Jack’s Winning Words 10/5/07
“I like coincidences. They make me wonder about destiny, and whether free-will is an illusion.” (Chuck Sigars) I know someone keeps a notebook in which she records unusual things that have happened in her life. The title is: “Coincidences or Miracles?” I’ll bet we could all keep such a book. Look for one or the other today. ;-) Jack

FROM LH.H. IN WISCONSIN: Free-will is not an illusion. It is a gift from God. I remember a minister at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Michigan often saying that the two things God gave us are His Grace and Free-will. Free-will allows us to make choices, good and bad, and His Grace gives us forgiveness for the bad choices, if we ask him to (this last sentence is my interpretation). If you think free-will is an illusion, maybe you should look at some of those old sermons.

FROM MOLINER, G.S.: Didn't Martin Luther write, Bondage of the Will?

FROM GOOD DEBT JON IN OHIO: “We have to believe in free-will, we have no choice.” Isaac Singer. Perhaps Isaac was predestined to write that.

FROM P.O. IN MICHIGAN: I like her idea!

FROM K.B. IN MICHIGAN: I love coincidences and am sometimes a little "freaked out" by them. A friend once reminded me that coincidences are God's way of remaining anonymous

FRIM J.L. IN MICHIGAN: What a coincidence, I was just thinking of this tonight. Miracles are all around us and sometimes we call them coincidences!

FROM J.F. IN MICHIGAN: I had one of those "coincident" days yesterday (the day of your quote):
I usually try to arrive at the office between 6:30 and 7:00 so I can get a few things done while the office is relatively quiet. Yesterday, I actually needed to be there by 7:00 because my boss had called a 7:30 meeting and I needed time to get logged in, check my voice-mail, etc. Somehow I over-slept by half an hour -- not irreparable, just no time to unload the dishwasher and do a load of laundry before work like I usually do (my hair wouldn't be perfectly styled, either, but that's why someone invented barrettes).
As I emerged from the shower, Paul came in to confess that he had wet the bed (a rare, but not entirely unprecedented, occurance). "Okay, sweetheart. Thanks for telling me. I'll strip the bed." (Now I was definitely behind schedule.)
"Mommy?. . ." "Oh, Lydia, what do YOU need?" "Just a hug." (Well, if that doesn't make you slow down, I don't know what will!)
As I got in the car, I was relieved to see that I wasn't as far behind schedule as I feared. However, as I approached M-5, traffic on Pontiac Trail came to a stop. "Oh, for heaven's sake! It's barely 6:30! How can traffic be stopped already?!" I thought to myself. As I inched up, I saw it -- the fender bender. Nothing serious, but definitely a bad day for those two drivers. "Thank you, God." I whispered. If not for a few delays, that very well could have been me.
I continued on, in better spirits, figuring I was meant to be a bit late. Traffic was a little heavy, but I was making up time and would be close to arriving right at 7:00. I exited 696 at Orchard Lake Road and headed east on 12 Mile. I was halfway between Middlebelt and Inkster when traffic stopped. "Whatever." I thought with a sigh. (My need to rush was now gone.) Then I saw two deer running across the yard beside me. Right after that, I realized why traffic had really stopped. A third deer had hit the car two cars in front of me. "Wow!" I thought. "That was really close!" Another whispered prayer and I was on my way.
My boss pulled into the parking lot next to me. "You're never going to believe the morning I've had . . ." I said.
I actually go back and forth between my thoughts of "that was meant to be" and my thoughts of "everything is the result of our choices". When a friend lost her 4-month-old to a rare liver disorder, I had a hard time believing it was "meant to be". Yesterday, I had a hard time believing those delays weren't meant to be.

FROM M.L. IN ILLINOIS: synchronisity and miracles, period.

FROM N.C. IN ILLINOIS: I was looking at some of my old saved quotes; "Free will is not the liberty to do whatever one likes, but the power of doing whatever one sees ought to be done, even in the very face of otherwise overwhelming impulse. G. MacDonald