There was a woman in a red t-shirt about thirty or forty feet ahead of me on the path through the park. For moment, it seemed that I was walking slightly faster than she was, which meant that at some point I would pass her, which would include an awkward few paces where we were walking next each other, so before that happened I would have to speed up even more, pretend that was the pace I was walking all along, and then nod and wave as I passed her quickly, until I was far enough ahead that I could slow down again.
She sped up a bit or maybe I slowed down, so I didn’t pass her. At the end of the park, she stopped, and got out her phone. I went through the checklist of what to do when walking by someone in my neighborhood: smile, give a low wave, and say hello. Sometimes (by which I mean usually) I have to tell myself to do these things and rehearse them for a second because of how I am. I realized recently that every time I’m out for a walk and someone says, “Hi, how ya’ doin’?” I respond with, “hi,” and keep walking, which is weird. In the past week or two, I’ve been practicing responding with something like, “Doing well, how are you?” and nodding. I can be friendly, like a person!
Anyway, I was fully expecting to smile, low-wave, and say hello, but she stopped me. And she said, “This is going to sound weird…”
To me, this is one of the most exciting things that can happen. A stranger getting my attention and starting a conversation with “This is going to sound weird…” generally means that something interesting is about to happen, and I know this because this seems to happen a lot.
This “this is going to sound weird” was followed by a sigh, and then the woman in the red t-shirt braced herself and explained that God told her to walk through the park because he had a message for someone in the park, and she really didn’t want to walk through the park, and didn’t see anyone in the park, but fine, she would walk through the park and deliver a message, and then there I was, also walking in the park, and she knew that the message God had was for me.
I don’t believe in a God who is a he, or who specifically commands people to do things. But I do have a policy that when someone tells me they have a message for me from God, I listen, just in case.
She told me the message:
“He loves you. Whatever you’re going through, however impossible it may seem, you can do it, with his love. He loves you so much.”
I thanked her. And then I said, “I bet it’s true for you, too.”
“I’ve been having a hard day,” she said, “and I went out for a walk to think about things. That’s usually when he talks to me. Today he told me to deliver the message.”
“A lot of times we teach what we have to learn.”
We chatted for a moment, and then went in opposite directions. As soon as I got around the corner, I took out my phone and sent the whole thing to myself in an email before I forgot it.
I don’t believe in a Christian God, or a God with pronouns or any other part of speech. When I parse that statement through my own beliefs about what connects all things, and about source, it translates something like this:
“All life is connected and you are connected to all of life. Whatever you are going through, however impossible it may seem, you will find your way, remember the big picture and ride the wave. All things are connected and are constantly changing, including you.”
In other words, “Everything is going to be OK.”
I’m reminded that one afternoon a few weeks ago, I stepped out onto my porch and man walked by my house and said “Your heart is where your treasure is. Your treasure is where your heart is,” and then he just kept walking. He may have been on the phone, or not, but either way, this sort of thing seems to happen a lot, and it is at least tangentially connected.
So, that is how I got an email from God tonight.