"Saturday's Child-A Sermon for Labor Day”
" We must work the works of Him who sent me, while it is day; night comes,
when no one can work."
John 9:4
First Presbyterian Church - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
September 5, 1993
I suppose all of you have heard the little poem, which was routinely repeated at our house
when we were growing up, having to do with the days of the week, and the life
circumstances which supposedly come for those born on that day. It goes like this:
"Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace.
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for his living.
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day is good, and wise, and fair, and gay."
When my mother came to the Sabbath Day, the day on which she was born, she would slow
down, smile, and emphasize with patience and glee: "But the child that is born on the
Sabbath Day… is good… and wise… and fair… and gay."
I do not know if you know which was the day of your birth. It might be worth a try to find
out. There is a formula, one that I could still work out if I had enough time: as I recall, you
take the year, the day, add a mathematical number for the month, figure in leap year, divide
by 7, and out comes the day. If you like this sort of· thing, the assigned numbers for the
month is 8-9-9-6-9-4-6-2-5-0-3-5, January to December. If that is too much trouble just
assign yourself a day: if your life is full of woe, you were probably born on Wednesday. If
you feel you are loving and giving, pick Friday.
It is largely useless information to be sure, but it touches on that whole field of astrology,
fortune tellers, psychic advisors, palm readers, tarot cards, even bio-rhythms, which have
fascinated people for centuries, and still today, regarding the clues our time or day of birth
can give. It is hard to believe that it could make a difference what sign you were born
under, or what month, or what day of the week, but people swear by it. For example, people
often tell me "You sure ' are an Aries"… That means I am confident - even bossy, depending
on who is speaking, when. You can live without knowing these things, of course, but it is
fun, sometimes. My horoscope for last Thursday, for example, advised me "To try a new
love relationship… Hmmm… exciting, but that was September 2, 1993, our Thirty-fourth
Wedding Anniversary. Needless to say, I did not take the advice.
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