In the current issue of The New American magazine there is a very interesting article, in its ‘History - Past And Perspective’ feature, entitled ‘George Washington and the Hand of God’. It is about a number of highly improbable, and very ’providential’ events in Washington’s life where he seemed to be enshrouded in safe hands in order to be allowed to fulfill his destiny, as the Father of the new country, and its dedication to the sovereignty of the individual, as a child of God. In the words of the author of the article: “Instance after instance was attested to by him and others of what they recognized as divine interventions to protect him for a purpose:: the creation of a new nation and a godly society.” The article put me to mind - besides of the divine nature of the founding of and intention of this nation; of "a godly society" - of two things.
The first was the story of the thought that Abraham Lincoln had when he had just found out that he had not won the election for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Disappointed, he was walking back to his home from the telegraph office in the late evening when he slipped on the wet pavement (or whatever), but caught himself from falling; and found himself thinking, “A slip. But not a fall.” And, somewhat mollified, he went on from there to win the presidency some years later.
The other thing that it put me to mind of was an experience that I had a number of years ago. I was well into my time living in the spiritual community where I spent the greater part of my adulthood, in the north of Scotland.* At the time I was living in an old manor house that the community had purchased, a walk in a woods away from the main purchase of the community, a former hotel become known, under our auspices, as Cluny Hill College, and, more affectionately, simply as ‘Cluny’. It itself was some five miles away from our main base, in a caravan park on the coast of a large body of water called the Moray Firth, where we had built a 300-seat auditorium for community-wide meetings and entertainment events and so forth. It was where we held our traditional Friday Night Sharings, an evening of song and dance, reading of poetry, skits, etc. On one such Friday evening I was running a bit late to catch the bus from ‘Cluny’ and was running through the woods to get there in time. It was very dark - there were no lights in the woods - but being well familiar with the path I had a pretty good idea where I was. I knew that the path veered to the side a bit at one point, and was just about to slow down and ‘sense’ that change in direction when I ran - literally - head on into a short, cut-off or broken-off stub of a sub-branch of a low-hanging branch of a tree, that caught me smack on my left cheekbone. An inch higher, and my stupidity would have cost me a punched-out eye, an excruciating amount of pain, and very possibly my death, from the bleeding and the shock to my system. In any event: A major change in the direction of my life.
My takeaway from that event in my life lo, those many years ago now was the warning: Watch where you are going. But I have come to a (not as blunt) point in my life where I realize that that could also be taken as an admonition.
Watch where you are going. As to where the hand of Providence is leading you. The Author of
The Play
that we are all in.
And also the admonition:
Be an observer as to where the hand of Providence is leading you.
To say: Don’t get so caught up in The Play that you lose sight of the larger reality, that it is part of. Beyond
the theater.
And theatrics. That we humans get up to.
On our daily lives of Sharing.
To strut and fret our hour upon the stage. And then be heard of
in the next go ‘round. Until
we get it.
The point.
Of the Exercise.
And sometimes, ‘getting it’ can be a very painful experience, indeed.
But it’s also wise to learn a little humility along
The Way.
And appreciation.
For small favors.
Like, oh, say,
one inch’s worth.
At the very least.
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* In and near the town of Forres. Mentioned in 'Macbeth'.
Why do I cite this?
Read on.
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P.S. As Pres. Trump is led, seemingly inexorably, by the Deep State into a trap regarding Iran, look after your family as best you can. And then the country.
This nation, that was birthed with so much promise.
We can still ’get there’.
Just be careful trying to get there blindly.
I’ve tried that, in my life.
And my advice:
Don’t push your luck.
Providence can only do so much, regarding us, er, headstrong humans.
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