The gold nugget of her story was that she had a deep sense that "God's got this." That this is in HIS hands.
Now, from the perspective of a Believer, the belief is that "God's got this" (GGT) in ALL things, ALL the time, and someone who believes that should theoretically have that deep sense of everything being grace, and the plan, bigger than ourselves, ultimately out of our hands, and God is good. But they don't. So much for faith.
Why are some times special? Why does God "invite us in" to his garden just sometimes to feel deep in our soul the truth what we try to believe in all the time? And is there anything I can do to get on the list? And how can I stay there (even as I go about the daily routine of my life)?
I know from reading, from testimony, and from personal experience, that there are people who have a lifetime free pass to that sense of peace and contentment of abiding in "God's got this." And you can follow any of (a hundred?) disciplines to do it, but they all amount to a few singular ways.
- Regular and frequent Meditation, Meditative Prayer. Not the type of prayer where you try to get something, but the type where you still your mind and allow that quiet voice inside to learn to communicate to the part of you that lives in the regular world.
- Deep thought about the nature of the universe and our place in it. I'm never surprised anymore when people of the most fundamental science (physics, evolutionary biology, cognitive and brain science) reach the edge of the known/knowable, and still wonder, and get a little bit loopy about some sort of divinity. Maybe not the exact sense that stems from someone reaching that point from the religious side of things which anthropomorphizes God, but similar enough that it might be mistaken in the emotional centers of the brain. Years of thinking of ourselves as deeply part of the universe, and one with it is eventually going to have a likewise deep impact.
- Earthshaking events that occur when the mind happens to be in some particular state of openness. The event creates a rift that allows or propels or forces the truth of existence into the protected areas of our psyche. Something that induces the deep thoughts about the nature of life (see above), and results, often quite suddenly, in arriving at that same place. "All is good, GGT."
Having a "lifetime pass" doesn't mean that there is an awareness every moment of GGT, but the path to get there is available anytime it's needed, and the door is always open, should they want to spend a little time there for whatever reason. As life takes us through its valleys of darkness and across its arid deserts, it can sometimes take a few moments to find our way back, but with enough time abiding there, it's like you can take a wardrobe of it with you, and step inside no matter where you are. The physical space of a garden metaphor breaks down a little here, because, of course, the whole place exists always inside us all the time (yes, Wizard of Oz is a classic for a reason), but the mental familiarity with the path down into that part of ourselves is what makes it easily accessible.
I'm glad my little sister got to spend a time there when her need was great.
