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soooo

the strangest thing happened to me today

I have recently been thinking about deleting all of my computer games, and getting rid of my xbox, playstation 2, gamecube, and gameboy, because I get really immeresed in video games, I mean I used to run my own video themed site www.crankygamer.com, but more and more recently, I have been thinking about how spending so much time playing games keeps me from being responsible

also

I am a graphic designer, I have been in the business for about 2 years, and I have been thinking that if I got rid of my games that I should get back into drawing and art and really try to boost my skills, and I could have time to put up the new website of mine

with all that said

I get on the train this morning, and the seats that I usually sit in were already taken (kind of odd since they are almost always empty) so I think nothing of it, and I go to the front half of the train car, and I plop down in another seat, and I notice that the seat next to me is taken up by an old lady and her luggage

interesting, but I try to keep to myself on the train so I don't pry

I sit down and break out my small bible in order to get through the next part of 1 samuel that I am in... and about 10 minutes in the old lady leans over to me and she asks me which section I am reading

I tell her that it is 1 samuel and that I am working my way through the bible cover to cover

she then informs me that she has been to israel 4 times, and she has seen some of the spots that David lived in... and then she breaks out a brochure

the brochure covers all of this great art that she has worked on that uses locations she has visited in order to depict scenes and thoughts and ideas from the bible

aparenlty she has been painting for about 50 years

well being the keen conversationalist that I am, I have up until this point just been nodding, and saying "thats really nice", but after she showed me these things I told her how I work as a graphic designer and about how I never had patience for art

this is the crazy part

I haven't told anyone about what I have been thinking about getting rid of my games, or that I have been thinking of getting back into art, but this lady tells me that although she has spent her whole life trying to do what the lord thinks is right, she recently figured out that she needed to take her art pieces on the road, and show young artists what art is all about, and to encourage them to embrace their skills

and I told her how I wanted to but I always just go home and play games or watch tv, and she starts telling me about how she thinks I am correct in my thinking and that I need to focus on what I can do instead of being distracted by games or TV

So here I am, my thoughts completely shoved back at me by a complete stranger all because I sat in a different chair than my usual one, with this lady telling me that the things I have been thinking are right, and that I need to run with them and make them work

I mean seriously

what were the odds?

It turns out she teachs art, and she will be around teaching classes around here for at least another year before she takes her show on the road, and then she gives me the brochure with the e-mail address on it, and tells me to keep in touch

this is where my train stop comes around, and I get off the train wondering what the heck just happened

I always have doubts that God works directly through people, but this is at least the second time something like that has happened to me, and the coincidence factor just blows my mind

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Posted by Chaz_King (Member # 3184) on :
 
BTW this isn't some random made up story, but what actually happened to me on the train, and I was wondering what the believers and non believers think about situations like that.
 

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Posted by dawnmaria (Member # 4142) on :
 
I believe that God does speak through others to us when we're to "distracted" to hear Him ourselves. You sound like there were some things distracting you. Maybe you should listen to your inner voice. It seems like you have a good idea for your future. I wish you good luck!
 

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Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
 
Speaking as an unbeliever, it just confirms my belief that people will talk to you about things that interest you if you give them a chance. Sometimes they won't even tell you things you were already thinking.
 

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Posted by Chaz_King (Member # 3184) on :
 
See but that was the weird thing Tom... I talk to random strangers all the time. On the train, around the building at work, and out at bookstores and such. My wife and my friends think it is odd, but I figure if the people want to talk I might as well see what they have to say.

But I can see your point. I mean I talk to random people all the time, it makes sense that at one time or another something like this would happen, but the odds are just crazy =P. Mostly because this was a specific thing. I can understand going to church and feeling as if the pastor wrote his sermon to address your personal problems because sermons are fairly general. It is the specifics of the situation and the timing (because I had been mulling this over last night) that just made me go hmmmmmm.
 

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Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
 
I have posted a similar story about a stranger on the train. I almost never talk to strangers on the train, but it happened that this one time I was on a packed train with a particularly garrulous passenger. I was unemployed (or close, I think) and this guy told me how I could get a job. It all started because we both were interested in astronomy! Serendipity, eh?

Of course, he ended up telling me, essentially, that the HR dept. of NASA can trace your identity through clicks to its web page, and that if you click enough, they'll background check you and send you emails about jobs. He even told me that due to his former work with the government, all I had to do was mention him, and they'd be even more interested. The trick was, he warned, that I should reply immediately; looking desparate was not going to help my cause.

So, what was the moral of this story? Probably something along the lines of don't become a drunk sneaking a 6-pack of mini-Buds on a train, especially after getting sloshed before even stepping on the train.
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That all said, I hope it was a heavenly message, and that you do create art that provides meaning to many people, including yourself. Making the world better is something that should be encouraged at all times.

-Bok
 

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