{"id":1905,"date":"2009-02-20T20:57:05","date_gmt":"2009-02-21T01:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizonsmagazine.com\/blog\/?p=1905"},"modified":"2009-02-20T20:57:05","modified_gmt":"2009-02-21T01:57:05","slug":"i-get-to-be-a-good-sam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/horizonsmagazine.com\/blog\/i-get-to-be-a-good-sam\/","title":{"rendered":"I get to be a Good Sam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, February 20, 2009. <\/em> Today was a really busy day.\u00a0 The March Horizons was delivered and Beth, Melanie, Julie <\/em>and Gerald<\/em> and I all pitched in and got it done and to the post office by noon. I was out of the post office by 1:40pm.\u00a0 I decided to stop at Publix on the way home and was driving by one I’ve only been in twice.\u00a0 Then a series of synchronistic events began to unfold.<\/p>\n

First, since I was unfamiliar with the store layout, I was wandering around looking to get my bearings when a helpful clerk pointed me in the right direction.\u00a0 Then I ended up spending a lot longer in the store than it should have taken, only because i had to hunt for the right aisles for my items.\u00a0 Periodically I’d pass the same woman in a red jacket and I’d joke with her, “are you following me?”\u00a0 We’d laugh and I’d continue my hunt for hidden goods.<\/p>\n

So, synchronistically I ended up right behind her at the check out counter.\u00a0 And we joked “you again?” and chatted about the tabloid headlines.\u00a0 Then she joked “I might have gotten too much to carry today.” The bagger said he’d help her out to her car, and she said she was walking.\u00a0 I asked where she had to carry them to and she replied, “to Wickham Road”.\u00a0 We were on 192.\u00a0 I said “that’s a long walk with 4 bags of groceries.”\u00a0 She just laughed and replied in her Jamaican accent, “Oh, you do what you’ve got to do”.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I thought, “that’s a great attitude to have.”\u00a0 She was my age or a little older.\u00a0 She was fairly heavy. Her car was in the shop, she said.\u00a0 I told her I’d be glad to give her a ride.\u00a0 She accepted and we made our way out to the car. Since I’d just done the mailing, my little Toyota Prius<\/em> was filled to the brim with magazines, mailing sacks, post office bins and cases of canned cat food I’d just picked up at PetSmart<\/em>.\u00a0 It took a moment to rearrange everything but we made room and were on our way. The car was full of magazines with the cover to the left on them.\u00a0 I didn’t think until later how freakish it might have appeared \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Now the dashboard of my car is also a makeshift altar.\u00a0 I have a dashmat onto which I have velcroed several holy cards of Jesus and Blessed Mother and I have a small photo of Sai Baba there, as well as two sets of prayer malas\/beads.\u00a0 Almost immediately she asked what church I went to and I braced myself *smile* I told her Unity Church of Melbourne.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

She told me she was born and raised a Seven Day Adventist<\/em> and I remarked that was a very disciplined tradition, and we talked about the value of having a disciplined upbringing.\u00a0 We had similar views on what kids should know by the time they graduate, and how they could be taught a little more respect.\u00a0\u00a0 It was a good conversation.\u00a0 No one tried to convert anyone else.\u00a0 We talked about the views we had in common.<\/p>\n

We talked about synchronicity and how Spirit puts people together for a time, for a reason.\u00a0 We talked about me deciding to go into the unfamiliar store, and taking so much time as I looked for my items, and ending up right behind her and offering her a ride.\u00a0 It was a fun break to my day.\u00a0 It was an unexpected encounter that lightened up the end of a stressful week.\u00a0 It was a real blessing to me.<\/p>\n

She lived 4 miles from Publix.\u00a0 She was going to walk 4 miles home with 4 big bags of groceries. I didn’t think until later, why wasn’t she shopping at Walmart less than a mile away from her home?\u00a0 We were clearly supposed to have that encounter.<\/p>\n

Cool beans.<\/p>\n

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