A long, long time ago a wandering preacher told anyone who would listen to seek until they find. For a long time I imagined this meant seek until you reach enlightenment, though I had (and still have) zero idea what that might actually mean.
These days, as I move deeper into middle age and beyond, I see it different. I think the son of the carpenter meant that any hope for an escape from humanhood was a process – perhaps a multi-life process. So we seek, we find a nugget here, a clue there, and these help fuel our journey forward.
We might call these epiphanies or revelations, synchronicities or kismet, but what they portend is progress – that we’re on the right track, that the seeking (the so-called spiritual journey) should continue. These clues also are a reminder that something is paying attention, something is cheering us on, something is whispering, ‘Look, pay attention, listen.’
I recently wrote of my daughter’s wedding and the (seeming) miracle that the venue she chose was situated adjacent to the long-ago home of my spiritual teacher, who died in 1964. The chances of that happening are, of course, astronomically slim.
But it did happen and the results of that little epiphany continue to ripple through my life. To wit, that trip introduced me to a man who still runs courses from that favorite teacher, and this man lives not far from my daughter’s new home in North Carolina. Again, what are the chances?
Each time I visit my daughter, I try to share a coffee with this fellow, and this time around he introduced me to the story of a hardcore prisoner from the 1920s and 30s. Near death in a solitary confinement pen (these were the days when barbaric torture of prisoners was still commonplace), the prisoner experienced a profound spiritual awakening.
In short order I purchased a copy of the prisoner’s book (he went on to live a deeply peaceful and meaningful life) and almost immediately his words resonated Truth the way few do. A recent, early-morning reading sent me to my computer, where I shot off a note to my daughter, completing a conversation we’d started but I hadn’t had the courage – or inner sight – to complete.
The words flowed from me the way few do and I hit ‘send’ without a moment’s hesitation or even to go back and spellcheck. You know Truth – in your own words as well as those of others – when you see/feel/experience them.
Not long after I got a note back from my daughter expressing her deep gratitude and a suggestion she’s been seeing something different in me since the wedding.
I hope you see what I see in these mysterious connections and look for them in your own life.
