7 December 1941. My father was stationed at Pearl Harbor and the night before (Saturday December 6) he had shore leave. He was late returning to his ship Sunday morning, which is why he wasn’t aboard when the Japanese attacked. My mother, great with child, was lying down waiting to become a mother when she heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor on the radio. She didn't know that he had survived for several days. They had only been married for six months and he had been assigned to active duty for four of them. She thought she was going to be a mother and a widow before she’d had time to be a wife. It was the end of the world as they knew it.

7 December 1941, the day that will live in infamy, said President Roosevelt. Guess what. Most people under the age of 40 today can’t remember the date and don’t know what happened. Today, Germany is part of the EU and Japan is a major trading partner.... the Wheel turns….

Kwanzaa is a seven day celebration.

Rome was built on 7 hills.

Seven deadly sins (what are they? the one you can’t name is your nemesis.)

Seven dwarfs (can you name them?)

Did you know that a ladybug has seven spots?

24/7 is a common time reference; 7/11 a popular convenience store (seems like there’s one at every major intersection); and 7Up is a popular brand of soda.

Seven is a lucky number, at least in America, maybe because the sum of two dice is most likely to be seven. I’m told 7 – 7 – 7 is a winner on the slot machine.

The seventh son of a seventh son is supposed to be possessed of special attributes or special abilities, so goes the folklore.

God rested on the seventh day, taking time to stop and admire Creation and smell the roses. There are seven days in a week, though different beliefs select different days as the seventh one.

“The Seventh Seal” is a classic movie by Ingmar Bergman. I’ll never forget the scene in which the Knight and Death play chess while the family escapes.

On the subject of movies, there were “The Magnificent Seven” and “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and 007 and “Seven Samurai.”

There are 7 notes in the western musical scale: do, re, me, fa, sol, la, ti. Go ahead, sing do again. You know you want to.

And how could I forget Seven of Nine? The one with the uniform painted on.

In “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, there were seven rings of power.

The Sheriff’s star has seven points.

Not seven times but seventy-seven times are we to forgive those who sin against us (Matthew 18:21-22). Sounds about right to me; some times it takes that much forgiving, for so much wrongdoing.