"God thing" or "God wings" - 3/23/2024

I'm not due a blog post for a few days, but following on my recent post, "On Death and Dying," I want to recount an experience. Sometimes I've heard uncanny coincidences that pertain to spirituality as. "That's a God thing." More recently, and new to me, "That's on God wings." Is that what happened here?

Caroline and I attended the funeral of a dear friend, of the Jewish faith, in Phoenix last week. As part of her graveside ceremony, Psalm 23 was read.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;

he makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters;

he restores my soul,

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff,

they comfort me.

Thou prepares a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

thou anoints my head with oil,

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life;

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

for ever."

There's probably nobody reading this who hasn't heard these beautiful verses from Psalm 23, at least not from some translation of the Bible or another. I leaned over and whispered to Caroline that these verses are often used in our Christian funerals, too. I was truly grateful to hear them at Honey's funeral.

That was last Thursday, in Phoenix. AZ. Then yesterday, near St. Petersburg, here in Florida, I attended the funeral of Bobby Gamboa, a very special men for whom I have great fondness. The Catholic preacher (I don't think he was a priest, maybe a deacon, but not 100% sure.) gave a very nice funeral service at the cemetery. I admit, I was anticipating the 23rd Psalm of David. But, it didn't come. Maybe I was a little disappointed. I joined Bobby's family and friends in Largo afterward for a lovely post funeral repast. After an hour or two there, I got in my truck and headed home.

Once in the truck, I put on the Hallow app, and decided to listen to today's daily Mass readings, something I do from time to time. I really like the Hallow app, and if you're a Christian, especially Catholic, if you haven't been exposed to it, I highly recommend it.

The First Reading was a long one, from the Book of the Prophet Daniel. Quite long, actually, Chapter 13, most of verses 1-62. It's a story of a woman condemned without a full examination of the evidence. It foreshadows the Gospel reading, which was John 8:1-11, the famous story of the adulteress who Jesus saved from stoning by challenging the crowd, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." I'm pretty sure we're all familiar with the story. So, there was clearly a good correlation between yesterday's Old Testament and Gospel readings.

Guess what is read in the daily Mass between the Old Testament and the Gospel? Extra credit if you know... yep, you guessed it. It's a Psalm. I really was was disappointed at the funeral I'd just attended two hours prior, but here it was:

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;"

Of course, right? Had to be. Yesterday's reading? Psalm 23! So, my question to you all is simple. I felt heard, even though I hadn't said it. So, lemme ask:

God thing/God wings or just a meaningless, silly coincidence?

Have a lovely day, friends. God bless us all.

And thank you God! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen