David Lee

Over the past ten years I have become acquainted with synchronicity and its presence in my life.  Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, yet are experienced as occurring together in a meaningful manner. The concept of synchronicity was first described in this terminology by Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychologist, in the 1920s.

One of the best examples I can use to illustrate began when I noted and took a picture of a license tag which read “I am 007”.  I posted the picture to my Facebook page, as I many times will do when I see an interesting tag. During the day, both my sister and daughter said they had also seen the same car with the same tag.  A bit later, another FB friend recognized the tag and said in 2007 he had purchased a car from the same man.

The synchronicity continued during the day when a friend from Michigan (I live in North Carolina) sent a picture with the inscription “Kala23”.  He sent the picture to me to assist me with a project entitled “365 days of 23’s,” in which I take a picture of something that contains the number 23. The friend’s last name is “Bond” and his first name is “David,” the same as mine.  Se I had seen a picture of a tag denoting James Bond and a friend with the same last name became the lastest contributor in my “23” project.  His first and last name held special significance in the synch.

I also had posted the story and the pics to three synchronicity groups I belong to on FB and one of the other members of the group informed me that the next Bond movie, which is scheduled to premier in two months will be the 23rd in the series of Bond pictures.  The synch involved a vanity plate, two family members who saw the same plate, a friend who had purchased a car from the man, and finally the 23rd movie in a series that featured the fictional James Bond.  Such connections I consider to be rare indeed.

Synchronicities are all around us each day,,, if only we are willing to look for them and make note of the connections being shown.  Order amidst what sometimes appears to be the chaos in our lives.

Somebody cares and always will,

The world forgets but God loves you still,

You cannot go beyond His love

No matter what you’re guilty of —

For God forgives until the end,

He is your faithful, loyal friend,

And though you try to hide your face

The is no shelter any place

That can escape His watchful eye,

For on the earth and in the sky

He’s ever present and always there

To take you in His tender care

And bind the wounds and mend the breaks

When all the world around forsakes…

Somebody cares and loves you still

And God is the someone who always will.

 

Helen Steiner Rice in the book “Just for You”

Breathing Under Water

I built my house by the sea.

Not on the sands, mind you;

not on the shifting sand.

And I built it of rock.

A strong house

by a strong sea.

And we got well acquainted, the sea and I.

Good neighbors.

Not that we spoke much.

We met in silences.

Respectful, keeping our distance,

but looking our thoughts across the fence of sand.

Always, the fence of sand our barrier,

always, the sand between.

And then one day,

–and I don’t know how it happened–

the sea came.

Without warning.

Without welcome, even

Not sudden and swift, but a shifting across the sand like wine,

less like the flow of water than the flow of blood.

Slow, but coming.

Slow, but flowing like an open wound.

And I thought of flight and I though of drowning and I thought of death.

And while I thought the sea crept higher, till it reached my door.

And I knew then, there was neither flight, nor death, nor drowning.

That when the sea comes calling you stop being neighbors

Well acquainted, friendly-at-a-distance, neighbors

And you give your house for the coral castle,

And you learn to breathe underwater.

by Carol Bieleck

God cannot help you unless you allow God to help you.  Many of us could be accused of trying to out-God God.  We think we know more than God.  We think we can do more than God.  We actually believe that what we want and how we want it is better than the way God can bring it to us.  In fact, we get so busy doing what we do the way we do it, there is no opportunity for God to get into our lives at all!

If you want to run the show, God will let you.  If you want to pull all the strings, that’s up to you.  If you want to insist that what you are doing is the way it should be done, even when you are not getting anywhere, go right ahead.   God will let you run yourself ragged, if you choose to do so.

Unfortunately, you may not always be aware that you are in God’s way.  You think you are demonstrating your independence.  You think that it is all up to you and that you must do it or it won’t get done.  God knows better!  God knows that God cannot fail!  However, God has no need to prove to you what God can do.

How do you know when you are in God’s way?  How do you know when you are running your program rather than allowing God’s divine plan to unfold?  It’s very simple.  If you are struggling to make things happen and they are not happening, then it’s you, not God, running the show.

Until today, you may have been directing your own life and attempting to produce your own blessings.  Just for today, ask for directions.  Open yourself to guidance.  Give up your attachments to having things your way.  Open yourself to God’s way.

Today I am devoted to allowing God to work through me and for me!

From: “Until Today” by Iyanla Vanzant

God cannot help you unless you allow God to help you.  Many of us could be accused of trying to out-God God.  We think we know more than God.  We think we can do more than God.  We actually believe that what we want and how we want it is better than the way God can bring it to us.  In fact, we get so busy doing what we do the way we do it, there is no opportunity for God to get into our lives at all!

