Innholdsfortegnelse for June/July 2021 i Mysterious Ways

Do you ever feel like divine mystery appears in your life when you make room for it? I’ve found that’s often the case for me. Little miracles happen after I step aside and stop trying to create an outcome. Something happened recently that underscored this. I’ve wanted a dog for years, and this year, I found myself in the position to get one. So I poured everything into searching for the right dog. Problem was, it seemed everyone else had the same idea. The local shelters were empty. Rescues were placing dogs faster than they could take them in. Finally I thought I’d found the perfect pup. I went through the entire process—only to have it fall through. Okay, I get it, I thought. I’ll stop trying so hard. I…

KRISTEN: I’d just drifted off to sleep when a face appeared before me. Handsome, with tan skin, dark hair, bushy eyebrows, light blue eyes and a kind smile… I woke with a start. Why am I dreaming about Kyle? I thought. I don’t even know him. I had seen Kyle only once, briefly, a few weeks before. I was visiting my friend’s business. Kyle was also there visiting his girlfriend. I thought nothing of it. He was in a relation-ship. Dating was the furthest thing from my mind. So why was I dreaming about an unavailable guy I’d seen in passing? I tried to put Kyle out of my thoughts, but the dream stayed with me. I remembered it clearly all the next day, and every so often over the…

• Pay attention. Signs from above won’t always be flashy or immediately recognizable. Signs from God are often subtle, but that makes them no less profound. • Did you recently pray to God for com-fort? If so, his answer might be right in front of you. Think about what you asked for and whether the sign gives you what you need to keep going. • How does it make you feel? If the sign brings you comfort, peace or even a sense of awe, it could be heaven-sent. The effect a sign has on your soul is as important as the sign itself, so take note of your reaction when it appears. • Trust that sense of knowing. Many people who share their signs and miracles talk about a knowing…

“God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go either wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong; I cannot. If a thing is free to be good, it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata—of creatures that worked like machines—would hardly be worth creating.”C. S. Lewis, AUTHOR OF MERE CHRISTIANITY “‘Free will’ is the idea that humans are morally responsible and that their thoughts, words and actions are…

Lonnie McAllister FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS Back in 1954, when I was six years Back old, my family went on a road trip that has since become legend. My parents, sister and I were driving from our house in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to Mom’s hometown in Texas. As night fell, we found our-selves on a deserted dirt road in Oklahoma, nearly out of gas. We hadn’t seen a service station in hours. It was getting late. My parents tried to hide their growing panic as the gas gauge crept toward empty, as empty as the road ahead of us. Then a gas station appeared on the horizon. It was run-down. Covered in vines, with crumbling concrete walls. If not for the immaculately uniformed attendant inside, we would have thought it was abandoned. What…

Diane Merkau My grandson pitches for his high school baseball team. When they My made the playoffs, I was so excited to watch him play. The day of the big game, I arrived to find the baseball field empty. A passerby informed me that the game had been moved at the last minute to St. Clair High School, miles away. If I hurried, I could make it. I started driving and realized I didn’t know where I was going, so I pulled over and looked up St. Clair on my GPS. There were no direct routes, just a series of unfamiliar backroads. I was sure to get turned around. My heart sank. It was the first time I was going to miss an important game. Lord, now what? I prayed.…

“To have found God and still to pursue him is the soul’s paradox of love…”—A. W. TOZER (1897–1963) Aiden Wilson (A. W.) Tozer was an early twentieth-century preacher, theologian and author. At 17, he committed himself to God after hearing a street preacher’s sermon. Ordained in his early twenties, he later had a mystical encounter in the woods. He described sitting down to read his Bible and coming “face-to-face with the sovereign God.” Moved by the experience, he devoted himself to studying Scripture and the writings of Christian mystics—quite the feat, as his schooling had ended after grammar school. His writings and sermons, inspired by his own prayerful meditation, implored audiences to seek a deep personal relationship with God through prayer. The legacy of A. W. Tozer, often considered a…

I couldn’t breathe. I was at a friend’s house. We were hanging out, watching TV in the living room. Suddenly, my breathing grew labored, so much so that the room started spinning. Woozy, I stood up and fell straight to the floor. What’s happening to me? I thought. I’d felt a little sick the past week, but it was nothing serious. A vague but terrifying thought struck me: Could this be Covid-19? My friend called 911, and the EMTs rushed in minutes later. I was on the ground, struggling for air. “We’re losing him!” one yelled. I panicked. Then everything went black. I WAS FLOATING IN DARKNESS, weight-, weight-less. I heard nothing and felt nothing, except for an overwhelming calm. My panic subsided. I don’t know how long I remained…

