#511. Feeling slightly guilty for telling people "good luck!"
Mar 31st by Jon“Good luck with the 10K this weekend!”
Well, I mean, I don’t personally believe in luck, but you might. I believe that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. But how am I supposed to say that to you, my colleague from work, in the break room?
“I hope God works all things for the good of those who love him this weekend at your 10K race!”
That’s a mouthful, but seriously, I probably shouldn’t be saying “good luck.” Some Christians don’t even say “Pot Lucks.” They call them “Pot Blessings” which kind of sounds like the headline from an issue of the marijuana magazine “High Times” but I’m only digging myself into a deeper hole of awkwardness at this point.
Would it be weird if I told you “Have a blessed 10K?” Does that make me sound like I’m the kind of person that would throw holy water on you during the race or hand you communion wine at one of those drink stands along the course instead of Gatorade? And do I have to over pronounce the “ed” at the end of that word like some people do? Do I say “blessed” like I would say “messed” or do I need to pronounce it “bless-ed.” I always feel like some random guy named Ed is getting hooked up when people do that.
This is getting so complicated. From here on out, I’m dropping luck, I’m dropping bless-ed and am just going to say “Yay running!” and throw both hands into the air with spirit fingers. Wait, are spirit fingers related to the Holy Spirit or are those bad too? Ohhh, slippery slope, slippery slope indeed. I’ll go with jazz hands then, definitely jazz hands.
Comments
Oh, jazz hands are definitely the answer!
You should just tell people to “break a leg.” I think that’s pretty neutral because it doesn’t have the word “luck” in it.
I’m so entertained by your posts, and I think I get even more giggles from the comments. I used to try to get here early on to be one of the 1st 50 or so commenters, but I think that never happened so I gave up. Now I like being down the line so I get to read everyone else’s.
I grew up Southern Baptist, and we just called them “fellowship meals”, which covers all that pot luck/covered dish/pot blessing (seriously???) stuff.
And jazz hands? You just can't go wrong with jazz hands. I'm liking jazz hands & "Vaya con dios."
@mlt Come on over to my blog, and explain the whole “Godspeed” thing in my comment section, and I promise to copy and paste it into an entire post. I will help you spread the word. And the word is “Godspeed”.
wv roness–a female whose dad wanted to name her Ron, but her mom explained that that’s a boy’s name, so they settled on Roness
you could begin by not building a post based on a horrible misrepresentation of scripture taken completely out of context.
how bout you read all of romans 8 and quit thinking that vs 28 means good stuff will happen to or for you.
Nick the Geek–the expression “break a leg” comes from the sentiment “I hope things go well and you get to bow” in the sense that some traditional bows (think of something that today we might find very theatrical) involve sort of sweeping one leg behind you while bending (ie, “breaking”) the front one
Honestly, if my church advertised a “Gathering where everyone brings food and we all share and it’s awesome.” I would totally paint the banner myself.
WV: brairdhe
A Celtic cross. “He bore the sign of the brairdhe, he did.”
Wow guess I am a crappy Christian. I never even thought about whether to say or not to say Good Luck. No wonder my church calls them Friendship Meals. Duh.
Stacey from Louisville- I am with you. Those sound like the best options yet….
Wow, I’d never really though through the ins and outs of this one. Very funny!
I just say, “Have Fun, be praying for ya”.
I think that fits all situations, except maybe a funeral, not really the time to have fun, huh? Then again you should come to some of the ones I’ve been to.
“Have fun, be praying for ya”, and give the spirit hands wave goodbye.
Blessings.
I think it’s annoying when people say blessed like bless-ed. It makes me think they are going to burst into the hymn “Blessed Assurance”
also, I like Godspeed for a race – telling someone that you hope they run as fast as God is pretty awesome. But I’m pretty sure I’d never say that at any other time.
Funny post, Jon!
my WV was rewin. So I guess if you have “Godspeed” in a race you will rewin it every time. Ha
HAHA yep, jazz hands are a perfect solution to my every issue.
