7 Years of Bad Luck

As of today, my wife and I have now been married for seven years. There is a superstition that if someone breaks a mirror, that person will have a consequence of seven years of bad luck.

Seven years ago, I broke a mirror.

Before I met Jessy, I had worked very hard at establishing a good reputation. Guilt was my primary motivation. I was well aware of my many mistakes, and wanted to prove to the world my repentance. This fueled working all kinds of jobs for all kinds of hours. Nearly 15 years after my high school graduation, I finally completed a college degree. I got married, to reinforce my version of normal. I was just about to accessorize that American Dream by buying a house in the suburbs, to go along with the wife.

I remember listening to the ideas of Emile Durkheim at that time. Sociology was supposed to be just a minor for my Education program, but it easily became my obsession. Those courses forced me to honestly investigate why I behaved the way I did, and how unaware I was of what was really influencing my life. I remember the week when I saw a reflection of myself in a mirror. I saw that my definition of success looked horribly ugly in that mirror. I experienced "anomie" as Durkheim spoke to me. I couldn't live it anymore. I broke the mirror.

There has never been a darker season for me. I moved back into my parent's home. I got divorced. People had good reasons to hate me. I had even better reasons.

I read somewhere that the superstition of broken mirrors also offered an escape from the curse:

Fortunately, there are also a number of rituals which are said to counteract the very bad hair day created when you break a mirror. Since the pieces of the mirror can still reflect the corrupted soul, the entire mirror should be ground into dust. No reflection, no problem. It is also suggested that after you break a mirror, you should invest in a shovel and bury the pieces under a tree during a full moon. African slaves working in America believed the bad luck could be washed away by placing the pieces in a river flowing in a southerly direction.

When Jessy and I first met, we realized we were both being pulled out of our own versions of anomie. The "southerly direction" of that curse-breaking river was pulling on our souls. So, we both ground up our broken mirrors into dust. And, on a full moon, just like tonight will be, we began a new dream. We buried those ugly reflections into the southerly currents of the river. Then, we started living.

Our marriage has been blessed, not cursed. It's neither lucky or unlucky. It is blessed.

For the past seven years, we've been able to walk together in valleys of shadows, tightly holding hands, both following our Shepherd. Jesus has been most faithful to lead us beside still waters at times. And, at  others, He has reminded us repeatedly that unfamiliarity can actually be the safest ground to walk on.

Our broken mirrors did not end in bad luck for us. Instead, they shattered an illusion. We were able to see that a miracle awaited us. That, instead of a reflection of guilt, a reflection of grace began.

"We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit." (2Corinthians 3:18, Bible)