It was noon on a Tuesday, and I was in church for the first time in a decade. A friend of mine was sick with cancer, and I wanted to pray for him. But as a lapsed Catholic, I felt self-conscious and out of place praying in the midst of other parishioners. So I’d waited until off-hours, when the church was bound to be empty. Now I was sitting alone in a pew, the rays of sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows. I bowed my head, closed my eyes and made the sign of the cross. God, I know it’s been a while, God, but my friend is sick. If you could help him… I felt something brush against my ankle. My eyes flew open. I looked down to…

At Parkland, Florida’s Covered Bridge Park, Lauryn and Phil Lanigan, gathered with a small group of friends and family for their socially distanced wedding. Originally wanting a big wedding in Miami, they ultimately opted for a smaller ceremony due to Covid-19. The new plan was to quietly tie the knot in the park. They’d have a big wedding celebration at a later date, with cake, dancing and photographer. Lauryn had picked the perfect place for a small ceremony—the park she used to play in as a little girl. But the Lanigans were about to find out the setting was perfect for another reason. Meredith and Cory Spencer, who are professional wedding photographers, were walking near the park. When they saw the nuptials being captured by cell phones, they wanted to…

Tucumán, Argentina Nine-year-old Tiziano was playing out-side his home with his sister and cousin on New Year’s Eve when he felt a sudden pain in his chest. He’d been shot by a stray bullet. His father rushed him to the hospital. Doctors examined him and discovered only a superficial wound on his chest where the bullet had seemingly just grazed him. He was treated and discharged within an hour. Upon returning home, Tiziano’s family made an amazing discovery. His cross neck-lace, which had fallen off during the shooting, was found on the ground with a bullet hole through the center. The cross had prevented the bullet from penetrating Tiziano’s chest, saving his life. Tiziano’s parents feel blessed that their son is alive and well. “He is here, thank God,” the…

My Golden Sign RHEA SAMPSON MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA The vet looked concerned as she The checked my puppy’s heart. “Shannon has a heart murmur,” she said. “It can be a serious problem if she doesn’t outgrow it.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Shannon seemed like a healthy golden retriever puppy—energetic and full of life. I made a follow-up appointment in two months to make sure the heart murmur hadn’t worsened. In the meantime, all I could do was worry. Please, God, I prayed one night. Send me a sign that Shannon will be okay. The next day, I got into my car to run some errands and spotted something on my dashboard. It was a miniature golden dragonfly! How did that get in here? I thought. I picked…

Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is home to a stair-Loretto case with a mysterious origin. The chapel, now a museum, was constructed in 1878 for a Catholic girls school. When the structure was completed, there was no way to reach the choir loft. The nuns who were in charge of the school and the chapel consulted several carpenters, but each of them said that building stairs in such a small space would be extremely difficult. Legend has it that the sisters prayed for nine days for a solution. On the ninth day, a man arrived at the chapel. He said he was a carpenter who had heard of their plight. Working alone, he created the staircase, then disappeared without collecting his pay or revealing his name. The spiral…

I don’t always know what my adult daughter, Joni, recalls from her childhood. My memories of us often take her by surprise, and she presses me to assure her they are really true. So when she brought up the swim classes she used to take with her friend Jill at six years old, I had to know if Joni remembered something odd that happened back then. Something that has stuck with me. “I’m thinking of one afternoon in particular,” I said, “after your les-son. Jill’s mom, Virginia, and I were waiting in our usual spot. You and Jill came running out together. Jill dropped her towel on the sidewalk and stopped to pick it up.…” In my mind I could see the scene. The long, narrow street behind the university…

Visitors to the Forest of Dean in Coleford, England, are in for more than the expected sylvan splendor. A hiking trail passes beneath a stained glass window hanging high among the tree branches. Cathedral is a permanent installation by Kevin Atherton, its natural scene inspired by the surroundings. When sunlight streams through the glass, it sends refracted beams of color onto the forest floor. “Amongst the common features shared between forest and cathedral is the way that they are affected by natural light,” the artist says. The stained glass window’s placement makes the woodland itself a glorious cathedral. Explore other mysterious spiritual spots at Guideposts.org/SecretSpaces…

“My charm!” I cried. “It’s missing!” A group of friends had invited my husband and me to spend the day in the countryside. It was already dark when I noticed the little groundhog charm I wore on my necklace was gone. A dear friend had made it for me because February 2—Groundhog Day—was an important day for me. It was the day, 20 years ago, when I began my spiritual journey to become a pastor. I was devastated. Today was supposed to take my mind off things. I had been diagnosed with cancer, and my brother was rapidly declining in his own battle with the disease. My friends offered to help me look, but it was too dark. They promised to resume their search at first light. I headed home…