I had not intended to write something wonderful and sublime this morning. Really the goal was more along the lines of posting a cute cat video.
But I had this marvelous - thing - happen to me the other day that I just had to share with someone yesterday, a grief counselor at a local hospice that I interviewed yesterday for a story. She has heard others share similar stories, while others get frustrated and upset when they don't have them, but she stilll marveled at my story.
She added to me, "It's because you're so open."
Honestly, I don't know where I'm going with this post. All my life, I've experienced these sublime occurrences that others call coincidences. Some might call it the Holy Spirit. Others might say I'm psychic.
Well, I have had too many of them to call them coincidences. As a family, we have had so many of them that we actually scoff at the word "coincidence." The Holy Spirit? I talk to God all the time, and I "hear" Him talk to me, so sometimes, maybe even most of the time, yes, it could be the Holy Spirit.
Psychic? Doubtful, because I think psychics have control over it and can summon certain abilities at will. I don't feel as if I have any special abilities, and I can't summon these experiences at will. Maybe it's safe to say I'm simply "listening," to God or to whomever else has something to say to me.
I feel blessed to have this spiritual direction for my life. I'm blessed I'm obedient enough to follow the direction, even when the directions don't, at first, make sense. I can literally "hear the "walk here, because..." and so I walk and then the "because" becomes obvious.
I also hear the "don't walk there!" messages loudly, clearly, succintly, even during those times when a certain path looks like a really good way to go. So I don't go.
Not every good thing comes to pass because God gives everyone free will. Sometimes, when God wants something for you, it doesn't happen because He's allowed someone else to exercise his/her free will by refusing to participate. God then brings another gift to me. What happens between God and the non-participant is none of my business, and I really don't care. I'm too busy enjoying the gift.
Not every gift looks like a gift in the beginning.
Sometimes, I'm simply the channel to be or bring a gift for another, as in this case. But the sublimity of the happenstance blesses me, too. There's something truly magical about God saying, "Go tell so and so this" or "Go do this for so and so" and then feel the joy of tearing down the path to do it.
Trust me, not every incident makes me happy, at least in the beginning. This is not some crystal ball that only tells me what I want to hear. Often, I say "yes" after much debate, clenched teeth, and an angry heart. I've done my share of fist-shaking to the air.
In the end, I trot away in obedience, sometimes still shaking that fist. The awesome thing that happened to me the other day wasn't like that. It left me feeling happy all over, warm and glowing inside and out, like a warm blanket and good book on a cold and rainy night.
You'd think after all this time and a storehouse of happenings, I'd cease to be surprised. But maybe that's part of the openness, that I can still feel wonder and awe, that I don't have the attitude of, "Pschaw, another day, another gift."
Last night, just as I had drifted off to sleep, a rapid series of four texts woke me up. It was from someone that decided to back off a story, one that is due Thursday and is running Sunday. After a brief moment of panic, I "knew" exactly how to approach the story and make it better, without this source. Instead of lying awake in panic and frustration, well, I obviously fell asleep because that is the last thing I remember.
That wasn't the "thing" to which I was referring. That "thing" I'm not sharing here. But the importance of the "thing" is just for a few, so there's really no reason to share it here.
I think maybe the message today is to simply be aware.
But I had this marvelous - thing - happen to me the other day that I just had to share with someone yesterday, a grief counselor at a local hospice that I interviewed yesterday for a story. She has heard others share similar stories, while others get frustrated and upset when they don't have them, but she stilll marveled at my story.
She added to me, "It's because you're so open."
Honestly, I don't know where I'm going with this post. All my life, I've experienced these sublime occurrences that others call coincidences. Some might call it the Holy Spirit. Others might say I'm psychic.
Well, I have had too many of them to call them coincidences. As a family, we have had so many of them that we actually scoff at the word "coincidence." The Holy Spirit? I talk to God all the time, and I "hear" Him talk to me, so sometimes, maybe even most of the time, yes, it could be the Holy Spirit.
Psychic? Doubtful, because I think psychics have control over it and can summon certain abilities at will. I don't feel as if I have any special abilities, and I can't summon these experiences at will. Maybe it's safe to say I'm simply "listening," to God or to whomever else has something to say to me.
I feel blessed to have this spiritual direction for my life. I'm blessed I'm obedient enough to follow the direction, even when the directions don't, at first, make sense. I can literally "hear the "walk here, because..." and so I walk and then the "because" becomes obvious.
I also hear the "don't walk there!" messages loudly, clearly, succintly, even during those times when a certain path looks like a really good way to go. So I don't go.
Not every good thing comes to pass because God gives everyone free will. Sometimes, when God wants something for you, it doesn't happen because He's allowed someone else to exercise his/her free will by refusing to participate. God then brings another gift to me. What happens between God and the non-participant is none of my business, and I really don't care. I'm too busy enjoying the gift.
Not every gift looks like a gift in the beginning.
Sometimes, I'm simply the channel to be or bring a gift for another, as in this case. But the sublimity of the happenstance blesses me, too. There's something truly magical about God saying, "Go tell so and so this" or "Go do this for so and so" and then feel the joy of tearing down the path to do it.
Trust me, not every incident makes me happy, at least in the beginning. This is not some crystal ball that only tells me what I want to hear. Often, I say "yes" after much debate, clenched teeth, and an angry heart. I've done my share of fist-shaking to the air.
In the end, I trot away in obedience, sometimes still shaking that fist. The awesome thing that happened to me the other day wasn't like that. It left me feeling happy all over, warm and glowing inside and out, like a warm blanket and good book on a cold and rainy night.
You'd think after all this time and a storehouse of happenings, I'd cease to be surprised. But maybe that's part of the openness, that I can still feel wonder and awe, that I don't have the attitude of, "Pschaw, another day, another gift."
Last night, just as I had drifted off to sleep, a rapid series of four texts woke me up. It was from someone that decided to back off a story, one that is due Thursday and is running Sunday. After a brief moment of panic, I "knew" exactly how to approach the story and make it better, without this source. Instead of lying awake in panic and frustration, well, I obviously fell asleep because that is the last thing I remember.
That wasn't the "thing" to which I was referring. That "thing" I'm not sharing here. But the importance of the "thing" is just for a few, so there's really no reason to share it here.
I think maybe the message today is to simply be aware.
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