(The other day at church we were discussing temptation, and one person goes, “When tempted just break out in random dance!” Oddly enough it’s worked for some of us…)
God bless
Nobody else called a dinner a “Pot Trust”
My mother used to say “Jesus goes with you!” She would look back at us hopefully for a second, and go all crestfallen a moment later. She wanted us to say, “And also with you.” But, I’d usually say, “okay” or “yup.”
She didn’t inform me of her expectation until a couple years after she started saying it. By that time it was way past too late.
Oh ya, the “potluck” question. My school says “common meal” and my church says “feast.” These are not intentionally over against the idea of luck, but they are somewhat theologically driven.
I’ve heard of Fellowship Dinners. Usually if there’s anything at my church it goes nameless and they just say “there will be food, please bring a dish to pass if you would like.” Keep it generic lol.
I dig the “Godspeed” personally.
wv: incypati. A 2 year old trying to say Cincinnati.
oh man. I’m sitting here laughing my head off!
that was a highly entertaining train of thought to follow, thanks for sharing it!
I say, “Kick ass in your 10k.” When I was in Christian school I would’ve probably said, “Kick b-u-t-t.”
I like Godspeed. It reminds me of Apollo 13.
As for potluck…wow. I never knew it was a problem for some, but now that I know I guess I’m not really surprised. I’m going to deliberately use it at church and see what sort of responses I get.
Can’t believe I had never read the “Pot Blessings” post. Reminded me of my roadie days for a Christian musical act. Sometimes the hosting churches would provide that style of dinner, but we nicknamed it “Pot Yuck!”
And my mother-in-law referred to that cereal with the marshmallows as “Blessed Oats.”
Just tell your friend to run like the wind or something.
I just don't think I could possibly say Pot Blessings without cracking up. I never, ever thought of potluck involving luck before, but I suppose I've been blessed I've never gotten seriously ill after one, especially the ones where Lynne brought the yellow jello with corned beef, cabbage and diced apples. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little, just thinking of it.
Of course, I love Stacy from Louisville's ideas. But then I just love saying Lou-a-ville.
Knucks & blow it up is a good one, as is jazz hands. Love jazz hands.
When I used to dance, we always said…well, it was a French word and it wasn't a profanity, but or maybe even an obscenity, but it was certainly indecent, according to the FCC. Ok, ok, I didn't say it, but everyone else did. My mother would have had a fit.
I usually say something like "I hope it goes well," and come off sounding kind of lame. And people who bless me always sound pompous. Sorry, but they do.
So, your book is coming out soon, right?
I hope it goes well. Or, in the words of my captcha, patimbim.
And, of course, I didn’t proofread, and didn’t mean “but or.” Duh.
My favorite TV show, Supernatural, had a great line last week. “Fight well, young lion, and Godspeed”. I’m thinking of using that for a while.
Yeah, because Jazz has such spiritual roots…
*snort*
you can always just say “do well~”
By the power of Greyskull!
I don’t think “jazz hands” would quite fit, either.
…How about “hymn hands”? Although I’m not quite sure what those would look like… ?
Love it. ;oD
I haven’t felt as guilty for slipping and saying good luck since someone I knew told me that luck could stand for Living Under Christ’s Keeping.
Love this post…Anyone ever tell you that you were funny? You are.
I feel bad saying “Good Luck” too, but really can’t settle on a comfortable alternative.
I’ve heard of people calling them ‘pot providences’. That happens to be my personal favorite. Well, if we’re judging on the scale of absurdity – which I most definitely am.
Just say, “Best wishes.” It’s neutral.
Jon, You can't use jazz hands. Jazz is a tool from the devil that invokes hedonism at Mardi Gras and the denomic influence takes its toll on women over a long period of time, ultimately turning their hair blue, representing th hot flames of hell. Just look at the elderly women around the southern cities where jazz is popular and you'll see what I say is fact.
Try saying, "May the power of the Lord come upon you like Elijah when he outran the chariot of Ahab on the way to Jezreel, and not the way he ran from Jezebel to Beersheba in Judah." At the least, this may inspire him to to start running from you at that moment so just follow him for a while shouting, "To Jezreel, brother, to Jezreel. Razzle dazzle."
hahaha, I like 'Godswill'…what if they aren't supposed to win that race..
lol, i tell people the same thing. "i dont believe in luck, i believe in blessings".