Asking for a Sign . . . Part Two
Catch up on part one here first:
Where we left off . . .
After part one went live, I went back to double-check the timing of everything—it was even wilder than I imagined. After my morning of dejected exasperation last month, crying over soft scrambled eggs, then begging asking for a sign, the email that launched three new speaking gigs arrived just two hours later, not two days.
While I am deeply grateful for the revenue surge these last few weeks, it is even more meaningful to receive such a clear, unequivocal answer.
KEEP GOING, the Universe responded, while delivering the means to do so.
The sign may have come at the eleventh-and-fifty-nine-minute hour, but it sure did arrive in serendipitous style. I was back on the Yellow Brick Road, this time with renewed hope for the journey.
But that’s not where this story ends.
On the day of the San Francisco event, after delivering a virtual keynote at six a.m. for one company while prepping for an in-person offsite for another that afternoon, I sat on a bench along the Embarcadero in the city I was born and raised in, looking at a bridge that reminded me of my childhood.
On a nearby patch of grass, a Border Collie ran in circles chasing a crow who seemed to be having as much he was. A Pelican dove for a fish into the lapping Bay waves.
In that moment, one of my favorite songs from my Devotion playlist turned up on Spotify’s “Liked Songs” shuffle, bringing tears of gratitude to my eyes.
I sang Day by Day out loud, repeating it five times, giving no concern to the onlookers who could see or hear (it’s San Francisco, after all).
I love the lyrics of this song because they honor the role that each of us plays in the broader global fabric of working life. One favorite verse and the refrain:
Farmer, you are working for a table full of bounty.
Painter, with each color you are teaching us to see.
Nurse, yours are the healing hands that touch the poor and brokenMay God’s kingdom come
On earth His will be done,
Lord, be close to us
Lord, have mercy on us.
Lord, please put Your hand on us day by day.
As I sat in the sun, reflecting on one event while preparing for the next, I chuckled at another sign-within-a-sign of this recent bounty.1