He Moves In Mysterious Ways

A guy I work with sent a quote out yesterday -You know, one of them motivational rah rah things:

"Our lives are not determined by what happens to us,
But by how we react to what happens;
Not by what life brings,
But by the attitude we bring to life.
A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes.
It is a catalyst that creates extraordinary results."

Now, one could look at one of these and think, Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, and it's on a poster of a Salmon swimmin' upstream at a waterfall, right? Gotcha... But, the funny thing here is this:
I believe in miracles, you see...
Now, unlike the common conception of miracles - Burning bushes, the appearance of the B.V.M., (Blessed Virgin Mary), etc, I think that most miracles are tiny little things, subtle and fleeting, and as such are often missed.

I often wondered when folks told me that, "God told me to do this or that," because, once again, I believe in the subtle - God spoke directly to Moses, the prophets, and Jesus, but I've never heard his voice, per se. If I question those who say such things, it is usually a sign, a feeling, a thought, or something similiar they experienced and knew was the voice of God... Now that sort of thing - I know that happens every day.

And that's why Shane's quote was cool, because to be frank, I've had a rough last few months - Really rough, in financial and work terms. Getting paid by commission can and often is that way, but hasn't been for me for quite a while, so this has been especially tough... So yesterday, I was so frustrated that I was about at the point of saying, Fuck it, I'm done, I've had enough of this, I'm not getting support, I'm not getting reinforcement, I've worked my ass off for the team and there's no appreciation and I'm not getting jack in return, what a crock of... And then... What's this email? Shane's a business-like guy, he doesn't email for fun, so, I opened it and here's this quote...

And I smiled, and shook my head, and thought, OK, Lord, I hear ya. You're right... I was wallowing, it is on me, I should do what I do because it's the right thing, and my attitude is mine to control: I am greatly blessed in this life, and I really don't have anything to bitch about... Those words were exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.

So, when I saw Shane this morning, I said, "Great quote, man, thanks, I needed that; where'd you get it?" He responded that he'd just decided out of the blue to go to the Bartlett's site, saw that, liked it, and thought he should send it to me, right then and there. I told him how it had impacted me, and noted that God moves in mysterious ways: Then, thinking about not proselytizing, I asked him if he was a spiritual person, and he told me this story.

When he worked for another lender, he left his office one night and ran out of gas on a side road in a very bad part of south Dallas. Shane's a big boy, ex football player, yet he emphasized, "You know where I'm talking about, really rough part of town, not a good place to be stranded..." Shane's wife was pregnant after many, many attempts to become so. It was a very rough pregnancy, and about 2/3 the way through at the time. Right about when things were looking very grim, a guy kind of appears out of nowhere, stops and asks if he needed help. He tells Shane to get in, and that he'd take him to get gas right after he dropped his very pregnant wife off at home. The guy did just that; found a gas can, took him to a gas station, then dropped him off at his car and kept an eye on things while he fueled up, and then off he went, end of story - A good samaritan...

A couple weeks later, Shane's daughter was born very prematurely. She was in ICU for six days, during which the doctors told him it was very touch and go; she might die, she might live, and there wasn't anything else they could do than what they were already doing. On day six, Shane walked into the ICU, not expecting anything other than what he'd been told. As he walked in, he sees a guy in the waiting area: The guy looks at him, grins a big ol' grin, and gives him a big thumbs up. Shane, kinda shellshocked, nods back at the guy and walks by: His daughter is better; she is to be moved out of ICU, and was, according to the doctors, out of danger. The attending physician tells him, "You realize, it wasn't anything we did, it's just one of those little miracles in life..." After Shane spends some time with his wife and his new daughter, it hits him: Yes, the guy in the waiting area is the same guy who bailed him out when he'd run out of gas. He heads back out to the reception area, to say hi, thank him again, and see how his situation is going: After all, his wife had been very pregnant and he's there in the ICU too, so Shane assumed the two were linked.

But the guy wasn't there any more,
and he never sees him again...