Spirit in Disguise, or Blessed by the Dress!

It's been a Solstice week of little miracles and amazing synchronicities that affirm the ever-present Power within and around us, regardless of how life appears to be going at the moment.

Several weeks ago, while housesitting in Marin County, I saw a woman in Whole Foods wearing a beautiful sleeveless summer dress, sprinkled with stars, in all my favorite colors. I spontaneously went up to her and said, "I love your dress!" Whereupon, to my astonishment, she promptly offered to mail it to me if I gave her my address.

I demurred, "Oh, no, I was just admiring it!" This is something my grandmother used to do (offer to give me whatever I said I liked). But the woman, a petite, elegant, older Asian lady, insisted I needed to receive this gift. I said I didn't even know if it would fit me, and she replied that if it didn't, I could pass it along to a friend. I almost wept from her kindness, then began spilling stress in terms of searching for appropriate housing, fatigue, etc. The next thing I knew, she had pulled me aside and was saying a prayer for me, right there in the middle of Whole Foods! It was all quite uplifting and incredible. I gave her my card, and then promptly forgot about it.

Today when I went to pick up my mail in Sebastopol, there was a package with no return address. I was puzzled, and when I opened it--voila, the dress! And Jean purposely sent it with no way for me to return it--or to thank her. She enclosed a "Thinking of You" card reminding me to trust God (and entrust my cares to God), and that was all. I only know her first name.

Excited, I dashed over to the Whole Foods here to try it on in the restroom. Alas, the armholes were too tight, so the dress didn't fit properly. She was tiny compared with me. So, I decided to put it back in the car to give to someone else. But first, since it was 100 degrees outside, I wanted a succulent slice of watermelon!

A woman perusing the watermelons asked me how to discern which slices were organic, and since I had just asked that question yesterday, I had the answer. I found myself telling her about the dress I was holding; then I offered it to her. To my amazement, her eyes grew bright with tears, and she said, "Oh, you can't imagine what this means. My husband died four years ago..." She went on to describe how challenging life has been for her as an unexpected single mom, trying to make ends meet.

We talked for the next ten minutes about our lives, and how Spirit moves through them. I told her the dress isn't really a dress; it's Spirit in disguise! And as she also said a blessing for me and left, clutching the dress like a treasure, I felt a circle complete, and a renewed sense of JOY at how simple it can be to care for one another. Before I gave Kathy the dress, I blessed it and thanked Jean for the gift she gave me. Then I passed it on. And we are all the richer for giving and receiving selflessly. Kathy said in wonder, "But you don't even know me!" and I responded, "She didn't know me!" And yet, on another level, we did know one another quite well. We are all sisters under the skin.