God in the Coincidences - Part 2

"A year passed before I bumped full force into a coincidence that literally stopped me in my tracks and  changed the way I view the happenstances of life. Some would say it was an accidental happening. Others might suggest God tired of waiting for me to come around and decided to step in. "

. . .Continued from last week's post, God in the Coincidences-Part 1

A year later . . .


Life in Mobile, Alabama means Mardi Gras, men in tails, and women in floor-length gowns. It was eleven o'clock on Thursday morning when I conceded I would have to forgo food and head to the mall for an hour of power shopping if I were to purchase a new gown in time for the Order of the Inca ball the following evening. Sporting an already-worn dress to a second ball would never do, and I was dangerously close to committing a serious Mardi Gras faux pas if I procrastinated any longer. When the lunch hour arrived, I rushed to my car determined to implement my retail plan of attack and return to work in the allotted time.

I drove under the canopy of live oaks that line Dauphin Street, weaving in and out of the noon traffic.  I pushed through yellow lights, pretending not to see the red flash above me, when something on the side of the road broke into my laser-like focus and captured my attention. It was a sign: Dauphin Way Methodist Church. The name sounded vaguely familiar. I didn't know why.

And then the unexplainable happened.

My car slowed, turned left onto the street beside the church, and came to a stop at the curb near a side entrance. I sat there for several minutes wondering what had caused me to veer from my intended destination. I fought an inexplicable impulse to climb the steps. The door is probably locked, I countered. It wasn't.

 “Hello?” 


My voice echoed through the cavernous foyer and bounced off the hard wood floors. No one answered. I descended a stairway to a basement corridor. I could hear the murmur of voices emanating from a room at the far end of the hall.  I followed the sound and read a handwritten note that was taped to the door. It said, “Al-Anon Meeting Today. Welcome!”


My immediate reaction was shock. My first inclination was to run, but something held me there. I opened  the door wide enough to peak through the crack. A young woman sat on a wooden stool at the front of the room. Intending to leave, I eased the door closed, hoping my presence had not been detected. Instead, I lingered in the hallway wondering what I was doing. The meeting had begun before I slipped into a seat in the back of the room. It felt like surrender. To what or to whom, I didn't know. I prayed no one would ask, "What brings you here?" I had no idea.

The woman on the stool at the front of the room fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. Her hands trembled. “I’m sorry,” she said.  “This is my first time to lead a meeting. All this week I couldn’t think of anything to talk about. I was getting really worried. It wasn't until eleven o'clock this morning that I knew. Today, I want to talk about how to withdraw with love.”

"How to withdraw with love." Those were the words spoken by my friend a year before when she suggested I attend Al-Anon -- when it was clear the relationship with my firstborn was broken. I was too weary--too stubborn--to respond to her recommendation. The probability that "how to withdraw with love" would be the topic a year later when I wandered into a meeting I had not planned to attend could only be described as infinitesimal. It was a chance occurrence that flew past improbable headed on towards impossible.

I was stunned when her words struck me. A lump rose in my throat. Tears burned my eyes.  I felt resistance melt away.  “I don’t know what just happened," I thought, "but something, someone out there is taking care of me.”

When I told Tara about the coincidence she said, “Mother, sometimes God does for us what we can’t do for ourselves.”

When I casually mentioned it to Father John at the church the following week, he commented,  "Bunny, sometimes it is in the coincidences of our lives that God is speaking to us." I couldn't help but wonder why  after all my years in the church no one had ever told me that. It seemed to be an important thing to know.

I've never forgotten the coincidence that day in the basement of  Dauphin Way Methodist Church. It was my spiritual birthday. For the first time I became aware that something greater than myself was pointing the way from woundedness to healing, from being lost to finding the way, and beyond that--to love. The heavens hadn't opened. A great light did not descended, but scales did fall from my eyes.  That was the day I discovered, if we are willing to look closely and open to the possibility, we can see the hand of God.

Reflections:

Expect that through the right lens, all our encounters will appear full of thunderbolts and instruction; every bush will be a burning bush.”  ~Gregg LeVoy 

It’s important to pay attention and to remember serendipitous moments. Sooner or later we may step onto a slippery slope in life and loose our footing. Remembering can help us regain a toe-hold and help us remember the faithfulness of God.—Bunny Cox


Deuteronomy 4:9-Be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their chidren after them. 


-Do I think God touches us with "coincidences"?  
-Have I had an experience that seems to be more than coincidence? If so, what story would I tell?   

Practice: 
Be attentive to the coincidences of your life. How did they appear? Notice if they connect in some way to something you need?