43: Mrs. H's Wow Moment

43 

Mrs. H’s Wow Moment 

In my spiritual musing “The Synchronicity Principle” I wrote, “I’ve come to believe that the synchronicity principle is set into motion by a benevolent and all-knowing cosmic intelligence whose purpose is to guide every soul to wholeness and completeness,” and last Monday, September 14, 2015 I experienced the benevolence of this cosmic intelligence yet again in one of the most innocuous and innocent synchronistic moments that I have ever experienced when Penny and I dropped in on Mrs. H on our way home to Georgian Bay.

It’s a long drive from Thunder Bay to Georgian Bay, and we did have to stop in Nipigon to attend to some matters with our triplex apartment unit, so I had no intention whatsoever of dropping in on Mrs. H who lived in a rural community alongside the Trans-Canada Highway midway between Thunder Bay and Nipigon, and we wanted to make it to Bruce Mines where we planned to get a motel room for the night and have dinner at Bobber’s Restaurant; but along the way I got the strongest nudge to drop in on Mrs. H and give her another one of my books which we always carry in our car for complimentary give-aways.

Mrs. H is eighty-seven years old, and save for a back problem that makes walking somewhat difficult (she uses one of those walkers with wheels in her house), she’s sound of mind and very curious about life; that’s why she’s taken to my writing, especially Do We Have an Immortal Soul which she just loved and sent a copy to one of her sons.

She made a comment to me that I have never forgotten, which spoke volumes about her own life but which I never uncovered until last Monday when Penny and I dropped in to visit and give her two more of my books, Letters to Padre Pio and Why Bother? The Riddle of the Good Samaritan. I wanted to give her The Pearl of Great Price, but we only had one copy in the car and we gave that to Penny’s friend in Thunder Bay; but the comment she made to me years ago was: “When you have seen the light, there’s no turning back.”

Obviously my first two novel memoirs, What Would I Say Today If I Were to Die Tomorrow? and On the Wings of Habitat, which she read with eager fascination because they caused such a stir in my hometown of Nipigon that Penny and I had to relocate to Georgian Bay for peace of mind, had made such an impression upon her that she felt compelled to tell me about the effect that seeing the light can have upon people; but it never occurred to me to ask her how she had come to see the light that changed the course of her life. And that’s what has inspired today’s spiritual musing, because within minutes of dropping in to visit Mrs. H she surprisingly began to tell us the incredible story of her spiritual awakening… 

Mrs. H has been a widow for quite some time now, and she manages quite nicely on her own; but she has a daughter and husband who live close by that she relies upon, and she called her daughter and asked her to drop over because Penny and I were visiting.

We had only planned to stay for ten or fifteen minutes, but that turned into an hour and fifteen minutes when her daughter and husband dropped over; but I didn’t mind, because I knew by our conversation that the merciful law of divine synchronicity had choreographed our visit for Mrs. H’s spiritual benefit, and also her daughter and husband’s because once one has engaged my transcendent function everyone in hearing distance benefits.

I don’t mean to sound mystical and mysterious, but the transcendent function is an aspect of one’s Higher Self; and since I’ve been a seeker all of my life who had the good fortune to find my true self, my transcendent function “kicks” in whenever I’m called upon to serve life because, as Elisabeth Kubler-Ross tells us in her autobiography The Wheel of Life, “all destiny leads down the same path—growth, love and service.” That’s why I was strongly nudged to drop in on Mrs. H on our way home to Georgian Bay.

This is how the merciful law of divine synchronicity works; whenever someone is in need of spiritual guidance, the benevolent forces of the universe activate the synchronicity principle to make it happen, and as I came to learn from our conversation Mrs. H had slipped into a despairing funk and needed “something” to pick her up, which she was brooding about over her morning coffee as we were driving down the highway; and she could not get over the timely coincidence of Penny and I dropping in for a visit with two new books for her to read which were sure to raise her spirits, and the smile on her face said it all.

“This is my wow moment for the day,” she said to her daughter, an expression that I had never heard before but which I instantly discerned because it beautifully reflected what Phil Cousineau called a “soul moment” in his book Soul Moments, Marvelous Stories of Synchronicity—Meaningful Coincidences from a Seemingly Random World. But what was Mrs. H’s spiritual awakening experience that changed the course of her life? 

Mrs. H only had grade eight education, but she was naturally intelligent, inordinately curious, and musically gifted—qualities that she passed on to her eight children; but she was married to a man whose family belonged to the evangelical Christian sect called Two-by-Twos, and her personal growth was gravely hampered by her husband’s religious faith.

Her husband worked in the area for a department of the provincial government that was affiliated with the University of Guelph, and one day the Agricultural Department of the University had a guest speaker give a public lecture in Thunder Bay that Mrs. H and her husband and some fellow employees attended; but this lecture introduced Mrs. H to the radical concept of natural evolution that completely shattered her inherited Christian belief that we are all decedents of Adam and Eve born with the stain of original sin, and she had such a startling spiritual awakening that shifted her never-before questioned understanding of the Holy Bible that so threatened her husband’s religious faith that his family wanted to have her committed to the Ontario Psychiatric Hospital in Thunder Bay.

This was a difficult time for Mrs. H, but she managed to survive in her marriage with her newfound perspective intact, and she became a life-long seeker; that’s why many years later when she read my books she was moved to say to me, “When you have seen the light, there’s no turning back.” Which is why she gave me a hug and whispered into my ear “I love you” when Penny and I got up to leave after our unexpected visit; it was her way of letting me know how difficult it is to live one’s life when one has been spiritually awakened.

I smiled, and looking into her lively blue eyes so full of love and gratitude said, “You’re one of my favorite readers. This was a wow moment for me also, and I’m glad we dropped in for a visit. I hope you enjoy these books as much as the others.”

“I know I will,” she said, and Penny and I said our goodbyes and were back on the road to my hometown of Nipigon that caused us so much consternation, but I was delightfully satisfied in that special way that always happens whenever I’m called upon to serve life because we had left Mrs. H very happy.  

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