Pi Day and Rational Astrology

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.  -- Psalms 139:16

In addition to being Pi Day and Albert Einstein’s birthday, 3/14 was a birthday shared by a couple of family members -- one now gone where no lines or cell towers blight heaven’s views and another I will call before the day is out and perhaps see tomorrow.  It seems as though birthdays have a tendency to cluster.  My sister’s birthday is at the end of August, her husband and three of their four kids have birthdays in September with the fourth born in early October.  My son and his two kids are all April.  My sister-in-law has six kids, having popped them out mostly around her late husband's birthday in September or October.  Those who share or nearly share a birthday do, sometimes, seem to have a similar nature. 

There are some pretty mundane explanations for certain women being more likely to get pregnant at certain times of the year.  As for personality similarities, it’s probably confirmation bias, and, just as there are really only seven plots in fiction, there are only a limited number of human characteristics of which we are aware. 

I quit reading my horoscope many years ago, but at one time I worked with a nice, intelligent lady who offered to “do a chart” for me.  When I laughed, she readily agreed that newspaper horoscopes were meaningless.  She, though, knew all about sun signs and wanted to know the time of day a person was born and a bunch of other stuff that made it more thorough and scientific sounding.  Perhaps, like psychotherapy, it might have some value depending upon the insight and wisdom of the practitioner. 

This was sometime in the ‘80s – I remember she had a thing for Oliver North who was testifying in the Iran Contra hearings -- and, for what it’s worth, she told me that “real” astrologers believed at that time that the Antichrist was alive, having been born, I believe, around 1960 or 1961.  Yes, guess what I remembered a few years back. 

What I do believe, though, is that a person’s birthday is chosen for him or her.  The season, the date, the likely weather, and perhaps even the day of the week and the time of day can be factors that help determine who we are and how we will react to things as we grow older.  We are where we are and how we are “for such a time as this”.  The Lord ordained the place and the hour at which you and I entered this world.  It was no accident, no coincidence.  The part we play may be small or great, but it’s our part.