Day 306

Today's Lesson:

The gift of Christ is all I seek today.

What but Christ's vision would I use today, when it can offer me a day in which I see a world so like to Heaven that an ancient memory returns to me? Today I can forget the world I made. Today I can go past all fear, and be restored to love and holiness and peace. Today I am redeemed, and born anew into a world of mercy and of care; of loving kindness and the peace of God.

And so, our Father, we return to You, remembering we never went away; remembering Your holy gifts to us. In gratitude and thankfulness we come, with empty hands and open hearts and minds, asking but what You give. We cannot make an offering sufficient for Your Son. But in Your Love the gift of Christ is his.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I shouldn't be amazed anymore at the seemingly random coincidences that pop up around me these days. Although there are many that appear in front of me, there are also "coincidences" that come from inside my head as well. For example: back at my former job, before I started my own business, I encountered a boss who, at the time, was really a thorn in my side. I was hired to do leadership development, a "soft-skill," in a manufacturing environment - one that typically measured results in "hard" data - things that are easily measured.

That boss and I really butted heads, because I was having a difficult time convincing him that what I could bring to the table really mattered. That was before I had begun studying this course, and before I had awakened to the unlimited possibilities for myself and my life. I ended up leaving that environment after just a year because I just couldn't take it anymore, the constant struggle to prove myself in an environment which I thought just wanted to trip me up.

But one thing that was huge in my career development there was a certification I earned to teach a course in job relations - helping these manufacturing supervisors relate better to their employees. It was developed in the '40s, so it's not new; but I've added pieces to it and have updated it so it's more current. I'm fortunate to have gotten in with the same manufacturing organization at which I was employed, but in a neighboring state, which is why I've been able to sustain my own business. I'm a subcontractor for this other organization and have learned so much about the manufacturing environment - something I never would have been exposed to if it hadn't been for that boss.

One book he suggested I read while I was employed there was a manufacturing book called The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu Goldratt. I never finished the book when my boss requested I read it 5 years ago, but I picked it up again earlier this week and haven't been able to put it down. I'm not completely finished with it even as I write this (I'm on page 272 of 351 pages), but I'm blown away by what I'm reading.

Everything I'm learning in this book, which is basically a novel about a manufacturing plant manager who is up against some deadlines and has to ask new questions and challenge the traditional way of doing things in order to save his job, fits perfectly with some other training and certifications I received this summer - and there are even parts of this course that can fit with what I'm reading.

There are certainly no accidents - and I'm more grateful every day for every single step along the way in my career and my life. If it hadn't been for that "problem" boss, I wouldn't have had the connection to the neighboring state's manufacturing organization. I may not have figured out as quickly as I did that the problems I was having with the boss weren't his problem at all - he was simply being a mirror for my own issues. What a great lesson and what a great story!

So today's lesson reminds me that I am able to see - right here and now - a world so like Heaven that an ancient memory returns to me. It's almost like deja vu - I already know this stuff!

Here's a line from The Goal that especially hit home:

"We refer to something as common sense only if it is in line with our own intuition ... it only means that when we recognize something as common sense, it must be that, at least intuitively, we knew it all along" (p. 268).

When I can forget the world I made and just accept the gift of Christ, I see things completely differently. Everything around me - even my manufacturing experience - shows me a piece of Heaven and helps me go past fear and be restored to love and peace.

That awareness today is my miracle!