Buddy Fisher, St. Luke’s Member

Mark 13:28-33 NIV

28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.

Reflection:
Uh-oh, somebody said something they shouldn’t have. THEY’VE JINXED IT. Now there’s only one way to undo this mess: go find something wooden (or at least with faux wood grain) and go knock on it. The curse has been lifted.

Knockin’ on wood is a fun and harmless superstition that many like to abide by. I used to go to comical lengths to find wood to knock. Though I knocked for years, it felt like none of my bad luck was really being stymied, so I stopped. I think I was just bogged down with feeling unlucky all the time (aka being a teenager), but then someone asked why I’d stopped, so I sought that answer. If it had felt truly harmless, why couldn’t I have kept up this superstition? Had I quit, because I’d felt it was contributing to my unhappiness? I followed this thread: Let’s assume knocking on wood was making me feel bad about myself. How could a superstition have such a strong effect? I don’t know! Okay. . . What purpose is this superstition meant to serve? It grants a reprieve. Well, what did I feel I needed exoneration from? [For example] From saying that I thought the Astros would win the World Series this year?!?! 

Yeah. Ok. We’ve gone down the rabbit hole and gotten to words like “reprieve” and “exonerate” which are for punishment, imprisonment, crime. It may have seemed harmless, but I had built a matrix where I was telling myself that my words were directly responsible for negativity being put out into the world. Yes, in that system I could find forgiveness by knocking on wood, but I was still telling myself that I had sinned . . . and had I really?

I had almost created the very system that Jesus went to tear down, as he was telling these parables. In this parable about the budding fig tree, he is trying to show a way of life different from that of superstition. In superstition, you are only accountable for your actions after they have already occurred (you can say whatever you like as long as you then unjinx yourself). Here, Jesus is imploring that we do the work all the time so that we are accountable for ourselves (and our surroundings i.e. the fig trees) all the time. He says that we can know when the figs are ready to harvest. If we put superstition to Jesus’ words, then you can only get lucky enough to happen to find the figs when they are ripe.

The Astros will win the World Series. That’s no jinx! I have confidence, and I have faith–that wonderful combination of unending belief and unending patience. The ‘Stros are going to work hard to get us an honest pennant, and me believing in them is only going to get them closer to that goal. I’m sticking by them for however long it takes, because we “know that it is near, right at the door,” we just “do not know when that time will come.” I’m a cheerleader, not a doubter. I’m watching, not waiting.

Prayer:
Dear God,
I admit that sometimes I can get bogged down with creating needless systems for myself—systems that only add to the burdens I’m already carrying. Thank you for your Son who showed us a simpler, freer way to live. Help me live a life of accountability, not in a way that places me in a cycle of shame but that frees me to proclaim my confidence in a good and loving God. Amen.