Good Luck or Good Management?

Dr. Donna J. Mann

A familiar statement in today's vocabulary is "Good Luck." What is luck? Oprah Winfrey says, "Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity." Following the 2001 World Heavyweight Championship boxing match, Hasim Rarhman echoed this same sentiment. He said, "Luck is being prepared when opportunity presents itself" in response to Lennox Lewis's remark, "Awe, it was just a lucky punch that got me." So was it luck or was it skillful boxing that won the fight? 

Most of us refer to luck at some time or other. Sometimes without thinking, other times in intentional, perhaps even hopeful dialogue. Some folk see luck as part of their religious views, as having some divine power to accomplish what otherwise cannot be planned. Is luck being in the right place at the right time in the right circumstance to enable something to happen that wouldn't ordinarily happen without particular coincidental conditions that change your course of events, direction or fate? By saying, "That's lucky" are we crediting randomness, chance, guesswork or fortuitous action rather than the possibility of God's intentional intervention or other unseen forces.

There is an unpredictable perception with the word luck. It indicates trial and error and surprise  something that works well in gambling or horse racing or maybe even in the television show, Wheel of Fortune.

Is luck contrary to the concept of plan, predictability, purpose, schedules and logic? Does it laugh at skill, knowledge, experience and draw on happenstance, crossed fingers and a fluke. Does it have a power all its own? Can we ask was it 'good luck or good management' with any degree of integrity?

Stephen Leacock says, "I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it." So, is it ordered and arranged, even humoured? 

When all is said and done I think about my father's remarks. He was a skillful euchre player and expected others to be the same. He'd laugh, saying that he'd rather be a good euchre player than a lucky one. As well, I have come to appreciate a statement my son said to me prior to my recent surgery, "I won't wish you luck, Mother, the grace of God will be sufficient." In the unpredictable process of life, can we determine the mysteries of God's grace over and above the mysteries of lady luck or other forces? 

When I leave on a trip, wish me a safe trip, rather than a lucky one. I suggest my safe trip will depend on skill, knowledge and experience rather than chance, happenstance or surprise. Also consider that any co-incident might just be a God-incident. I don't think I'll see the traffic officer standing with his fingers crossed but he or she may be waiting for me on a clover leaf intersection.

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