Deciphering the Fear of 13

Of all the numerals, 13 is the only number that can spell out evil. It is often associated with bad omen and fearsome destruction. Its frightful significance is beyond any mathematical calculation and the negative energies that it perpetuates deep into our minds are never ending.

To the superstitious, number 13 is taboo, but to the skeptics it is just a number. I personally, have never paid much attention to the number 13 except for the fact that it is the count between 12 and 14. I have always looked at it that way --- until recently, something really odd happened that stirred up my curiosity in search for logical explanations to this so much feared number.

Is it a coincidence? A warning perhaps, or is it a sign? These were the questions I asked when I came upon a recurring number 13. It happened five times on the same day! What is the chance of that happening?

It all began on a Sunday afternoon at the Metro Convention Centre where a volleyball tournament was taking place.  I was there mainly to watch my daughter play, but the action-packed hall was also a great opportunity for sports photography. With balls flying back and forth between frog-like leaping players, the shots were just too hard to resist!   

During the elimination rounds, every time the game was moved to another court, the ambient light would also change.  This lighting fluctuation would also force me to adjust my shots accordingly, which also meant finding the right camera exposure settings with at least three test- shots. These tests were just random shots for my own analysis, but the resulting photos yielded the unexpected. All the three exposures captured thought-provoking pictures of number 13!

The first of the three was of a player sporting the dreaded number on the back of her uniform. The next photo was of another athlete also wearing the number 13. Hmmm. . . Coincidence? maybe. But how do you explain the third shot? It was a scoreboard of the game which read 2325. (23 in red for Team A and 25 in blue for Team B) The sum of these four digits is 12, but strangely enough, next to number 5 is a water bottle which can also be seen as number 1. The final total? A shocking 13!

In addition to this growing phenomenon, during a break in the game, a player from my daughter’s team whom I have never met before approached me to say hello. I would soon realize when the game resumed that she too was wearing the number 13! Bizarre? Whatever you want to call it, but this occurrence had me scratching my head in awe.

Finally, at the end of the tournament, I thought I had enough of 13's for one day. I was wrong! The spooky number was unrelenting and persistent. It seemed to have followed me, determined to give me more of what it started.

That evening, while relaxing at home, the mysterious number 13 unfolded once again. This time rather than staying visual, it chose to verbalize itself. The voice of number 13 manifested in the dialogue of the main character in the movie I was watching. It was about a convicted Roman soldier from the 13^th Legion who was thrown into the arena of gladiators. He was tired of all the killings. He refused to fight and just wished to die. But the other gladiators provoked him by mocking the 13^th Legion that he highly revered. Forced by the ignited anger, he unleashed his terror on all his aggressors, annihilating all of them as he yelled, “Thirteen!” numerous times, to bring honour to the 13^th Legion.

Now, looking back to all five incidents, it was like a game of connecting the dots. Clearly, whether all these were just a mere coincidence or a meaningful message, there was definitely a strange pattern that had taken shape. Is there a need to be afraid from here on? What is the number 13 telling me? I wanted to know. The urgency to understand the underlying message had prompted me to do some research. Thanks to the internet. Google’s search engine has provided some substantial views on the subject. One of them is a Christian interpretation which also made perfect sense. Its spiritual value has been the key in unlocking the mystery of the number 13.

 It is quite liberating to know that the number 13 is of spiritual significance as opposed to what Satan had led us to believe. At the Passover Meal (better known today as The Last Supper) in the midst of the twelve disciples, Jesus was the 13th person in the room. He was also the One destined to be crucified and to triumph over death with His resurrection.

Jesus is also referred to as the Water of Life. Could this be the meaning of the bottled water standing next to the volleyball scoreboard? I would like to believe that. What about the player with the number 13 who came to me to say hello?  I see that as a sign of connection. As long as we keep our hearts wide open to Him, we will receive God’s whispers; we will not be in the dark; we will see the path to where He is leading us.  

It is mighty clear now why God chose the volleyball game to illustrate His message. The sport’s aspect of victory and defeat is a good analogy to Life and Death. Death as we know it represents loss. It signifies full surrender. Life on the other hand is about gain. It simply means winning. We live to learn from our failures as we strive to win.  As long as we can still breathe, the chance of winning will always be there.

God does not want us to lose. It breaks His heart to see us fail. But there are times when we are like that Roman soldier. We are tempted to think that putting everything to a halt is the easiest way to end our grief. We lose hope and we give up.

With God, we are winners. When we fail, He strengthens us with our own weakness just like what He did with the Roman soldier who could not resist defending his revered 13^th Legion. We too have our own 13^th Legion and that is Jesus, the 13^th who led the 12 disciples. When we abide by His teachings, we become victorious.

And together we will say, “Thirteen! Thirteen! Thirteen!”