A "Chance" to Learn

I'm back! It's been awhile since I have written because the lessons I've been doing in A Course in Miracles have made me feel like I don't know anything and therefore I didn't have anything to write about. All I knew was that I didn't know anything. And that one sentence would have been a very short and boring post.

My life has been great though lately. I am excited and happy. I haven't been worrying so much about the future and I'm not worried about not worrying about the future, because I feel that it's going to work out just as it should. I read in the Buddha book that there is no reason to worry because if you can do something about a situation then there is no need to worry and if you can't do something about a situation than why even bother worrying. In my lessons, I've been learning these thoughts of worry don't mean anything anyway.

Since I started writing this blog some really great things have happened in my life. I started writing it as a way to get my thoughts and to share my experiences with anyone who may be reading. I really don't have any friends that live around me anymore. It seems that in the past few years I don't make friends as easily. It is not that I'm not a likable person. I meet people all the time and they seem to like me and we get along, but most have turned into acquaintances. I know the reason for this is, I am more picky about who I spend my time with. Most girls my age, especially the unmarried ones enjoy going to bars and clubs. Drinking really doesn't do anything for me anymore and I don't like bar and club environments either. There was a time though that partying was my life. I guess I've grown up in that regard and put those childish toys away.

I want more meaningful relationships. I want to hang out with people that I connect with. I have friends like that but we don't live in the same city anymore, but we talk on the phone and email. I miss them. These kinds of relationships are rare and special. Here is an example of what I am talking about:

I started a job at a brand new furniture/home decor store. When I first started the store hadn't opened yet and myself and the other employees had the task of putting furniture together and setting up the store. This was a huge store, 30,000 sq ft, so in addition to regular employees there were temps as well. I met many people and had many good conversations. There was a girl that I saw often but hadn't talk to her. I had my own preconceived ideas about her based on how she looked. She reminded me of the girls that used to tease me in middle school and high school. She was blond and pretty and looked like she was probably a cheerleader in high school. And her name was Amber! I always think of blond cheerleaders when I hear that name although that is my middle name. Funny, huh. Because of my judgments I didn't go out of my way to talk to her. One day though we both had the same job of taking the tape off the floor that had been used to designate sections of the store. This was a lonely and mundane job until we ended up pulling tape off the floor in the same area.

We started talking and I soon realized she was not one of the girls who used to tease me. She was not an air head cheerleader, although she was bubbly. We were having a great conversation sitting on the floor pulling off tape. We we talking about where we grew up and about our lives. At some point I realized I couldn't tell her about my life and omit the six years that I was involved with a spiritual organization. I thought if I tell her this she is going to think I'm a weirdo. She was wondering what I was holding back. I felt such a connection with her that I told her I was afraid she would judge me if I told her. (Only days ago I had judged her before I ever talked to her.) She promised she wouldn't judge me and I believed her. So, I told her. I told her everything! And she didn't respond with judgment but with curiosity and admiration. Later, I found out she had been telling other people what a cool person I was. If it hadn't had been for that shared task I may have never talked to her and missed out on a great friendship.

She has since moved to another city, but not too far away. I value her friendship a lot. We laugh so much together. She likes me for who I am. I don't have to be anyone else. I can talk to her about anything and I think she knows she can too.

I have other friends like her that live in different states, so I can't experience this special kind of sharing on a regular basis. Also they have busy lives and we rarely have a chance to talk. This is why I started this blog. I also felt I needed someone that could help me sort things out as well. It seems that all of my friends and I are at the same level of understanding ourselves, God and the world, so I also started this blog so that perhaps I may attract someone that could help me. Someone that has figured things out that I haven't or who could inspire me. Maybe a teacher or mentor.

In my first post I wrote that after my meditation, when I received the idea to start a blog to share my spiritual experiences, I randomly opened A Course in Miracles to perhaps affirm this idea. What I read said, "Say to the Holy Spirit only, "Decide for me," and it is done. For His decisions are reflections of what God knows about you, and in this light, error of any kind becomes impossible. Trust Him to answer quickly, surely, and with Love for everyone who will be touched in any way by the decision. And everyone will be."

He did decide for me! He knew what I needed, because about two weeks ago he led me to someone who was there to help. I wouldn't have found her if it wasn't for this blog. When I started doing the lessons in a Course in Miracles I wanted to find some more information about it. I didn't know anyone who was studying or had studied. I did a search of blogs with content about the Course and found a blog called Gorgeous for God. I immediately went to the about me page. I found the blog is written by a lady named Lisa Natoli and I was amazed to read how similar we are. I noticed we had similar experiences in childhood and similar spiritual experiences so I wrote her an email. And she wrote me back! Since then we've been writing each other just about every day. She teaches the lessons on her blog. And that is just what I needed. I wasn't ready to get involved in another spiritual organization. I didn't want to have to go to anyone's house to study with a group. I need to feel safe in my studies and this is one of the many things Lisa has provided for me.

In the Manual for Teachers in the ACIM book there is a section about who are the pupils of God's teachers. It says, "Certain pupils have been assigned to each of God's teachers, and they will begin to look for him as soon as he has answered the Call. They were chosen for him because of the form of the universal curriculum that he will teach is best for them in view of their level of understanding." And I have been assigned to Lisa!

The section after that in the Manual is about the levels of teaching. This is what it says, "The teachers of God have no set teaching level. There is no one from whom a teacher of God cannot learn, so there is no one whom he cannot teach. However, from a practical point of view he cannot meet everyone, nor can everyone find him. Therefore, the plan includes very specific contacts to be made for each teacher of God. There are no accidents in salvation. Those who meet will meet, because together they have the potential for a holy relationship. They are ready for each other."

There are no accidents in salvation! It was not an accident that I found Lisa. I was meant to all along. That probably explains why I felt I already knew her. Then the section talks about meetings that seemed to have happened by chance. It says, "These are not chance encounters. Each of them has the potential for becoming a teaching-learning situation." It really wasn't by chance that Amber and I had met. It wasn't by chance that I've met anyone. There is the potential for a learning situation with everyone I meet. I think that is amazing. I have thought this for sometime but never really thought about it. Several years ago, I didn't have a car so I had to rely on the bus to get me to work and if I missed the bus which I did often I would have to call a cab. They same cab driver would pick me up just about every time I called. We had the most interesting conversations.

He was from Africa and had been living in the states for about ten years. He would tell me stories about his life in Africa and about when he arrived in the states for the first time. He told me he arrived in NY City in the middle of winter. It is always hot or warm in Africa so he was not prepared for the frigid temperatures of NYC. He didn't have a coat and his head was bald. When he stepped off the plane his body went into shock and and his first sight to see in the States was the hospital! We also talked about spirituality quite a bit. He told me he thought I was a bright light and I would do well in whatever I did.

This friendship was very short but had a lasting effect on me. I've experienced several encounters like this in the oddest places, but really great places to meet special people. I've had friendships that only lasted for a few hours. One at the Department of Motor Vehicles waiting to get my driver's license; another on a train to Chicago; a customer who came in to the home decor store where I was working. I could probably think of several more.

I want to be more mindful now when I have these chance encounters. I want to learn in all of my meetings. I need to remember that in all of my meetings and relationships God brought us together. I want to love all of my brothers as myself and as He does. I want to remember that we have the same interest and it is to know our Father again.