Friday, September 20, 2002
Friday, September 20, 2002
For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
The night before the final round of the 1935 Masters, a friend gave golfer Gene Sarazen a
ring. He told Gene the ring had belonged to Benito Juarez, the 19th-century Mexican
statesman. Carry it for good luck, he said.
Three strokes back with four holes left on Sunday, Sarazen took the ring out of his pocket. He
gave it a rub for good luck before playing his second shot to the 15th green. Then he
proceeded to put the ball into the hole with a 4-wood for his famous double eagle. His friend
later confessed that the ring never belonged to Benita Juarez at all. It was just something he
picked up from a street vendor.
The pervasiveness of superstition to control human destiny is all around us, but all we really
need is Jesus Christ. Superstition will not save us or get us to heaven.
(Psalm 96.5
NRSV)
Athletes are notoriously superstitious. In the first game of a doubleheader, former baseball star
Minnie Minoso went hitless in five at-bats. Between games he took a shower in his uniform,
claiming he was washing away the evil spirits. Everybody laughed, but in the second game
Minnie got three hits. After the game, eight players took showers with their uniforms on.
Lord Jesus, move me away from the superstitions of life and closer to you, because you are
the only one who can give me what I really need. Amen.
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