If you’re paying attention, the Cubs are in a rough streak right now and I’ve noticed in myself and in some others that the temptation of trying to control events through “superstitions” is alive and well.

I find myself wondering – would my watching or not watching affect the cosmos in some manner resulting in either a cubs victory or a loss? Am I jinxing the Cubs when I wear my Cubs hat on days that they end up losing? I remember playing baseball growing up and I would allow superstition to guide me at times – wear the uniform the same way, eat the same things… It didn’t help, but at times I did it anyway.

I think such thoughts are total foolishness. I like to think I’m a bright guy, but these thoughts circle my mind from time to time anyway.

Superstition really is just a quirky expression of narcissism if you think about it. The fact that anything I do in my day-to-day existence could have a cosmic bearing on the success or lack-thereof on the baseball field for the Cubs reflects an obviously self-centered paradigm of thought. It’s self-centered and control oriented.

There’s such a pull to want to control things and avoid disappointment and pain. I allow myself to be deceived by the thought that I can somehow manipulate time and space to achieve the results I’d like. It’s chasing a false hope and it robs one of a true sense of peace and acceptance of reality as it is. Ironically – I probably would have been a better baseball player if I had been more in the moment than trying to control the outcomes of everything I did through my extensive mental powers of worry and anxiety.

As I’ve thought about it, I think superstition creeps into people’s Christianity quite often. People go to great lengths to avoid pain and disappointment when that is not the way towards enjoyment and peace. I think it’s a common thought for many to not want to celebrate events or pray expectantly out of a fear of being disappointed. It’s almost as if the lie sometimes creeps in that if we allow ourselves to enter into the full emotion of the moment and put ourselves out there with a measure of vulnerability that somehow God is out there seeking to deny us good and enjoyable moments. Superstition then becomes a defense against disappointment, the illusion of control over the uncontrollable.

Superstition creeps into our spirituality when we believe we have more influence on the cosmos than God does. Prayer can be superstitious if the focus is on what words you are using prayer to try to “pull God’s strings.” As if we can. Prayer can help us rise above superstition to a peaceful confidence in God’s presence and work in the world and in our lives. Prayer is an exercise in hopefulness and activity without control and narcissism.

Going old school, it makes me think of ABC’s wide world of sports back in the day where the intro emphasized that the glory of sport (and perhaps life) is the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” Both experiences are part of life in varying measures for everyone, but thank God Christ has given his followers something a bit more stable as a foundation than fleeting superstition.

The cubs and those of us who follow them have experienced more agony of defeat than thrills of victory, but if the Cubs win the World Series – it’s not going to be because of I am or am not wearing a hat along the way. I can allow myself to be ruined by the incessant angst that comes from the wins and losses and trying to somehow manipulate the cosmos or I can choose to anchor myself in something bigger so that I can enjoy every baseball season all the more and enjoy an eventual Cubs World Series for what it is.

Hope Springs Eternal