A Powerful Convergence

When we think of a convergence, we usually envision two or three shining planets coming together in the velvet black night sky and astrologers urgently discussing what such a striking event might mean. But that’s not the kind of convergence I’ll be musing about here. This post is about the convergence of choices/events; how one thing leads to another which leads to another which leads to a point in time where they all converge and, with lots of help from the gods, something amazing happens. These convergences occur all the time. They are the small and large miracles of our lives and most of them go unnoticed. But there was one recent convergence that the whole world noticed.

On January 17th Kaleb Whitby had a miraculous escape from certain death. In the dark, cold predawn his pickup was completely squashed between two big rigs during a freeway pile up on I-84 near Baker City, Oregon. He crawled out of the wreckage with only a few cuts and a black eye.
These were the seemingly insignificant choices that lead to this 27-year-old Mormon farmer/husband/father’s improbably good fortune:

• His brother, Brigham, hadn’t come with him this trip. If he had he would have died and there still would have been a tragedy.
• He was driving at a cautious 30mph because the road was icy.
• He was a competent driver and tapped the breaks, lessening the first impact.
• The air-bag decided not to inflate.
• His truck wasn’t a normal pickup, he’d bought one with an extended cab which protected him from the second semi.
But even so, how could he have possibly survived?

As far as I’m concerned, this is another case of a god (in this case the Mormon’s god) rushing into the nearest phone booth, putting on his superman outfit,

swooping down, and saving a life. See previous posts.

There has also been powerful convergence in my life. It’s not even close in magnitude to what happened to Kaleb Whitby, but it’s still pretty significant to me. It happened, of course, because of my choices and hard work, but I’m beginning to suspect there was also divine intervention somewhere along the line. Not by a god this time, but a goddess.

Brigid, to be exact.

Here are the choices, events, and synchronicities that led to this convergence:
• I began writing Forging the Blade, my Young Adult Fantasy novel way back in 2006.

• I have totally rewritten it at least seven times.
• Just a few days ago my editor, Jessica Morrell, a woman who takes the word discrimination to a whole new level, finally said that my book was good. She liked it. Actually, she said this in her first two sentences. The rest of her four-page, single-spaced, Ariel ten-point commentary was devoted to things I needed to change. But I’ve learned to clutch her rare and dazzling compliments to my heart and realize that her criticism is the reason I pay her to read my work—not her praise.
• I have decided that I will rewrite the book one more time and start sending out query letters to agents yet again. The rewrite should only take a month or so as opposed to the year that the last one took.
• This will be the last rewrite until a publisher asks for changes.
• The book is about a six-teen-year-old girl who becomes a warrior mage and sells her soul to that world’s equivalent of the goddess Brigid. In return, the goddess forges her a magic sword.
• Brigid is the goddess of smith craft, fire, inspiration, writing, and healing.
• I am a writer and healer.
• Jessica, my editor, just gave me a very deep discount on a conference she organized. Besides her, there were four other amazing speakers. It was exactly what I needed. I came out of it inspired and ready to write. Thank you, Jessica.
• Jessica’s birthday is February 1st, Imbolc Eve.
• Today is Imbolc, Brigid’s Festival

And so, you see, it has all come together into a satisfying synchronicity. It would have been easy to miss, but I have learned to look carefully for these lovely dovetailings of events in my life. Some would say that I’m making to much of simple coincidences. I, however, prefer to see the above events as evidence that the gods are intimately involved in our lives and take every opportunity to show us how much they care.

Thank you thank you thank you, Brigid!

And a Blessed and Inspiring Imbolc to You All!