Author Scot C. Taylor shares another excerpt from his new book Luck or Grace: The Intersect
DEFINITIONS OF LUCK AND GRACE
Luck, often referred to as “Lady Luck,” or “It just happened,” or “I don’t know what happened,” whether good or bad, is something that happens to you that you had nothing directly to do with and were unable to cause to happen or not happen.
Grace is receiving something from God that He alone, for his own benefit, causes to happen to you directly or indirectly whether you deserve it or not.
For those of you who are academically inclined the following are the definitions of luck and grace according to Webster’s Dictionary:
Definition of Luck
Main Entry: 1luck
Pronunciation: \ˈlək\
Function: noun
Date: 15th century
1 a: a force that brings good fortune or adversity; b: the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual.
synonyms: lucky, fortunate, happy, providential, mean meeting with unforeseen success. Lucky stresses the agency of chance in bringing about a favorable result <won because of a lucky bounce>. Fortunate suggests being rewarded beyond one’s desires <fortunate in my investments>. Happy combines the implications of lucky.
Definition of Grace
Main Entry: 1grace
Pronunciation: \ˈgrās\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin gratia favor, charm, thanks, from gratus pleasing, grateful; akin to Sanskrit granāti he praises
Date: 12th century
1 a: unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification; b: a virtue coming from God; c: a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace.
A closer look at the definitions will disclose something very revealing indeed. Up until the 12th century and for three more centuries, “grace” was the only word to describe events beyond human control. In the 15th century we humans, not willing to be servants and always seeking control over an omnipotent God, created another word for things that happen out of our control: “luck.”
Grace is a term that is exclusively Christian and only applies to an attribute of God and Him alone. It describes an intelligent being making decisions under his sole will and compunction for his delight and our benefit. Luck, on the other hand, applies exclusively to human effort and a mystical force or entity.
WHAT DO THEY SOUND LIKE?
To apply logic to the mystery behind those things that happen to us that we do not control, we need to learn the vocabulary. These telling words that will let you know who believes in what.
Vocabulary of the lucky
“Lucky”: Used as a word for anything that is perceived as good.
“Unlucky”: Used to describe something bad that has happened.
“Timing”: Always used to define the intersect of something that happened.
“Can’t believe it”: What is said when one who believes in luck has no definition or explanation for something that happened.
“Destiny or fate”: The final word used to describe something unexplained that happened in the past or will happen in the future.
“Meant to be”: A statement used by someone that believes in fate, destiny, etc.
“I am superstitious”: Someone who knows that there is something going on beyond the molecular world he or she lives in but cannot define it, which usually leads that person to ridiculous rituals in worship to this mysterious force.
“Oh my god”: A figure of speech and blasphemy for those who believe in grace.
“Take a chance”: Usually said when probability is possible.
“Serendipity”: Same as chance.
“I wish”: A hope cast to something beyond.
Vocabulary of the blessed
“What a blessing”: A gift given by God and Him alone.
“Blessed”: A word describing one who is under the protection of God’s omnipotent hand.
“It’s a miracle”: Something that happens beyond scientific laws and is attributed to God interfering with the natural order of our physical laws.
“You’re anointed”: A term used to describe a special gift given to one whom God has chosen for his work.
“Mercy”: Given by God without any merit of man.
“It’s the Lord’s will”: Said by those who recognize that their human efforts are worthless without God’s will.
“Your angel was protecting you”: Believers talking about one of God’s great soldiers in the army of God.
Examples of luck
Let’s find some examples of luck to make it very simple to frame in your mind. These are real testimonies of lucky people, by their own confession.
Perhaps you have heard the phrase, “She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.” I know it sounds a little trite but it refers to the people whom we know were born into wealth and, well, maybe even yourself, dear reader. (Wealth is relative. More on that later.) I am talking about money here. I am talking about, as the song goes, in Pink Floyd’s tune called “Money”, “pure hard cold cash”: stocks, bonds, real estate, inheritance.
I am talking about those individuals with assets for several lifetimes, at minimum, and some with more assets than entire countries, plus billions. The gold standard of luck is usually measured in monetary terms and so we can use it as a stepping stone to luck materialized.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffet presented a forum at Columbia University with aspiring MBA students in attendance. About halfway in, the forum was opened up for questions from the bright-eyed students. After many weighty questions, a student rose to the podium and asked Bill Gates the following question: “Mr. Gates, how much did luck play a part in your success?”
Mr. Gates sat in a long silence that had not been afforded any of the other seemingly tantamount global questions such as warming, poverty, health care, unemployment, and the looming great recession. A sense of real personal introspection and thought investment was witnessed before Mr. Gates responded. He said, ”I was lucky in many ways. I was lucky to be born with certain skills.
I was lucky to have parents that created an environment where they shared what they were working on and let me buy as many books as I wanted to, and I was lucky with timing. The invention of the microprocessor was something profound, and it turned out that only if you were young and you were looking at that, could you appreciate what that meant.
I was obsessed with writing software, and it turned out that that was the key, the missing thing that allowed the microprocessor to have this incredible impact. So in timing, in skill set, in some of
I was lucky enough to meet… it’s unusual to have so much luck in one’s life, but it’s been a major factor in what I’ve been able to do.”
Scot C. Taylor is a career entrepreneur with successful startups in advertising, publishing, fast food, and consulting sectors. Mr. Taylor was a fellow Co-Founder/Director Marketing of Looking Good Calendars USC’s poster boy’s in the 80’s, Co-founder/Director of Operation Health Hut Inc., North America’s first natural fast food restaurant; and founder/CEO of Outdoor Advertising Systems, Inc. (OAS), North America’s first and master leaseholder of advertising on lunch trucks. Mr. Taylor is the active CEO of OAS and his marketing and consulting firm, Fortune II, Inc. He resides in Laguna, California with his wife of 20 plus years. To learn more about Scot C. Taylor’s new book, visit Luck or Grace
See part one of this encouraging series of excerpts Luck or Grace – The Intersect
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