If you want to run the show, God will let you.  If you want to pull all the strings, that’s up to you.  If you want to insist that what you are doing is the way it should be done, even when you are not getting anywhere, go right ahead.   God will let you run yourself ragged, if you choose to do so.

Unfortunately, you may not always be aware that you are in God’s way.  You think you are demonstrating your independence.  You think that it is all up to you and that you must do it or it won’t get done.  God knows better!  God knows that God cannot fail!  However, God has no need to prove to you what God can do.

How do you know when you are in God’s way?  How do you know when you are running your program rather than allowing God’s divine plan to unfold?  It’s very simple.  If you are struggling to make things happen and they are not happening, then it’s you, not God, running the show.

Until today, you may have been directing your own life and attempting to produce your own blessings.  Just for today, ask for directions.  Open yourself to guidance.  Give up your attachments to having things your way.  Open yourself to God’s way.

Today I am devoted to allowing God to work through me and for me!

Just this morning I was in a meeting of like-minded individuals, discussing how much the our past lives should play a part in our present situations.  As I reflected, I became aware that each of the most-eventful times in my recent past history have helped raise my level of faith in a Higher Power, whom I choose to call God.

There are many times over the past nine-and-a-half years that I could call my sanity into question.  There were so many things going on around me that I didn’t understand and no matter how hard I tried, could not wrap my mind around.  It would seem that the world had cast upon me a cruel trial of faith that called into question my very being and purpose in life.  Yet through it all, I kept praying and mustering as much faith as I could in a God that was watching out over it all and keeping me in His care.  From those experiences, I have developed a stronger faith than at any other point in my life.

I can look back at the most recent past of my life and know that I didn’t really sit down and plan any of it out.  I never figured to be divorced, go through rehab for an addiction, sell my house, move from the school I’d taught at for twenty-two years, and so many other twists and turns.  But somehow, someway, there was a guiding force that took me to exactly where I needed to be to learn what I needed to learn.  This includes all the people I’ve come into contact with along the way, most of which have had a positive influence on my spiritual life.  That guiding force in my life is a God that knows more about me than I know about myself and always seems to know what’s best, with or without my conscious effort.

So when I face present-day-difficulties, I once again turn to God and ask Him for His guidance, wisdom, and strength.  And I am certain in the process that He will lead me to think, do, and say exactly what He would have me to in order to fulfill His will for my life and the lives of those I encounter.   Just my present take on my faith-life as I face each day, one day at a time, on life’s terms

David Lee

In each of our journeys in this world, we are called upon to fill many roles.  Some of those are roles we freely choose and then again, there are those parts of our paths that are cast upon us, not of our own choosing.

From the moment of our conception, we are set forth on the journey of our lives.  The parents we have are the ones that we are supposed to have.  The circumstances and surroundings of our birth were exactly as they were supposed to be.

As we grew up in years, we began to interact with those people that were in our environment, which was not the one we had chosen for ourselves.  We went to fend for ourselves in the world, learning important lessons each step of the way.  Even those times as youngsters that we found ourselves confused and bewildered were meant specifically for the future paths we would one day take.

The way I can best figure is that each of us has a specific role to fill in this world.  As sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, each one of us has something to contribute to the well-being of others.

Even the jobs we have had were specifically designed to fulfill our life’s purpose and to affect others in ways that we are many times unaware.  The reason we thought we were doing the job we had been called to and the actual reason we were there are perhaps light-years apart.

Each of us also has had those dark times in our lives when things seemed to be totally out of balance and we wondered if there was any purpose at all to our existence on this earth.  Even during those times, our experiences were designed to help us to be of service to those that themselves would be facing similar obstacles.

Best I can tell, I was meant to be on this journey of my lifetime, or else I wouldn’t be here writing these words.  I am thankful for the many blessings I have received and also for the challenges life has sent me, for they are what have made the person that I am today.

And today, I considered myself both happy and  blessed.

David Lee

In each of our journeys in this world, we are called upon to fill many roles.  Some of those are roles we freely choose and then again, there are those parts of our paths that are cast upon us, not of our own choosing.

From the moment of our conception, we are set forth on the journey of our lives.  The parents we have are the ones that we are supposed to have.  The circumstances and surroundings of our birth were exactly as they were supposed to be.

As we grew up in years, we began to interact with those people that were in our environment, which was not the one we had chosen for ourselves.  We went to fend for ourselves in the world, learning important lessons each step of the way.  Even those times as youngsters that we found ourselves confused and bewildered were meant specifically for the future paths we would one day take.

