………….OMENS…………

Do you believe in omens? I try not to. I believe most people, whether they believe or not, ignore small things that mysteriously happen that could be signs of events that are about to occur. Then there are the people who are overboard reading signs that they believe helps them understand and predict the future.

Omens are interesting because they cross all boundaries, from the deeply religious to the agnostic. Nature can be so unpredictable and mysterious it’s no wonder people look for answers to unanswerable questions, and that is where omens originate, we want answers, we want explanations.

“I knew I shouldn’t have come!”

“I knew it was going to be a great day!”

“Boy! I had the strangest dream!”

“Strangest sun set I’ve ever seen! I wonder what it means?”

As much as we try to avoid saying we don’t believe in omens, we are all still confronted with this mental phenomena. It’s like a “stop and smell the roses” thing. Omens are used in plot lines, gossip, sermons, and everyday when we get up on the wrong side of the bed. You just know! I find that very interesting.

In Michel Herr’s book, Dispatches, he describes an event that took place at the Saigon Zoo during the Vietnam War. An American Secretary of State was being given a tour of the zoo, along with his entourage, when a caged tiger pissed on him. He turned to the group and said, “he who is pissed on by a tiger bound for good luck in the future!” Nothing more tragic than an omen read wrong.

It got me thinking about the last several months, and what we are in for. I could be hopeful and optimistic about government spending, putting immigrants in detention camps, releasing a thousand terrorists back on our streets, but you know what they say, “ Nothing more tragic than an omen read wrong.”