Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit. It is the first of the month and as I wake up, I remember the old childhood superstition that you should say “Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit” when you first wake at the beginning of each new month in order to receive good luck for the coming month. This comes after the ‘blue moon’ of last night, another bearer of good luck. It seems as if we are always looking for signs that something good is around the corner for us, especially during times of uncertainty or troubles.

On Wednesday evening, I took the train into New York with an old friend to go to a discussion about Group Relations and the 2008 Presidential Election. What are the group dynamics that are taking place in the election? How does it related to the United States standing in the world and people’s views of President Bush?

It seems as if this searching for certainty, for a sign of good luck, is an important part of what is going on. President Bush is presented as a cowboy, the rugged American individualist who can ride in and save the day. It plays well in these days of great technological change and the uncertainty that that brings, in these days of globalization, in these days after the fall of the Berlin Wall as well as of the World Trade Centers.

Yet more and more, faith in the powers and principalities of Mr. Bush and the U.S. Presidency is shaken. The post 9/11 lashing out against Arabs in the form of the Iraq War hasn’t turned out the way people had hoped, and while the stock market soars, so do the financial woes of many Americans.

In my personal life, I’ve been looking for signs as well. I often tend towards the more scientific, and so I had my annual physical. Wednesday, I received a call from my doctor. Yes, I am allergic to shrimp. I’m allergic to all shellfish, as well as to wheat and corn. Beyond that I’m allergic to cats and to dust. Some of the allergies are pretty mild, some of them fairly substantial. With this information, we will seek ways to change our lifestyle so I can be healthier, while at the same time making sure that Reilly, our wonderful and beloved Maine Coon Cat remains well cared for.

As I drove down to the doctor’s office, a chipmunk ran across the road. I tried to avoid it, but in my rearview mirror, I saw the small corpse twist its last convulsions. In ancient days, people would try to predict the future by reading the entrails of sacrificed animals. The entrails of the chipmunk were left on the road only to become crow food in the next couple hours, yet the experience left a bitter taste in my mouth. It did not augur well in my mind.

The haruspices of old interpreted signs from the liver. Today, we use blood tests and sonograms to interpret the liver and other bodily functions. I have more tests ahead of me to find the signs of better health. Yet all of these test and potential lifestyle changes are small on the greater scale.

I spend a lot of time reading blogs. I believe we can learn a lot about ourselves, our nation and our world by listening to those around us, and reading other blogs is a great way to stop and listen. I’m not talking about the rants on political blogs, I’m talking about the reflections of daily life in the personal blogs that abound.

One such blog is Mommy’s Busy… Take a number. The image on the blog is of a six-armed smiling mother, child in one arm, balancing on one foot over another child playing next to the basket of laundry that needs to be taken care of. She is cooking. Her husband is in the background informing her of an incoming phone call. The sun shines through the window. It captures the hope and joy that can still be there in the chaos of daily life.

Stacie has a picture of her young daughter Faith, walking down her gravel driveway holding the hand of her cousin Caleb. It is a touching picture, entitled “The long road ahead…” to which she adds, “is easier when someone is holding your hand.” Yet when you read more, you find how touching this really is.

In the blog post before, she has a different picture of Faith. In this picture, Faith has a tube taped to her face leading to her nose. I can’t describe the look in her eyes. Is it hurt? Is it fear? Is it simply beseeching her mother to just make everything better? Oh, were it so easy. You see, Faith has 22q syndrome. “The 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome is an abnormality on the twenty-second chromosome that can cause such health problems as heart defects, immune deficiency…” I used the ellipses because the list of health problems goes on and on.

Faith’s mother writes,

I have pretended to be fine with all of the above. I have smiled and joked and been very factual and technical. I have been very medically oriented about the whole thing. ...

Because that is what needs to be done. I will smile and joke and figure out a way to not drink around my baby. And I will cry and scream on the inside.

Because its just not fair.

Well, today is Faith’s surgery, and I need to pray for her, for her mother, for her whole family, because that is what needs to be done.

Stacie’s most recent post is from last Sunday. The question…

has been asked. By my kids... The question that I have dreaded and dreaded.
Could Faith die during surgery?
What do you say to that?
They are to smart for the blanket make-everything-better "of course she wont" comment.
They know better.
They know that things could go horribly awry and she could die.
But I said that anyway.
"of course she isnt going to die"
They didnt believe me.

She ends off the blog post with

How do you make your kids feel reassured when you cant even reassure yourself?

My answer?
Hug them tight and say dont worry, everything will be ok. There are lots of people praying for her and wonderful people taking care of her. It will be all right.

I hope that it was enough. I hope that it was the truth.

5 days to go.

Please God let everything be ok.

So, we look for leaders to give us hope, to hug us and tell us everything will be okay. We read the entrails, and if we are lucky, we meet someone like Stacie who says more about hope in a few simple blog posts than many of us may experience in a lifetime.

Pray for Faith. Pray for Stacie. Pray for the whole family, our country and our world, and maybe, just maybe, it will be enough. It will be the truth, and God will let everything be ok.