Who is in your path today?

 

Pay Attention

“Pay attention to the people God puts in your path if you want to discover what God is up to in your life.”

Henri Nouwen

          When you become an observer of your own life, some interesting synchronicities occur. You begin to see the same messages everywhere you look, as though the universe is attempting to guide your journey. People are literally put in your path—chance meetings, unexpected introductions—who have information that assists you. One wonders (one being me) whose hand is at work. It seems almost as if there’s an invisible que; people are lined up and events are staged to appear at just the right place and time. After seven decades of seeing this happen, I’m no longer surprised, but it still delights and amuses me.

          Here’s a story about that: A friend of mine owned some land up near Springville, AL. The land was beautiful, but rough and steep, so there was no place to build an abode. After several years, a small 7-acre farm adjoining this land became available because the folks who owned it needed to move to the northeast. My friend jumped on it because it had a small house and shop already built. But she needed a co-investor to afford the property. A friend stepped up—someone she had known forever—and provided half. After a while, that friend decided he wanted to change his decision; the farm building was too much work and he wanted to spend more time hiking with his dog. My friend was in a pickle because he asked her to buy him out and she didn’t have the cash. In the middle of that, she had a heart attack, was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, evaluated and had chest-cracking by-pass surgery. In the pre-operation period, her nurse was a woman, we’ll call Nancy, and post-op, her nurse was a man we’ll call Brad. While in their care, she related to them what had happened with the farm, and she didn’t know what she was going to do. Brad told her he’d been saving money to buy something that hadn’t come through, and that he had grown up on a farm and missed that life. While he was taking care of her, they became friends. Long-story-short, Brad bought out the interest of the first investor, and brought along Nancy, who in addition to being a nurse, is an herbalist. She makes all sorts of tinctures and teas from the plants she grows. Now, it just so happens that Brad has mad skills in carpentry, so he and my friend are renovating the house, and Nancy is harvesting herbs and the whole clan is as happy as can be—even though they came together around a heart attack.

          Of course, every story is not that dramatic, but this chance and happenstance does occur in every life. Most of the time, we write it off as coincidence, but when you pay attention, you realize there is a pattern of meaningful events leading to a fortuitous outcome. The universe has lined up behind you to guide your journey.

          The poet Rumi put this meeting of souls into verse:

“From the beginning of my life

I have been looking for your face,

But today, I have seen it.”

          Pay attention to the people God puts in your path today and every day. You are surrounded by love whether you know it or not.

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane