My church isn’t far from a hospital, so I sometimes get people on their way there for treatment, or a procedure, or to visit a loved one. For a while, one young woman stopped to see me on a weekly basis because she had weekly medical appointments for a few months in a row. I’d pray for her condition and whatever other prayer requests she raised. Or sometimes she just waved as she passed by and wished me a good a day. What struck me most about her is something she said during our second encounter. Since receiving a blessing the week before, she’d started seeing signs of God everywhere. She described it as “a string of sacredness.” I knew exactly what she was talking about, and here are a few comparisons. Right now my knee is hurt, so I’ve started noticing all kinds of people wearing knee braces. When I was pregnant, it seems that I passed at least 20 pregnant women on the sidewalk every day. Similarly, my mother-in-law says she keeps seeing old people. (Although, for the record, I don’t consider her old.) Point being, when we’re sensitive or attuned to a certain reality, we’re more likely to see it all around us. You know the saying: “If you look for good in the world, you’ll find it. If you look for evil in the world, you’ll find it.” It only makes sense that if you look for the divine in the world, you’ll find that too. I think this is why so many people say they feel spiritual out in nature. In the great outdoors, we don’t have to look very hard before we’re smacked in the face by the beautiful handiwork of our Creator. Last summer I ran Vacation Bible School for the children in my church. We had a long string of what looked like Christmas lights with big colored bulbs. Every time a child identified a “God sighting” from the day before, s/he got to screw in a bulb and make it light up. According to the kids, God showed up in flowers, blowing bubbles, hugs from mom and dad, and several ways the kids were kind to one another. They were on the lookout for God. How about you? Expecting any God sightings today? If so, I bet you’ll find them.
