Accept who we are, and open to the presence of wonders

Greetings!

A friend told me she had asked for a sign from God.  She saw the sign the other day. "But, how do I know it is truly a sign from God?" she asked.

Well, our experience with the Divine (or whatever name you are comfortable with) was very personal.  The answer must come from her if what she saw was truly a sign from God.  I understood the doubt she had.  In the beginning of my journey, I had treated the wonders of God with denial and doubt on many occasions too.  Here was an example.

After closing up the restaurant, we were ready to go home.  I put on my jacket, and found the zipper did not work.  The zipper was not caught on the fabric.  There was something wrong with the brass teeth.  After a while, I still could not fix it.  Seeing that, my husband suddenly said: "Namo Amitabha!"  I was surprised.  He never said those words.  I looked at him with puzzlement.  I laughed when I realized why he called to Buddha or said the six powerful words / syllables.

One winter morning, my husband, our younger son, and I arrived at our restaurant.  I immediately started doing my part of the job such as turning on the steam table and filling it with water.  I heard my husband asking for our son's help.  It seemed the zipper of his jacket was stuck on fabric.  After a while, our son said, "Mom, I cannot unstuck the zipper of Dad's jacket!"  I said, "We need to set up everything and open the restaurant soon.  Why don't you pull the jacket over your Dad's head.  I will fix the zipper later."  Our son said, "The zipper was stuck right below Dad's neck!  Dad can't get out of the jacket by pulling it over his head."

Upon hearing that, I said "Namo Amitabha" in a very loud voice, and meanwhile found myself rushing to them with my right hand pointing at the zipper.  I did not know if my hand had touched the zipper, but he zipper easily slided down / unzipped.  The three of us stood there with our eyes and mouths widely opened.  My sudden loud voice and unexpected action gave us a good shock.  My son asked, "How did you do that (i.e. free the stuck zipper)?"  I said, "I don't know!"  We continued to do what we had to do.

Obviously, my husband had remembered that incident.  After he said those words, the zipper still did not work.  However, he urged me to say the powerful words.  I thought how ridiculous it was for him to think I had power or a special connection with the Divine.

Peacefully, I laid the jacket on a desk.  I wanted to show my husband 'I pray, but it does not work'.  I put my hands together in a praying position.  I closed my eyes, and said out loudly, "God, please help me!"  Strangely, as I closed my eyes and prayed, I was wholeheartedly into asking help from God.  I opened my eyes and reached out to the zipper.  The zipper worked smoothly and easily.  It was unbelievable!

I looked at my husband.  He said, "See!"  I was going to say 'Nae, it is just a coincident'.  Knowing what I might say, he looked straight into my eyes and said, "Did you not pray?"  His words jolted me.  I was silent.  I did pray, and the zipper was fixed. I should honor God and thank God.  If I dismissed what happened, I would be denying God.  Truthfully, I said, "Thank you, God."

I told my friend if she was not sure, she could always ask again.  God would show her a sign in the most remarkable way that would leave her without any doubt.

I also shared with her another experience.  There was a word that always brought me joy.  Whenever I saw it on the TV screen or in a book, I said in my heart, "God, thank you for your grace."  One day, we were on the highway.  Rain was pouring.  My husband was driving, and I was looking out of the window on my side.  Suddenly, my head was turned more than a 180 degrees to look at a wall on the other side of the highway.  There on the wall was the word in huge size (it was part of the name of a company).  We were driving at 70 mph.  I could have missed it if my head was not turned at that split second.  I was very grateful for the love of God.

Over the years, I learn the more I pay attention to the Wonders / Grace of God and acknowledge them with a heart of gratitude, the more I am open to the vast experiences of the Loving Divine.  We are of the same Source.  When we accept who we are or the divinity in us, we step into our own truth.  We open ourselves to the presence of wonders and miracles.

Many blessings,
Q of D

P.S.  In order to write this post, I have to go online and look up the names for the parts of a zipper.  Thanks to the Internet, I now know more as what to do if the zipper is stuck.