Sometimes the internet is mind-boggling. If you have a Facebook account, or a Google or Twitter account, you may have experienced this too. Complete strangers follow my site and I have no clue who they are, or why they found me worth the click. They visit, read and subscribe to my blogs, but never reveal why.
A few months ago. I had one of the most interesting "follows" to date. A thanatologist and writer (I'll call her Lizzy). That's a doozy, huh? I'd never heard of a thanatologist. Have you? Curiosity beckoned so I googled the definition. Thanatology is "the study of death and its surrounding circumstances, as in forensic medicine." It's also "the study of the effects of death and dying, especially the investigation of ways to lessen the suffering and address the needs of the terminally ill and their survivors". That tidbit of information led me to read Lizzy's profile, which led to me read some of her posts at her blog. I discovered she thinks "nothing is a coincidence". I happen to believe that, too. She and I disagree on why we think that; nevertheless, we have a common thread of thought. It's rather plain to me that she is not a follower of Jesus, since she believes she is reincarnated from another life. I trust Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. She seems a bit confused. She wrote about going to a party where someone did a past-life reading, and told her that she was someone else in a prior life. Then she related a dream she'd had prior to that reading and how all those things intersected with each other. She can't explain it, she admits. Nevertheless, she thought it interesting and calls the odd phenomena "synchronicities".
The Jack Bauer of "24" fame, might agree in part with Ms. Lizzy, as the actor now stars in a role with a little autistic boy (his son), who leads his dad on merry chase each week to help someone in a life-changing experience which is connected to several others around the world. The popular television series, "Touch", synchronizes the lives of several characters and depicts how their individual decisions affect the lives of complete strangers from around the world. The little boy has a psychic gift of sorts that defines how life occurs. His dad must follow a number his son gives him every week. One number leads to another and before you know it, relationships are restored, estranged family members are reconciled.
Me? Well, I have an explanation for connections I experience. It's called my choices and God's plan for my life. Somewhere in all of Ms. Lizzy's internet "clicks" she found something I said that clicked with her. I could wonder what drew her to my pool of thought. What worm did I leave dangling in her mind? what phrase? But does it really matter? We each encounter all kinds of folks in life. The internet is exploding into a web of connections with folks we will never meet this side of heaven. At times, I do wonder what my words and my life mean to others. I pray they have value. Some people leave their mark on your soul. While they may leave...they're never really gone. We often carry the experiences with them into our future. This past weekend we honor thousands of military members who gave their lives so we have the right in America to say what we want to say. Today I consider how blessed I am to live in a country where others defend my freedom to live, to worship, to meet, to pursue a better life. Do you?
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