Very Superstitious (While Trying Not to be Wry)
Very superstitious, writing's on the wall
Very superstitious, ladder's 'bout to fall...
When you believe in things that you don't understand
Then you suffer
Superstition ain't the way
--Stevie Wonder, Superstition
I would be cocky if I said my 2008 started in early December, but it kind of felt that way.
We’ll just officially say that it started with a text from my co-worker the afternoon of Dec. 31:
(paraphrasing, of course) “Make sure you’re not at work when midnight hits, lol! Walk down the street or something.”
I laughed at first, but when I sat down and thought about it, I realized that she was right.
11:44 hit, and I made some serious moves toward the door and to my car … getting away from work as fast as I could … and thought about how many times I’d gone to the car in 2007 and driven … aimlessly.
Driven – with no purpose. Couldn’t bring in 2008 like that, could I?
First thing I did was pop in a CD from my church about how people celebrate Christmas (an event that’s already passed) but don’t acknowledge the upcoming return of Jesus. Valid points, and normally I’d be at a watch night service…
(Some background info about Watch Night. I’ve always been down with wanting to spend my New Year’s Day in church; I’m not a drinker, smoker, clubber, etc., and it’s always made more sense to start the New Year off in church. At the same time, I had a small fear as a youth that Jesus was going to come back at midnight and that I wouldn’t have done enough to be raptured up. The thoughts of kids, I tell you…)
… and I was on my way there, but I wanted to surround myself with all of the themes that I wanted to be commonplace in 2008. So the first place I stopped was my childhood home.
Dad and kid brother were asleep, but I woke them up to tell them ‘Happy New Year!’ and went looking for younger brother.
He was out with his friends, so I made my way to Watch Night Service and wished folks there a Happy New Year.
Felt good, and truth be told, in 2008, I want to 1) be around family more, 2) not be at work, 3) doing more free writing, and 4) focused on my relationship with Christ.
I did all of those things early on, sans eating collards/black eye peas and not washing clothes on Jan. 1.
There’s just one little thing about trying to ignore superstition and acknowledge the truth:
Once you know the truth, how do you keep from being cynical?
I don’t want to focus on the truth so much as I want to focus on what’s on my mind:
Old folks’ superstitions likely came to fruition because they WORKED SO HARD to advance themselves. Our parents and grandparents were truly overachievers. Conversely, our generation (not necessarily you, but the collective, focus!) has rested on the laurels of our successors’ successes and underachieved. I definitely feel like there’s more I can do.
That being said, it’s a New Year, and we all want change----buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Yes. Change. It’s why Obama won the Iowa caucus, right? It’s why African-Americans are going to vote in droves in November, right? It’s why you, yes, you, are more concerned with the political process than you’ve ever been!
Yet, here’s a question that was posed to readers of a column on ESPN.com:
Suppose God appeared in a glowing cloud and said, "You either may have indefinite continuation of existing social and economic trends or you may have change, but I make no promises about what type of change" -- which option would you select?
Uh oh, I said I wasn’t going to be wry.
The truth is – your perception is your reality just like my perception is my reality. And I perceive that whomever should become President in 2009 will inherit a bona fide mess, and he/she won’t be able to clean that mess up by themselves. (Remember this when someone/something's made out to be a scapegoat in the next few years.)
Yeah, yeah, you know, you know. But you know what we don’t know? We don’t know how this person poses to inspire you and I to not be cynical, to inspire us that real change can occur.
Not only that, but inspire us to believe that American life is about more than gas prices, atrocious media coverage and being looked down upon by other countries because of our arrogance.
Uh oh, I said I wasn’t going to be wry.
What I want is a candidate that acknowledges our present, and acknowledges that we are in dire times. I want that same candidate to promote improvement within everyone in this country and make it so that our turnaround involves a renewing of the mind, something like the renewing that occurs in Ephesians 4:23 … because America was founded as one nation under God, true? (not an ounce of cynicism here.)
Because I’m tired of living with the lesser of two evils, I’m tired of debating whether I should fill up my tank with $2.99/gal gas or wait for the possibility that gas might drop five cents this week b/c there’s a glimmer of peace in the Middle East.
I want things to cha-- screw that. Right now, I’m working on…
Working.
