The other day, I drove with my friend Roberto to the little Italian town of Loreto… on a whim. Masked up, we entered the enormous basilica and waited in line, along with hundreds of other tourists, to visit the tiny Holy House of the Virgin Mary inside. We then sat down to meditate on one of the thousand pews surrounding this beautiful shrine, filled with awe. After about 15 minutes, I opened my eyes again, stood up, and looked to my left. There sat a dear friend of mine from Milan, which made me do a double-take. We were supposed to meet the next day at her house, almost 300 miles away… what was she doing here? And right next to us!
Well, you can imagine the joy we both felt, meeting like this. It seemed like a miracle… an ordinary, everyday miracle!
Every time we do something beautiful, spontaneous and natural, we’re rewarded with a surprise. It could be at the supermarket, at the gym, on our daily walks. In this case, however.. there was truly no doubt: this was no coincidence. Even if my friend and I had planned to meet at the basilica, there was no way we would have found each other amongst the hordes of pilgrims. This was like lightning… something that could never happen in the same place twice.
But even as I write these words, I realize that I’m inferring that if you jump in a car and go visit a distant church for the first time, you might meet someone you know. Of course, it won’t happen like that. That’s where we get in trouble. We think miracles like this can be planned, but no!… they have to be spontaneous.
You see, there’s something magical happening right now. Life has its own intelligence… and its own timetable. If we listen carefully, if we let it guide us, if we step into the magic… we will always be surprised at how much it’s able to bring us.
But we don’t have to seek it out, as much as receive it. That’s where spontaneity comes in. As Ram Dass put it, “The next message you need is always right where you are.”
Yes, friends, once we start letting ourselves be guided… we’ll believe in everyday miracles again!
Joy Biscuits 