The way I can best figure is that each of us has a specific role to fill in this world.  As sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, each one of us has something to contribute to the well-being of others.

Even the jobs we have had were specifically designed to fulfill our life’s purpose and to affect others in ways that we are many times unaware.  The reason we thought we were doing the job we had been called to and the actual reason we were there are perhaps light-years apart.

Each of us also has had those dark times in our lives when things seemed to be totally out of balance and we wondered if there was any purpose at all to our existence on this earth.  Even during those times, our experiences were designed to help us to be of service to those that themselves would be facing similar obstacles.

Best I can tell, I was meant to be on this journey of my lifetime, or else I wouldn’t be here writing these words.  I am thankful for the many blessings I have received and also for the challenges life has sent me, for they are what have made the person that I am today.

And today, I considered myself both happy and  blessed.

 

David Lee

I can think back to a time not too long ago when I was in the midst of what I considered to be  my last year of teaching.  The decision at the time wasn’t one I took lightly and when I did decide to retire, felt comfortable with my choice.  But it would seem somewhere along the way, with its numerous twists and turns, God had another plan in mind.

I was approached in the second half of the school year about taking an interim position at the school I had last worked.  It would mean returning to the position I had just left, but at a much lower pay scale.  I declined the position, reasoning that I would have all the duties of my former job at less pay.  It just didn’t make a lot of sense from a “practical” standpoint.

Life continued on its course and I ventured down several roads in attempt to find out my retirement “calling.”  I did substitute teach quite often and also taught remediation classes that afforded me the opportunity to work several days a week without the full time commitment.  I never second-guessed my decision to turn down the interim post.

As time progressed, it became clear that God had other plans for my life.  The same interim position was going to be available for the first couple of months of the new school year.  I realized at that time that it was something that I was being called to do.  I approached the powers that be and agreed to return to the job I had vacated, the interim position I had formerly turned down for financial considerations.

There are other circumstances that are becoming present that make it even clearer to me that this is the place God intends me to be, at least for the time being.  So I’ll return to the same position that I had when I returned, working for substitute’s pay, with all the job duties of a full time employee.  And through it all, I have to think God has had a laugh or two knowing that I am ending up doing what perhaps he wanted me to keep doing in the first place.

I have learned in life that we can make plans for the future and are many times prudent in doing so.  But when we get so attached to those plans and the outcomes we intend, we may be wandering away from what God would have us to do.  He has a way of putting us in the environment where our blessings can be shared with others to the fullest extent.

So as the first of the school year approaches, I’m planning the first two month’s lessons and thinking of bulletin board ideas and preparing myself for the ninety-some students that will be under my care for at least the first two months of the school year.  I wouldn’t change anything that I’ve done during the time I’ve been retired.  I think God can use all that we experience to help us realized  the plans He has for us… whether or not it’s where we thought we were going.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11

Right in Front of Me All the Time

There are times in our lives when we struggle looking for answers to life’s tough questions.  We search for the solutions to our life’s problems and seek to find meaning in the all of it.  Many times the answers are right in front of us, but we’re so busy searching and seeking, we ignore the obvious.  A recent experience reminded me of this simple fact.

I was going to visit a friend on a sunny afternoon and was running a bit ahead of schedule.  I decided to stop by a convenience store for a soda and while I was there, decided to take my chances on the lottery.  I made my purchases and returned to the road to travel to my destination.  Just before arriving, I wanted to check my cell phone for any messages.  I looked for it in the usual places, but it wasn’t to be found.

I almost immediately was wrapped in fear as I deduced I had put it on the counter back at the store and all sorts of thoughts ran through my head.  Someone had probably picked it up and taken it for their own use.  I would never see it again and would not only have to pay for a replacement, but pay for whatever charges had ensued on the original phone.  I made my way back to the store and asked the clerk if I had left it there and he said no one had turned one in to him.

He then asked for my phone number and proceeded to dial to see if it was somewhere in the store, but to no avail. I asked him to let it keep ringing and made my way back out to my car.  A lovely chime greeted me as I opened the door,,, my phone was wedged in between the driver’s seat and the console.  I returned to thank him for helping me retrieve my phone.

The point that I soon came to realize is that the phone was right in front of me all the time, but I was so wrapped up in worry and fear that I didn’t see it sitting there.  How many times in our lives are we looking for the answers to our problems in all the wrong places, when the answer was sitting there in plain view?   Do we become so carried away with the problem that we overlook the simple solution that has been there all the time?