Saturday, January 31, 2009

Coincidence? I think not.

British born author and Nobel prize winner Doris Lessing once wrote that"Coincidences are God's way of remaining anonymous."

Recently I was faced with a decision.

I hadn't communicated my quandary to anyone, I was just struggling with it on my own when I received an email from afriend that ended with the words " the universe is unfolding as it should and even though we may not like where we are at a given moment,things can change. We can change. And we can change the way we feel andreact to things."

Like a lightning bolt - his totally spontaneous words spoke directly to my own struggle and I realized that I can change. I can change how I feel and how I react. I had my answer. Not rocket science for sure (and most of you are probably thinking 'duh, that was pretty obvious') plus it was not given as advice nor even in response to anything I'd said or written. It's highly likely that I already knew this buts omehow, someway, I needed to be reminded. My friend became the vehicle by which that message was sent.

A 'coincidence'? I think not.

So was Lessing correct that coincidences are God's way of remaining anonymous? I wonder if it might not be more appropriate to recognize that God comes to us in many different ways and manners. Few of us have to wrestle with an angel as Jacob did. Fewer still are visited by angels to announce births and miraculous events yet all of us - if we are open to them - receive gifts that the giver doesn't even know they've offered.

It's not so much that God is anonymous, it's more that we - in more ways than we could ever imagine - are basically messengers, angels, of God. Remember that the word angel is derived from the Latin angelus meaning 'messenger'.

Angels are God's messengers. Messengers delivering just what God knows that we need.

Coincidence? I think not.

Thanks Joe; you're an angel.