Always After my Lucky Charms!

 

photo source

"Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember, it didn't work for the rabbit." ~ R.E. Shay, humorist

☘  Can one have "the luck of the Irish" if one isn't Irish?  I don't think I have a bit of Irish in me except I love, love, love sticky toffee pudding that I ate in Ireland so much that I launched a self-founded expedition to order it in every pub since then to compare & contrast (go 8th grade language arts!).  Also, I don't hate Irish coffee.  And I just discovered the goodness of mint Oreos, which I am positive were invented by an Emerald Isle baker.  Irish soda bread is completely lovely.  Let's not forget our fondness for feisty Maureen O'Hara, Liam Neeson, Pierce Brosnan & Bono.

So does this mean good luck is only pre-destined for the Irish?  I mean, I feel like the potato famine wasn't lucky.  And did you read Angela's Ashes?  Never have I been more depressed about a people group as a whole.  I remember 8th grade history where we learned about tarring and feathering - and for me to remember anything about 8th grade history tells you how atrocious it was.  

☘  Good news!  It's your lucky day - I'm here to tell you no.  But with one disclaimer - I don't actually believe in luck.  It's so unpredictable and you really can't count on it at all.  Look at the lyrics to Danny Boy (click on the title to hear it as you read it-the Irish Tenors are amazing), a song about a parent awaiting their son's return from war (possibly during the 800 or so years they fought England)-

🎵 Danny Boy  🎵

Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling

From glen to glen, and down the mountain side.

The summer's gone, and all the roses falling,

It's you, it's you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,

Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,

It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow,

Oh, Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so!

But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,

If I am dead, as dead I well may be,

You'll come and find the place where I am lying,

And kneel and say an Ave there for me.

And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,

And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be,

For you will bend and tell me that you love me,

And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me!  😭

I have lived long enough to not want to count on something so unreliable and fickle.  No thank you, I put my faith in my omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (present everywhere at the same time), omniscient (all-knowing), and omnibenevolent (all-loving) heavenly Father.  

☘  When we are loved as  much as we are by God, there's no room to leave anything up to random chance.  He was so purposeful in creating us & defining who we are to Him:

We are the apple of His eye  

(Deut 32:10, Psalm 17:8, Zechariah 2:8, Prov 7:2)

He thinks of us all the time

(Psalm 139:17-18, Psalm 40:5, Matt 10:29-31)

He set us apart before we were born

(Jeremiah 1:5, Ephesians 2:10)

We are precious to Him

(Isaiah 43:4, Daniel 10:19)

We can't be snatched out of His hands

(Isaiah 49:2 & 16, John 10:29)

He keeps track of our sorrows & collects our tears in a bottle

(Psalm 56: 8)

☘  Does it make any kind of sense that our Creator deems us so worthy that He would let our lives go on without Him, unguided and unintentional?

He works out His plan for my life

( Psalm 138:8, Jeremiah 29:11)

His good plan prospers & is for our good

(Isaiah 53:10, Romans 8:28)

What man meant for evil He uses for good

(Genesis 50:20, Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:23)

☘  So, to conclude my essay (as my 8th grade language arts teacher would want), it turns out that our "good luck charm" has nothing to do with luck, but everything to do with a Heavenly Father who loves and adores us and has started a good work in each one & has a commitment to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.  

There is nothing left to chance.

☘☘☘☘☘☘☘☘☘

As a side note, here are some famous Irish superstitions (thanks to the Farmers Almanac):

    ☘  Refer to fairies or leprechauns as "the good people" or they will prank you.

    ☘  The saying "Are your ears burning?" means if people are talking about you & your left ear 

            is burning they are saying nice things about you; if your right ear burns it's not so nice.

    ☘  If your husband or wife is leaving throw a boot after them as they go & you'll live together 

           forever.

☘☘☘☘☘☘☘☘☘

✙ Our Loving Father, we humbly come before You with gratitude that You are so wanting us to depend on You - You are such a Good, Good Father to us.  Thank You for ordering our steps, for going before us, behind us and alongside us.  Mostly, thank You for not leaving us to ourselves.  We desire to sit at Your feet and know You.  Amen.