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Synchronicity Speaks…

Hello World!!!

Somes friends and I have decided that this year we are going to hold each other accountable for our resolutions, dreams, goals, etc. for 2009. I have yet to decide upon mine for this year. It usually takes me the whole month of January to come up with a reasonable list. I know many people think that coming up with yearly resolutions is pointless, but I think if you consult God and ask for His guidance, you stand half a chance of actually achieving them. God’s word states that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Philipians 4:13

So how do you know that God is guiding you to a specific resolution, goal, dream, etc.? An anonymous commenter on my last post “,Doubt,” said that one way that he or she knows that God is real is through coincidence. I think I know what this commenter means. Sometimes a string of mysterious events happen that seem to magically point to a certain result. I call this synchronicity aka magic! I first learned about synchronicity in an “The Artist’s Way” class I took one summer. It a class designed to “discover and recover your creative self.”  Taking that class was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in life! I cannot begin to tell you all that I learned.

But I will share one life-altering realization I had as a result of taking that class. I realized that I wanted to pursue a freelance writing/book writing business. I named this endeavor Selah Communications. Selah means to pause. Since I lost my job earlier that year, I had a lot of time to pause. I also decided that my business would be based on the Psalm 4: 4-5. “When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.”  That year, I spent many hours lying on my bed pondering my future. (So dramatic, I swear.) I determined that I would try to live a righteous life and trust the Lord was leading me in spite of my circumstances.

So I am getting to the point. I am…for real. That New Year’s Eve, the pastor actually preached on the same verses that I decided would be my guiding force for Selah Communications. Out of all of the verses in the Bible, the pastor chose the same two that I chose earlier that summer. Synchronicity at its best! And since then, I’ve been able to pursue freelance writing/book writing. (Aside: I do wonder when or if my book, “After the Altar Call,” will be published, but I’m still yet holding on and trusting in the Lord.  🙂 )

The following quote perfectly sums up the synchronicity principle:

Evoking the Soul

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of incidents and meetings and material assistance which no person would have believed would have come their way. Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it.  Action has magic, grace and power in it.

                                                                                    Goethe

Great quote, huh? I first read it in the “The Artist’s Way” book by Julia Cameron.  I have a sign with this quote on it in my office. I think synchronicity is one of the ways that God’s leads us to the right dream, resolution, goal, person, etc.  I have described one example in this post, but I’ve experience synchronicity countless times in my life. If if my book is published, you can read about more of my synchronistic experiences…

Have you experienced synchronicity in your life? One of the reasons that I love blogging is because it gives people a forum to share their experiences. So please tell me about your personal magic… (Also, here is a great article about synchronicity that explains it even better than I have, I think.)

Any thoughts?

P.S. You must  know that is was synchronistic that President-Elect Barack Obama offically accepted the Democratic party nomination on the same day that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech 45 years earlier. Don’t tell me that God isn’t real, as father likes to say…

 

 

 

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Doubt…

Hello World,

Did you eat your collard greens and black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day? I didn’t.  As far as I know, this is an American custom. I don’t think Jamaicans have a similar New Year’s Day custom – at least it wasn’t that way in my Jamaican household.

So rather than eating collard greens and black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day, I was at the movies. It’s been a long while since I’ve gone to the movies…I love movies, but I haven’t heard of very many movies lately that I’ve wanted to pay my money to see. But I must say I really enjoyed seeing the movie “Doubt.” I had heard about the movie, which stars Meryl Streep and Viola Davis, on NPR and “The View.” First of all, Meryl Streep is a beast, isn’t she? She is probably one of the best actresses of all time….She literally loses herself in every role. I loved her in “The Bridges of Madison County.” (Swoon, swoon) I hated and loved her in the “The Devil Wears Prada.” (She reminded me of my worst boss ever!) And in this movie, she is a tough-talking nun with a Bronx accent!  (And I believed it! She scared me!)  A beast, I tell you!

Also, I want to shout out Viola Davis too! You know I gotta shout out my black actresses! She is a remarkable actress with an equally remarkable story. Davis was the one actually featured on NPR and on “The View.” I really felt her pain as I watched her wide, wild, teary eyes accompanied by runaway snot in the movie.

Potential movie spoiler ahead! The movie is about a 1960s Catholic school in the Bronx that is undergoing “CHANGE” as its first black student has been admitted.  Sister Aloysius Beauvier, portrayed by Streep, is the principal of the school. Her no-nonsense demeanor and pinched face inspire dread and fear from the students to the teachers under her leadership. Her leadership and sensibilities are challenged by Father Flynn, portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman (a beast in his own right. Remember him in “Boogie Nights?” ) Flynn, a card-carrying member of the good ole boy priest network, wants to bring about his own CHANGE at the school by injecting secular Christmas carols during the school’s Christmas program, taking the students on camping trips and other practices frowned upon by the Sister.

