Gratitude

In a telephone conversation last week, D mentioned that she rarely hears any sense of gratitude from me ... not to this or that person, but at a more basic level for the real blessings in my life. I wasn't quite sure what to tell her, although it is true that this is the kind of thing I don't often express where people can hear me. Sometimes I see the most remarkable coincidences drop into place, as it were providentially, and when I see them I say a little "thank you" in my heart. But I usually don't say it out loud, and sometimes it takes me a while to notice.

My upcoming business trip was originally scheduled for this very week: I was due to leave on Sunday, November 2. On Monday October 27 (six days before my flight), I found out there had been a mix-up and the fellow whom I was travelling to meet was planning to arrive on November 17 ... hadn't I known? (No, in fact, his office had never informed me.) So I scrambled to change a lot of plans, all of a sudden.

Three days later, on Thursday, October 30, D and I exchanged a couple of remarkable e-mails, ending with the one in which I mentioned this trip. Had it not been for the mix-up at the other guy's office, there would have been no time -- between Friday morning and Sunday afternoon -- to pull together plans for her to come see me.

I just realized five minutes ago how providential the schedule mix-up was. Of course you could argue that this makes Providence into an accomplice in adultery, but I'm not interested in going down that path right now.

And I can assure you I am grateful ...

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