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In Norse myth the story is told of 12 gods that
had a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. The meal was interrupted
by the arrival of an uninvited 13th guest, Loki the god of mischief.
Loki tricked Hoder, the blind god of darkness, into shooting Balder
the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped
arrow. Mistletoe was the only plant that had not sworn never to harm
Balder.
Balder died and the whole Earth got dark and the whole Earth mourned.
From that moment on the number 13 has been considered ominous and foreboding.
Friday has also been considered unlucky, some say because it was the
day of our Lord's crucifixion. It is also said that Adam and Eve ate
the forbidden fruit on a Friday, and died on a Friday (There is no biblical
proof for this idea). It was in the nineteenth century that both the
number and the day were combined to create the superstition we have
today.
A fear of Friday 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia. A phobia is
an irrational, persistent fear of certain situations, objects, activities,
or persons. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonable
desire to avoid the feared subject. Last Friday there will have been
those who suffer so from this phobia that they failed to get out of
bed, refused to travel any distance, take a flight or make a decision
and generally hid from the world.
What people believe, however irrational it may seem in the cold light
of day, shapes their lives. When people who appear to have no faith
wonder why some think it so important to address issues of faith it
is for this very reason. People invest themselves into what they believe.
It influences their decisions and, consciously or not, rational or otherwise,
thought through or instinctive, our beliefs, religious or secular, make
us what we are to ourselves and to others.
What we believe determines how we experience life. People with irrational
fears, or phobias, can be so affected by their fears that they develop
anxiety disorders and need treatment. What do you believe?
In his gospel John tells us:
These are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you
may have life in his name (John 20:31)
In his first letter John was anxious to show that this belief was no
mere superstition but rooted in real events:
That which was from the beginning, which
we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked
at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim to you concerning the
Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it…
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard…
While irrational fears lead to anxiety John writes:
We proclaim to you what we have seen
and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship
is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We write this to make
your joy complete
What will determine your experience of life this week? What will influence
your decisions? May we walk in fellowship with the Father, the Son and
the saints of God and may this make our joy complete.
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