Very superstitious, ladder's 'bout to fall...
When you believe in things that you don't understand
Then you suffer
Superstition ain't the way
--Stevie Wonder, Superstition
I would be cocky if I said my 2008 started in early December, but it kind of felt that way.
We’ll just officially say that it started with a text from my co-worker the afternoon of Dec. 31:
(paraphrasing, of course) “Make sure you’re not at work when midnight hits, lol! Walk down the street or something.”
I laughed at first, but when I sat down and thought about it, I realized that she was right.
11:44 hit, and I made some serious moves toward the door and to my car … getting away from work as fast as I could … and thought about how many times I’d gone to the car in 2007 and driven … aimlessly.
Driven – with no purpose. Couldn’t bring in 2008 like that, could I?
First thing I did was pop in a CD from my church about how people celebrate Christmas (an event that’s already passed) but don’t acknowledge the upcoming return of Jesus. Valid points, and normally I’d be at a watch night service…
(Some background info about Watch Night. I’ve always been down with wanting to spend my New Year’s Day in church; I’m not a drinker, smoker, clubber, etc., and it’s always made more sense to start the New Year off in church. At the same time, I had a small fear as a youth that Jesus was going to come back at midnight and that I wouldn’t have done enough to be raptured up. The thoughts of kids, I tell you…)
… and I was on my way there, but I wanted to surround myself with all of the themes that I wanted to be commonplace in 2008. So the first place I stopped was my childhood home.
Dad and kid brother were asleep, but I woke them up to tell them ‘Happy New Year!’ and went looking for younger brother.
He was out with his friends, so I made my way to Watch Night Service and wished folks there a Happy New Year.
Felt good, and truth be told, in 2008, I want to 1) be around family more, 2) not be at work, 3) doing more free writing, and 4) focused on my relationship with Christ.
I did all of those things early on, sans eating collards/black eye peas and not washing clothes on Jan. 1.
There’s just one little thing about trying to ignore superstition and acknowledge the truth:
Once you know the truth, how do you keep from being cynical?
I don’t want to focus on the truth so much as I want to focus on what’s on my mind:
Old folks’ superstitions likely came to fruition because they WORKED SO HARD to advance themselves. Our parents and grandparents were truly overachievers. Conversely, our generation (not necessarily you, but the collective, focus!) has rested on the laurels of our successors’ successes and underachieved. I definitely feel like there’s more I can do.
That being said, it’s a New Year, and we all want change----buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Yes. Change. It’s why Obama won the Iowa caucus, right? It’s why African-Americans are going to vote in droves in November, right? It’s why you, yes, you, are more concerned with the political process than you’ve ever been!
Yet, here’s a question that was posed to readers of a column on ESPN.com:
Suppose God appeared in a glowing cloud and said, "You either may have indefinite continuation of existing social and economic trends or you may have change, but I make no promises about what type of change" -- which option would you select?
Uh oh, I said I wasn’t going to be wry.
The truth is – your perception is your reality just like my perception is my reality. And I perceive that whomever should become President in 2009 will inherit a bona fide mess, and he/she won’t be able to clean that mess up by themselves. (Remember this when someone/something's made out to be a scapegoat in the next few years.)
Yeah, yeah, you know, you know. But you know what we don’t know? We don’t know how this person poses to inspire you and I to not be cynical, to inspire us that real change can occur.
Not only that, but inspire us to believe that American life is about more than gas prices, atrocious media coverage and being looked down upon by other countries because of our arrogance.
Uh oh, I said I wasn’t going to be wry.
What I want is a candidate that acknowledges our present, and acknowledges that we are in dire times. I want that same candidate to promote improvement within everyone in this country and make it so that our turnaround involves a renewing of the mind, something like the renewing that occurs in Ephesians 4:23 … because America was founded as one nation under God, true? (not an ounce of cynicism here.)
Because I’m tired of living with the lesser of two evils, I’m tired of debating whether I should fill up my tank with $2.99/gal gas or wait for the possibility that gas might drop five cents this week b/c there’s a glimmer of peace in the Middle East.
I want things to cha-- screw that. Right now, I’m working on…
Working.
posted by The Good Doctor at 3:54 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home