"We become what we think about." ~ Earl Nightingale

Welcome to Sacred Ruminations

I hope you'll look around & leave comments
then visit me at my new blog ...

Giraffe Journal

and/or website ... Labyrinth Journal
both self-hosted at WordPress
where I publish as myself
rather than under a
pseudonym.

I've not had much time for posting or blog visits, but if you're interested I hope you'll find time to check out my new blog, Giraffe Journal or my Labyrinth Journal website ... both self hosted at WordPress.

Thanks for your visit and have a delightful day ;--)
Hugs and blessings,


Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Day 29 Coincidence and Grace (My Sacred Life)

All too often, the things I believe I want in my life just aren't good for me (though this awareness usually shows up long after the fact). The older I get, the more grateful I am that God's simple response to my most fervent (yet often foolish) prayers is a loving "No" ... because I've come to know that her vision for my life is greater than anything I might imagine for myself (a most humbling recognition of how "grace" works).
“How do you know which of your intentions is likely to be fulfilled? The answer lies in paying attention to the clues provided by the nonlocal mind. Notice the coincidences in your life. Coincidences are messages. They are clues from God or spirit or nonlocal reality, urging you to break out of your karmic conditioning, your familiar patterns of thinking. They are offering you an opportunity to enter a domain of awareness where you feel loved and cared for by the infinite intelligence that is your source. Spiritual traditions call this the state of grace." ~Deepak Chopra
I've heard coincidence defined as God's way of remaining anonymous. I've come to see coincidence as grace in action ... something we learn to recognize over time through experience ... and pass on (or not).
GRACE
The beauty of grace
is that you receive blessings
for no reason.
As above, so below.
PRACTICE random acts of grace.
Give to others for no reason.
Offer kindness to those who are undeserving,
love those who no one else loves.
Practice grace.
Daniel Levin, Zen Cards

These days ... I realize how much better my daily life becomes when I pray ... "not my will, but thine, be done" ... simple, but not always easy.

"Slow down
and everything you are chasing
will come around and catch you."
~John De Paola

5 comments:

Liz Dwyer said...

Those are quite lovely quotations. I frequently wonder about coincidences that seem much less like coincidences and more like things that were meant to be. I try to balance that with the knowledge that we all have free will and can shape our own destinies. I just don't know how much we can shape them.

storyteller said...

I'm happy you found them so, Liz. Thanks for stopping by and adding your perspective. You raise an excellent point. Free will in the face of coincidence may be one of those intriguing paradoxes in life ;-)

In my experience, we may not have as much control as we'd like over happens to us (or anyone else actually), but the choice we DO possess in any instance is how to respond to what happens ... and to me, choosing becomes a functional definition of "free will".

Perhaps we can be "right" or "happy" ... but not necessarily both simultaneously?

storyteller said...

Lucy
Guess we're on similar wave lengths since we' both posted about "Grace". I'm still trying to figure out how you create links from my sites to yours. 'Tis a puzzlement :)
Hugs,

Anonymous said...

Definitely not always easy, but an absolute truth about how the Universe works.

storyteller said...

Lucy -- puzzlement solved at last :-]
...(though I'm feeling just a little dense now that I've figured out I was creating and leaving links all around, totally unaware I was doing so. Such is life!

Kikipotamus
If it was easy there would be no challenge ... and life might be dull. ; >]
Hugs and blessings to you both,