God's Winks

My parents are relatively religious people. My dad a Roman Catholic and my mom a Congregationalist. My dad helps seat people at mass, and my mom attends bible study every Tuesday. They aren't corny or anything, but they do have a tendency to read Mitch Albom books and some what I used to and still somewhat do consider lame faith books.

Maybe three years ago, they each read a book called When God Winks, about little everyday things that prove there is a God. They tried to get me to read it, but as a teenager, and already knowing everything like I did back then, I called it cheesy and refused. Two weeks ago something small happened in my life, and I sent my parents this e-mail.

Mom and Dad,

You both know I certainly believe in God and although not all of the practices of the Catholic Church, at least a good amount of them. At the same time, you know I don't particularly like the sappy religious stuff and what not. However, I must tell you this story - because yes I have had other moments like the one I'm about to explain to you, but if nothing else they reaffirm for me, the existence of a higher presence.

The other day on Campus, an Asian man was going around asking for donations. I couldn't really understand what he was saying, or exactly what the donations were for. He asked me for one in the morning, and I told him I couldn't because I didn't have any cash in my wallet. I saw him also get denied by most of the other students he asked. I walked away and didn't think much about it.

At around five o'clock of the same day, I came out of class and was waiting for the bus home. I saw the same Asian man asking for donations of the people across the street. They both denied him, and upon looking around, saw me waiting alone for the bus. As he bound for me, I could see the bus approaching down the road, about 3 minutes away. He asked me for a donation, and I looked in my wallet for cash, I had none, but he saw my debit card and pointed toward it, clearly signaling that I could use it to make a donation. He was very persistent, so I gave in. He asked how much I wanted to donate, and I said 10$ and he told me the minimum was 50$. Obviously I didn't have the money, and so he showed me a different sheet that said for $20 I could help feed children in a China orphanage. So I agreed to donate $20. As I started filling out my billing information for him, the bus was just about to get to me, and I began to get afraid that I wouldn't finish filling out my information and I would miss the bus. At this same time, Thunder boomed and it started to sprinkle.

As I finished filling out my information, the bus passed me carrying a sign saying: Not In Service. As the Asian man thanked me and walked away, I somewhat cursed my luck and prepared to wait another 15 minutes for the next bus in the rain.

Maybe two seconds after the man left, I heard someone say: " Do you need a ride?" I turned to see a car by the bus stop, with a guy I didn't recognize looking at me. "I asked if he was talking to me," and he said" " you live at Sigma Chi don't you?" I asked him how he knew that, and it turns out he was a friend of an older guy in the house. Again, as it turns out, he had been at the house two weeks earlier drinking with some of the older guys and I had met him for maybe two seconds. He then proceeded to be extremely nice, and drop me off at the house.

The fact that he was drinking and remembered my face is pretty amazing in itself. The fact that he offered me a ride, as it started to rain, after I had made a donation for an amount much more than I had intended and a bus I had been waiting for turned out to not be in service... well that, that is a wink.

Love,
Nate

Please don't take this the wrong way, and think I am giving myself props for my donation and what not. Believe me, I really didn't want to give the man any money, and certainly not anymore than ten bucks. But he goaded me, and smiled and I eventually felt either so much like a jackass or just totally awkward (not sure which, you make the call) that I did. And then I got a ride home out of the rain from an almost stranger.

Call it luck, or coincidence. Call it whatever. I think God Winked at me - and I definitely know he's smirked and flipped me off a couple times too. And I definitely deserved those.

-Lates