Luck?

So, now we have moved into a new month!...

After much cramming and anxious waiting, my exams got under way and I had to deal with a rather difficult subject of Ecumenism with regards the Christian East. I had earlier spent some amount of time poring over my notes and losing much grey matter and hair over this, wondering why I did I choose this subject to do in the first place? When I sat in front of my professor and waited for his cue for me to speak I managed to surprise myself by my fluid reaction to his questioning as we went on from one item to another as if we were a couple of old buddies chatting in a coffeeshop over some news item that piqued our interest... well, sort of... :-D But the bottomline is, I passed my first exam! That's all that matters - for now. I still have 4 more to undergo and I am wishing that they were all over! :-P

Nonetheless, I am overjoyed that I managed to overcome my first hurdle of exams and managed to complete a semester of studies, both of which I have been out of circulation for a while. It just takes much more effort and time to make things work out in this field for a person of my age. So, when something like this occurs that makes it all worthwhile, I'd say it's providential. :-)

Which brings me to the matter of 'luck'.

It is during such times like this in any academic field and during occasions like these that you'd hear this word being uttered: 'good luck!' This happened to me when a priest classmate said it over his email and also by others who wish this upon their friends taking exams, many of them religious and other priests.

It's strange to me that such term be use rather matter-of-factly even among us as priests or religious, or even among Catholics. I know, straight off that we don't believe in luck. As believers and followers of Christ, it is ultimately providence (Mt 6: 25 - 34). Perhaps, one may mean chance, but to wish 'Good chance!' sounds silly or wierd. Besides, with God, nothing is left to chance (Mt 8: 28). I usually would use 'All the best' and be done with that! :-) To incur this usage of 'luck' in the utterance sounds like a little lack of trust in whom and what we believe all this while!

So, the next time you want to wish someone good for his/her exams, you know what you can avoid saying! Maybe you know of a more appropriate way to say it? ;-)