Have you ever noticed those strange
moments when you’re wondering about something and a very obvious but
deconstructed answer is right in front of your face? Perhaps you’re wondering
whether you should go to the party but exactly at that moment when you're thinking about what to
wear or who to bring, you come to a STOP sign. Directly above the word STOP someone has carved the word NO into
the sign. Would you take that as a ‘no’ don’t go to the party, or simply a
coincidence?
I remember feeling anxious about a
certain meeting at work and while driving my car the song ‘Take it Easy’ by the
Eagles came on the radio. When I stepped into the lobby at work, the same song
was playing on a completely different station. Do you think someone wanted me
to take it easy? It’s kind of like a favorite cartoon where a guy is asking God
for a sign and a giant neon sign falls from the sky landing in front of
him. The sign says, ‘A sign”.
Then there’s the dessert menu. Try
it sometime. Listen to the background music playing in the restaurant before
you commit to another thousand calories. If they’re playing Queen’s, "Fat-Bottomed
Girls" you might want to reconsider but if they’re playing Billy Joel’s, “Just
the Way You Are,” you might as well go for it! The smart restaurateur where I
ordered dessert last had ‘You Are So Beautiful" playing on the radio, so of course I indulged.
A few rows like this.... |
Right now, I’m wondering about a
stranger’s crocheted sweater. I know how to crochet and have taken the time to
learn many unusual crochet stitches but this sweater wasn’t a typical machine
made crocheted sweater that you could buy and it also looked extremely difficult to
make. The woman wearing the lacy cardigan could have made it or
received it as a gift. This large woman, with row after row of complex stitches,
sat in front of me last Sunday at church giving me an hour to ponder more than the sermon.(Which interestingly was about the multitudes sharing the five loaves and two fish.)
The
complicated stitch pattern repeated sometimes but only after approximately
twenty unique rows. Her white sweater seemed to represent something to me,
maybe because my insides have been feeling twisted into a tight crocheted
pattern. Lately, there have been some unusual things happening in my life and if
you know about my past, then you know I’m supposed to be the strong,
cool-headed voice of reason. Giant knots are obstructing my goals and draining
the oxygen from my heart. Give it to God everyone says. Will prayer help things
unravel—in a good way? Will He help me get everything untangled and readjusted
for some semblance of normalcy? I’m quite clear on the concept that the future
looks difficult. It’s a rocky terrain and I’m heading uphill. Still wondering
why I needed this reminder.
Am I one cloud formation away from the cuckoos’ nest
or simply reading too much into things? Has this happened to you?
What do you think? Do you allow the
universe to speak to you?