Saturday, October 14, 2006

Friday the 13th ... Just another day ???


So, what did you do with your Friday the 13th ??

I always remember having feelings of apprehension when the calendar turned and we could see that there would be a Friday falling on the 13th … in Hollywood it usually means a slasher flick being dropped to scare and horrify. Not being into such gory movies, that meant little … but it is perhaps because my Birthday falls on the 31st of October – Halloween, that I feel some kinship with the OTHER ominous day in the calendar.

But, I have found that October 31st, rather then be a day of death and dread, has been a day of life and celebration. I like the remembrance component of Halloween – we remember the saints who have moved amongst us. Unfortunately the sinners and the horrors have taken precedence.

It wasn’t until late in the day that I even realized that it WAS Friday the 13th at all, and yet, looking back I realized that my day was filled with wonderful moments that made the ominous Friday the 13th into something delightful …

I was having coffee and cruising the net at the coffee Bistro on Ontario street here in Stratford when I realized that the manager was a young woman who I knew many years ago when I was a student minister with her father as my supervisor. We had a lovely chat and got caught up …

Later in the day I stopped in the post office to pick up some stamps and mail a couple of things … The clerk was a class mate of mine who I haven’t seen since our graduation some 20 years previously …

Then still later as I was walking into the St-pl-s (yes, I HAD to go to a big box retailer – yuck), I passed a gentleman on his way out – we both stopped and turned around:
“Peter?” I asked.
“Shawn ?” he replied … it turned out it was ANOTHER class mate of mine who I haven’t seen in 20 years, and who answered a call to ministry. In his case as a Catholic Priest … We made plans for lunch next week one day … it will be good to get caught up with him – and perhaps we can engage in some of the theological debates that we once had while high school students together …

Overall, Friday the 13th was NOT a bad thing for me … It was a wonderful day … and quite fun. Makes me wonder who I’ll meet today while I’m out and about …

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