The two get locked in a battle of wits and will when the Sister suspects, without very much tangible evidence, that Flynn is having an (ahem) inappropriate relationship with the school’s first black student.  However, her relentless pursuit of Flynn along with a little white lie ultimately lead to Flynn resiging from the school. (Actually, in spite of the accusations directed at him, Flynn is put in a higher position at another school.) By the end of the movie, it is never absolutely proven that Flynn is guilty, and the Sister sobs as she admits she has doubts. And she never reveals exactly what she doubts. I think she doubted if Flynn was actually guilty, but I also think she doubted the Catholic church which has had a history of protecting some of its priests while allowing children to be abused by these  same priests.

Anyway, ALL of that to say, was is it that you have doubted in your life? Some believe that if you have never doubted your faith, then you have no real faith at all. Perhaps, the most famous Biblical doubter is Thomas aka Didymus. I remember how my fifth-grade teacher at Pathway Christian School said, “Didymus.” Something about the way he said it made me want to giggle. I think he even dressed up as the apostle once, but I digress…

Thomas said that he didn’t believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” John 20:25  Rather than banish him to Hell or even chide him, Jesus came to Thomas and instructed him to touch His hands and His side to remove his doubt. Of course, Thomas believed then. Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

It was revealed in 2007 that Mother Teresa, too, had doubts about God. Read an article about it here.  In spite of her of her God-given call to the poor, she often wondered if God even existed and cared.

So my question is on this first Sunday of 2009 is, do you ever doubt that God exists? How do you know that God is real? Unlike Thomas, none of us alive now have been able to actually touch Jesus, see the nail prints on His hands or put our hands into His side? Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” But sometimes, don’t you just wish you could see…

Any thoughts?

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Hope. Wish.. Pray…

littlegirl2

Hello World!!!

Goodbye 2008! Hello 2009! By tomorrow, another year in the life of you and me will be over…I wonder what’s coming next! For roughly the past 10 years or so, you can find me in church on New Year’s Eve listening for God’s words to me for the upcoming year. I’ve been amazed time and time again how whatever verse or verses the pastor chooses to preach on that night sums of my experiences for the upcoming year. It’s uncanny… I’m excited to find out what I will hear tonight…

But aside from God’s words for me, I have some words for God…I want to know when some of my deepest dreams will come true…I want to believe that some of my dreams will come true this year, but if you have lived for a while now, you know that sometimes dreams are deferred. (Shout out to Langston Hughes!) If you’ve lived long enough, some of your dreams have been shattered. Maybe your husband died of leukemia shortly after you were married. Maybe your mother died of breast cancer. Maybe your father rejected you. Maybe you wrote a book that will never be published. Maybe your wife cheated on you. Maybe someone has broken up with you. Maybe the love of your life left. Maybe no one has asked to marry you. Maybe you never passed the bar. Maybe you have a crazy behind family. Maybe you never intended to be a single baby mama. Maybe you ain’t got that record deal yet. Maybe you’re a raging alcoholic and you’re impossible to deal with. I could go on and on unfortunately…

Goodness, I hate to write such pessimistic prose, but we all know that sometimes life is a b@#%*. So what are we do? For today, I have decided to hope, wish & pray that my dreams will come true…According to the Word, you are “delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 When I first read this verse years ago, I thought it meant that God will give you whatever you want if you serve Him. I know that’s not true now. Now I believe that if you come to know the Lord in an intimate way, He will guide you to your true desires – that is He will give you the desires He has for you. He will guide you to your God-given destiny. So over the years, God has shown me what are my false desires and what are my true desires.(I no longer desire to date a man from every continent, ha,ha, for instance.)  Anyway, two dreams or two desires remain…at least for today. Well, that’s not true. I have more than two dreams, but I am thinking of two in particular…(What dreams do you think I am referring to? Guess?)

I don’t know about your relationship with God, but I let Him know how I feel. And sometimes I say, “Okay God, the answer to this problem is taking too long. I need for You to act right now. I cannot take it anymore.” When I get like this, my face is glistening with tears and I am prostrate on my bedroom floor. And sometimes I throw a tantrum. Yes, I get down and dirty. I take the Lord at His word. According to the Word, you can “cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you.” Psalm 55:22. So I’m steady castin’ !

But that’s the beauty of God. If you know Him, love Him and try to serve Him, you can claim His promises. I do. And so with the sliver of belief that I have left that my dreams will come true, I will hope, wish & pray that in 2009, at least one, maybe two will come true…Please God!

Any thoughts?

P.S. The title of this post was inspired by the Hidden Beach artist Lina, who sings the song “Hope, Wish & Pray.” Why she hadn’t blown up yet! Check out the song here. Isn’t it beautiful?