At the Laundromat

On the way home from visiting with Lucy’s Dad, Lucy and I passed by the Mulberry Laundromat in Mansfield. It brought back memories of a number of years ago. We lived in an old house in Shenandoah at the time, about 15 miles from where we live now.

The old house used to be a school building. It didn’t have a basement and we didn’t have facilities for a washroom, so we took our laundry to the Laundromat on a weekly basis. It was a chore we both participated in.

During that time I had a growing difficulty in walking. On this particular day we put the dirty clothes in plastic bags and baskets and I carried them out to the car. The sacks were rather heavy and I felt more pain than usual, and there were more sacks than usual. As I struggled in pain, dragging a sack of clothes, I suddenly emitted a whispered but heartfelt “God, I need help!”.

Unaware at the time, that whisper wended its way at lightning speed to the Universe.

We drove the six miles to town and I stopped near the entrance of the Laundromat to take the bags of clothes inside. I was resigned to the task at hand. Lucy was on crutches (she had polio as a child) so essentially I had the lone task of taking the clothes inside.

But a young man of color happened to be there and, seeing me start to unload, came up and offered to help. Often a person has too much pride to allow someone to perform a task he feels he can do himself alone, but I immediately took the cue and allowed him to carry the sacks of clothes inside. He was a rather cheerful young man and he knew several of the patrons in the Laundromat. While we busied ourselves in washing the clothes, he chatted with a number of them as they waited for their clothes to wash and dry. We loaded several washers and eventually the driers, then spent the time folding the clothes and preparing to go back home again.

When we finished gathering up the clean clothes and laying them in baskets, the young man came over and helped me put them back into the car. He was still his cheerful self, and when the car was loaded, I thanked him from the bottom of my heart. All he heard was, “Thank you very, very much.” He replied, “You’re welcome,” and then walked away, down the street and into the neighborhood where he came from. I knew that my prayer had been answered.

It set me thinking. The unexpected assistance assuredly came from an order that went out in spirit, sparked by a heartfelt plea in spirit for assistance. When one asks for help, the Universe is there to assist. Things fall into place because the Universe moves in response. It is not something one can do on his own; it’s too vast and complicated to accomplish by one’s self, and we do not have the ability of consciously communicating with someone unseen and unknown in another part of the world without a cellphone, but Spirit does.

The Universe is made up of everything there is, spiritual and material, and it has the intelligence to know what to do, even if you don’t. When one talks to God from the heart, the whole Universe is at one’s beck and call, and things start to move toward the completion of the task. And these tasks can be large or small, but it often takes time for things to fall into place.

Did you ever try to find a parking place? You go around the block several times and even then there may be no place available. But breathe a prayer to the universe, or visualize a parking place ahead of time, and often you’ll find one available. Why? Because a request went forth and Spirit carried it to the appropriate parties who were unaware they were then prompted to leave for their car in time to leave a parking place for the person who needed it. I know, it just sounds too simple, and doesn’t happen. Or doesn't it? When you’re sincere about it, and understand the concept, and try it several times, you’ll eventually realize that certainly there is something dynamic going on.

Thoughts are things. They affect us in some way. Come into a roomful of negative and angry people. Even if they don’t show it, you may feel the negativity if you are sensitive enough to become aware of it. In the same way, a positive and upbeat atmosphere can be felt, if not seen.

Some time ago I was rather new at the concept when my wife and I were sitting in a restaurant waiting for our order. At another booth was a young man with his daughter, about four years old, who was raising a little fuss, about the wait I suppose. It went on for quite awhile and it gradually drew the attention of others in the room. But then I had an idea. In spite of the irritation, I sent her thoughts of love and encouragement. I had to suspend my own irritated reaction to the fuss and change it to a positive and calm spirit, sending it out on her behalf.

Less than a minute later my wife remarked, “The little girl quieted down.” I then told her what I did. “Oh no,” she replied, “I’ll never believe that one.”

No, you don’t have to believe it, but I do, and I see the results. The true test is if it happens often enough in your life to realize that there is truth in it. It may not happen every time for you, but the dynamic is there for the asking. And results manifest most when your heart is what is doing the asking, not idle words.

In late December 2004, we were invited, along with other of my wife's circle-letter friends, to a reunion in Holmes County on January 14, 2005. The weather was quite unsettled and during this time of the year there was no guarantee of good weather, with ice and snow too much in abundance. She told me about the invitation and expressed concern that the weather would not be good enough to travel. She’s on a wheelchair and inclement weather would preclude such plans.

I had a thought, “Why don’t you tell the Universe about it?” The common response is, maybe what we ask for in not in someone else’s best interest. Still, the desire was there and we can get an answer to our desires from an intelligent God. Anyway, most people are sure to love good traveling weather.

On January 11, 2005, I broke my leg. I was sitting on Lucy’s power wheelchair, wheeling it into position for her. I started to get off the chair in a rush and I got my foot caught in the footrest. My leg gave a twist and the momentum carried me to the floor, and I heard my leg break. Stunned, Lucy suggested I stand up, but I knew my leg was broken and I immediately realized there would be weeks of recovery. (See October 28 story, Broken Leg--Growing Up Label).

Because of circumstances, I didn’t get my leg put into a cast until Friday, Jan. 14. I watched out the window from my hospital room to see the weather doing its wintry deeds on the countryside until then.

On Friday, after I woke up in recovery with a full leg cast, I was wheeled back into my room. As I entered the room I looked out the window and saw that the sun was shining with fair weather clouds scudding across the sky. It looked like good traveling weather. I told my wife, “Look, we could have gone down to Holmes County today. “Yes, but you’re stuck in the hospital,” she replied. “Yes, but our prayer was answered.”

One truth that you need to learn in why I call God the Universe. God the Creator is Spirit, pure spirit. There is only one Spirit. We are also spirit. Part of the same Spirit. But the part of us that differs and feels distance at times from spirit is our Ego. As important as the ego is to our character and well-being, the ego does not care to recognize the true spiritual part of us. It likes to cater to our material needs and desires. But it is often through our difficulties that we learn to turn to Spirit and believe the dynamics to become manifest.

God has given us free will so we are free to revel in our material needs and desires if we so choose. But there is a part of us that is His and that is the eternal part, the Spirit. We experience the material, but along with that are lessons to be learned, because we need to find our way back to, and experience the God part of us. Many have gone on into spirit and are no longer with us in body, but they are able to be with us in spirit, and they can also assist in the process, but only when we desire it—we have free will, we can do what we want. When we want too much of the material things, there can befall things to help wake us up to a loving God. We can fall asleep too easily, asleep in the material things.

Collectively, we are of the entire Universe. If you consider God as a crotchety old man who is angry all the time, you need to rethink your idea. God is Spirit. God is Love. We are spirit. We are love. Where did the resources to make the cosmos come from? From the Creator Itself. Where does our spirit come from? From the Creator. We and the universe are all part of God. Believe it, or not.

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Act 17:26-28

There is much to say on the subject but this is only a miniscule part of what can be said about who God is, how God works, and the potential we have to do and be as Jesus demonstrated. God truly does answer prayer. Our thoughts make a dynamic difference; with God and with each other.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. John 14:12-14