What could you not accept, if you but knew that everything that happens, all events, past, present and to come, are gently planned by One Whose only purpose is your good?
– A Course in Miracles
always safe
It was a warm day in June, 1985. I was alone inside a bus that was transporting about 50 new recruits to the US Army Station of Fort Dix, NJ. I was heading to Basic Training as an enlisted member, a Private in the United States Army.
And I was lonely and afraid. We were still new to the country, having arrived from India only a year before. My Father suggested that I join the Army to gain some good experience. Wonderful advice, it turned out to be. Nevertheless I was nervous and on edge.
Feeling that fear, I did what I was accustomed to do, I prayed to God and asked for help. Throughout my teens my trust in the Divine had grown steadily and I was becoming certain that I was never alone.
Arriving at the barracks I was shown my bunk bed and got myself to start settling in.
And then I noticed it. A book sitting at the bottom of the small garbage can at the foot of my bed. My curiousity piqued, I lifted the book out and was shaken to my core.
It was the text and a commentary on the Hindu classic, The Bhagavad Gita! I had grown to enjoy and imbibe in this tome over my teenage years and had neglected to grab my copy before embarking on my Army adventure.
Imagine finding the Hindu holy classic in a garbage can inside a US Army barrack in southern NJ, that too in 1985! What did that mean? To me it was a clear sign that God is, that I am not alone and that God permeates all of Life, even the garbage can. The Gita provided much needed solace to me in the ensuing 8 weeks of the training.
I have never truly felt alone after that, and I am emboldened with love when I realize that there’s been many other such ‘signs’ in my life. Life is good, fear not, ‘be of good cheer’.
I got reminded of this true story, when I watched this amazing TED Talk by Ulla Suokko, Do You See the Signs of the Universe, which I highly recommend!
