From “Trust the Whisper: How Answering Quiet Callings Inspires Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary Grace“ by Kathy Izard
Who could imagine that all of our whispers were part of the same story and that we would someday all be connected? To me, that is evidence of a small world connecting to a big God that resulted in huge change. In his sermon “Faith and Fiction,” Frederick Buechner says it well:
‘The good dream. The odd coincidence. The moment that brings tears to your eyes. The person who brings life to your life. Maybe even the smallest events hold the greatest clues. If it is God we are looking for, as I suspect all of us are, even if we don’t think of it that way and wouldn’t use such language on a bet, maybe the reason we haven’t found him is that we are not looking in the right places.’
Maybe finding evidence of the divine and believing in God is as simple as paying attention. Frances had to pay attention to her whisper to send her prayers and dollars. Caroline had to pay attention to not simply throw away an outer envelope in a rush to process the card and cash she already knew would be inside. We had to pay attention to people like Dale Hailey, believing that as a human being he deserved a home and not just an eight-by-eight-foot hold in the ground.
Faith can begin as simply as that. If we are wondering where God is in our lives, perhaps we can start by noticing the holy all around us every day.