Having some fun with a "time capsule" of sorts

About 10 years ago this summer an e-mail was circulating around in the mailboxes of my friends and family.  It was a silly little survey that asked about favorite colors (mine is green), books (Bible), hair color (Hair??) and similar dumb things.  For a reason known only to her, Mom printed the answers she gave, along with those given by me, by my kids, and a sister-in-law, then filed them away.  She came across them the other day and we were reading them.  It was like opening a time capsule.  For older (not “old”, but “older”) folks like me, the answers would probably stay pretty much the same today as then.  In fact, as Mom was reading them to me, I was answering with exactly the same answers!  A few of the answers had obviously changed for my kids, who were, shall we say, not as mature as they are now.  Alicia is now a Mommy (and a very good one at that!).  Sarah is an attorney specializing in immigration law.  Both are not the answers they gave 10 years ago to the question “What do you want to do for a living?  (Alicia answered with “stage actress, although it’s really hard and lousy pay” while Sarah answered “probably a college professor or teacher.” 

I find it odd that the question that I have reflected on the most since reading them is “What is your favorite number?”  I will never forget that Sarah has always said that her favorite number is thirty-thousand.  Go figure.  My favorite number since my earliest memories has been forty-seven.  I told Mom that I think it was because I was born in 1953 and that I would be 47 in the year 2000.   But the really strange thing about that is that the more I have thought about it, the more I realize that I remember it being my favorite since before I could do math, even before I started attending school!   So that can’t be it.  I guess we can have a favorite number without a reason, but that’s not my style.** 

I can’t believe I did this, but I actually asked the Holy Spirit to help me as I reflected on the number 47.  I guess because I asked for His help, I came up with a “spiritual” answer. (lol)

The number 47 is the sum of two (equally) important numbers, 40 plus 7. 

The number 40 appears about 160 times in the Bible, representing times of God’s preparation, protection, and provision. For instance, God protected Noah as the rain fell for 40 days. The Lord miraculously sustained Moses 40 days on the mountain, and also Elijah during his 40 days running across the wilderness. And of course, God prepared the Israelites during their 40 years of wandering.  Another way to look at it is the number 40 usually represents a “test of faith” or “trial” of some sort, and was almost always concluded with a blessing for God’s chosen people.

Seven.  The number of perfection.  The number of Sacraments.  The number of “completion”.  The number of gifts of the Holy Spirit.  The number of days God took for the creation.  The number that can win lots or lose lots at the craps table.  (Sorry for that last one; I couldn’t resist!)

**Or it could be that I just thought 47 was a cool number.  It’s not my style now, but way back when (some would say now) I had no style.