Baseball fans had reason to rejoice when
the 71-year old curse placed on the Chicago Cubs by William Sianis was finally
broken on November 2, 2016, after the Cubs won Game 7 of the World Series to
become champions for the first time since 1908.
As curses go, the one uttered by
Sianis was relatively mild; upon being told that he would have to remove his
pet goat, Murphy, from Wrigley Field because the goat’s odor was offending
other fans, Sianis allegedly
declared, "Them Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more." Compare
that to some of the curses listed in Psalm 109: “And may he be clothed with
cursing as with a robe; may it penetrate into his entrails like water and like
oil into his bones; may it be for him like a garment which covers him, like a
girdle which is always about him.”
I
gather that William Sianis tried himself tried to undo his famous curse, and
his son did as well, but once spoken, words take on a life of their own.
Benedict knew this well, for as he said in the Rule, monks are to “restrain
their tongue” and “be not noisy in their speech.” At this time of year, when we
are weary of hearing politicians be “noisy in their speech,” it’s easy to point
fingers at others, but most of us have experienced times when we wish we had
restrained our tongues. Just yesterday in a meeting I made some blunt comments
and now wish I had been gentler in my speech. Opportunities to learn to guard
our tongues are always with us.
William Sianis later regretted that he
allowed others to “get his goat,” so to speak. His story is a reminder to watch
over our thoughts so that, as Fr. Edward Hays noted in A Pilgrim’s Almanac, the “piece of mind” we give others leads to “peace
of mind” for all of us.
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