The beauty of No. 7

Numbers are interesting. And the most interesting of them all is No. 7. Especially today when it is the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year of the twenty first century, also in the multiple of three sevens.

One person obsessed with No. 7 was the late President Marcos. Did it help him? It did, in some way. He reached the Presidency. The belief that seven is lucky dates back to pre-historic times. Babylonians, Egyptians, and other ancient peoples believ

ed that everything was influenced by the seven planets. The Hebrew word "to swear" literally means to come under the influence of these seven planets.

There were seven days of creation, seven days of the week, seven virtues, seven deadly sins, seven divisions in the Lord's Prayer, seven stages in the life of man, and many more sevens.

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The great Jewish feasts lasted seven days. The seventh son of the seventh son, it is believed, will always come out notable.

We start school at seven because that is the age when the mind opens. We have our news reports at seven a.m. or p.m.

We read of sailing in the Seven Seas, the Seven Hills of Rome and we talk of the Seven Last Words of Christ in the Cross.

According to alchemists, there are seven metals composed at seven planets and Geoffrey Chaucer put in a poem.

"As for seven bodies I mention,/ Here they are all for your attention,/ Gold for Sun and Silver for the Moon,/ Iron for Mars and Quicksilver in tune,/ With Mercury, Lead which prefigures Saturn,/ And Tin for Jupiter takes the pattern of Venus,/ If you please."

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The seven ages of man are infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon, and second childhood.

The seven virtues are faith, hope, charity, justice, fortitude, prudence, and temperance.

The seven deadly sins are pride, covetousness, lust, hearing, smelling, and animation.

In our high school, we were made to memorize the Seven Wonders of the Old World: the Colossus of Rhodes, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Pharos of Alexandria, Pyramids of Egypt, Statue of Zeus by Phidias, Temple of Diana at Ephesus, and Tomb of Mausolus.

The seven last words of Christ in the Cross, "Today, thou shalt be with me in Paradise." And another one, "Into Thy hands I commend my spirit."

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We don't want to be tied down by seven. Let's move on.

Competition is really good. Congressman Newks Puentevella is coming up with a polytechnic college for Bacolod. See to it, classes will open in 2008, Congressman. Thank you.

Mayor Bing already has his Bacolod City College.

Many people who cannot afford to go to tertiary private schools will have an alternative.

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On my piece "Noblesse Oblige" my friend Neil texted me, "Underpinning 'noblesse oblige' is 'Ich Dien' (I serve) motto of the Prince of Wales."

"British leaders are generally servants of the people. We need that culture here."

I wrote here once about Plato's "The Republic." He advocated for an ideal state to have as leader a servant king. He never advocated for democracy which was just coined later by the Greeks.

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I am happy the Supreme Court is on the war path. It also fined Silay RTC Judge Reynaldo Alon for "gross negligence."

It's just better than gross ignorance of the law. I also sympathize with Judge Alon who, like Judge Rufon, is my friend.

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I was about through with this item when I was asked at home, are you not a number seven enthusiast yourself! My own telephone landline at home ends with 777.

Sunshine Channel was put up with the multiple of 7. Hence Channel 14, organized January 14 and approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 14 last year. Its office telephone, 433-0014. It has 14 incorporators. The landline of manager Amado Villacarlos at home ends with 14 and his car plate is 314.*

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