I don't want the luck of the Irish. They can have it. I have God.
Anyway, I happen to be listening to a book right now that takes place in Ireland. It's called Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy. It's a series of fictional stories of the people who are somehow associated with the town of Rossmore. Near Rossmore, in Whitehorn Woods, is a cave with a well. A statue of Saint Ann had been put there and thus it came known as St. Ann's Well. People believed that you could go petition St. Ann for your needs and she would meet them. Many of the needs center around wanting to be married or infertility or sickness. Most of the people in the stories say they don't believe in it, but it couldn't hurt to try. Some of them believe in it enough that they travel great distances to go there and present their petitions. The priest, Father Flynn, is concerned about it all but is too fearful to mention to his parishioners that this is a form of idolatry. Until he said that, I hadn't really connected it. But he's right.
The audio book I listened to right before this one was called The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. It was about a soldier who happened on a photograph of a girl. His friend told him the photograph would bring him luck. When the man survived three tours in Iraq and a fishing accident, he began to truly believe the photograph had power. All of the people in the story end up putting their trust in this photograph by the end, even though they question it and think it sounds crazy.
Why is it so easy for people to put their trust in a statue or a photograph and not in God? Do we have difficulty putting our trust in God because we think He fails us some? We trust our car to get us places and to start in the morning. When it doesn't, we take it to the mechanic. If it does it a few more times, we give up on it and get a new car. If a "lucky charm" didn't bring us luck, we would toss it and seek out something new. I think that's what we've done with God. Things don't go the way we think they should and we blame God. If it happens a few times, many people search out something else. I don't even think they try to take God to the mechanic or work it out.
But God isn't a lucky charm. I have a friend at church who refuses to say the word "luck," because he doesn't believe in it. He says there isn't luck; there is only God. Hebrews says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." My faith is one that realizes I'm not God. I don't always understand God. I do know that His love for us is so deep that He allows us the freedom of choices. And we don't always choose wisely. Some people refer to the consequences of our bad choices as "bad luck." No. I don't think I believe in luck either. I place my trust in God who lets me learn from my mistakes and always welcomes me with open arms when I mess up which unfortunately is often. I don't want the luck of the Irish. They can have it. I have God.