DIVINE INSPIRATION
 

In our previous chapter I discussed the unpopular theory that Suffering is meant to play a role in everyone's life.  Please understand that I am not privy to any deep dark secret knowledge.  This idea is speculation on my part that you can easily discount if you wish.  That said, what if the idea is true?  What do we do if "The Meaning of Life" includes Suffering?  If so, then perhaps at times we will be deliberately misled through the force of Fate.  I refer to this force as 'Cosmic Blindness'.  What easier way to create Suffering than to be deprived of our Common Sense at key times in our life?

Now let us explore the cheerful side of God's Will.  What is the difference between Divine Intervention and Divine Inspiration?  Divine Intervention refers to a deity actively interfering in the course of human events such as parting the Red Sea.   Divine Inspiration describes a feeling of being guided by a Higher Power.  A person can be 'inspired' to do something such as channel a divine message through writing or actions.

I am amused by people who say they believe in Divine Inspiration, but do not believe in Telepathy.  That makes no sense.  After all, if one believes they can communicate with God through prayer and vice versa, what else would they call the link?  Perhaps they make the distinction that God has the power of Telepathic communication, but human to human contact is impossible. 

I was raised a Quaker.  Quaker Service consists of members who sit together in quiet meditation for an hour.  Quakers believe if one can silence their mind, they open themselves up for God's inspiration.  Hopefully the still small voice of God will offer a suggestion on problems as well as guide them to spiritual development.  I like the Quaker Religion.  Whatever they do, it works.  The Quakers I have known are peaceful, caring, and conscientious.  They make the world a better place. 

The principle of looking directly to God for inspiration has always appealed to me.  Meditation is a staple of Eastern Religion such as Buddhism and Hinduism.  We have all heard of yogis who sit silently for hours in worship with God.  Speaking of yogis, one day during college a member of the Quaker Meeting mentioned a yogi from India would be speaking that night on the Johns Hopkins campus.  Curious, I went to listen.  The yogi spoke of two worlds, a hidden 'Spiritual World' and the 'Material World', what we refer to as Reality. 

Afterwards, the yogi's assistant invited us to stick around and be initiated into a form of meditation known as Kriya Yoga.  You know me and my curiosity.  I accepted the offer.  When it was my turn, I was led into a private room.  The room was very dark.  With the windows curtained off, the only source of light was a small candle on the floor.  It was placed in front of the Yogi who sat in lotus position on a straw mat.  He gestured silently to the mat opposite him with the candle between us.  I sat down and crossed my legs as best I could.  The Yogi whispered to close my eyes, then said nothing further. 

I began to feel light-headed, even dizzy.  I had the distinct impression the man was probing my mind.  Curious as to what was going on, I visualized a question mark in my mind.  At that exact moment, the yogi chuckled.  When that happened, I became very flustered.  There could not possibly be fakery involved.  The timing was too precise to be an accident.  I was convinced the man was reading my mind. 

After five minutes, the Yogi asked me to open my eyes, then smiled at me.  He told me to repeat the sacred words 'Om Kriya Babaji Nama Aum' out loud several times.  When I got it right, he smiled again and nodded his approval.  The Yogi said for me to close my eyes and meditate for 15 minutes every day, repeating those words over and over.  And with that, my initiation into Kriya Yoga was over.

So here again perhaps the Reader wonders why I have interrupted the narrative of Rick and Marla's romance to discuss topics such as Cosmic Blindness and Divine Inspiration.  Perhaps it would help if I explained that I have long felt a duty, or 'Inspiration', to write a book about Fate.  Using experiences from my life, I do my best to show how I reached my controversial conclusions.  In particular, I believe the story of Rick and Marla was a Fated Event designed to demonstrate just how much our lives are affected by hidden energies.  To put it more bluntly, the purpose of this book is to provoke the Reader to take the concept of Fate more seriously. 

A belief in God assumes He has the power to intervene in our lives.  Not only can God send and receive messages through Inspiration, He can make things happen through Intervention.  For example, I believe God can act as a Cosmic social director by arranging Fate-related coincidences.  Not for a moment do I believe I ran into Marla at midnight on a cruise trip "by accident". 

Is there really such a thing as Divine Inspiration?  I for one think so.  Although I have never met J.K. Rowling, I would bet money she believes in it too.  I say this for a specific reason.  Joanne Rowling has told the story of the incredible creative moment that led to her Harry Potter series.  To me, the story of her Magic Train Ride serves as the most dramatic example of Divine Intervention/Inspiration I have ever come across.  In his book The Creative Curve, Allen Gannett wrote about Ms. Rowling's blinding vision of Wizards and Magic.

"It was 1990.  J. K. Rowling, 25 at the time, was stuck on the train from Manchester to London.  The train was delayed, and it was looking less and less likely she'd reach London on time.  Her mind started to wander.  As she later told The New York Times, "It was the most incredible feeling.  It came out of nowhere, it just fell from above."

Suddenly the ideas for characters inhabiting a magical world began filling her brain.  The procession started with Harry Potter.

"I could see Harry very clearly; this scrawny little boy, and it was the most physical rush of excitement.  I've never felt that excited about anything to do with writing.  I'd never had an idea that gave me such a physical response.

By the end of that train journey I knew it was going to be a seven-book series.  I know that's extraordinarily arrogant for somebody who had never been published, but that's how it came to me.  Coincidentally, I didn't have a pen and was too shy to ask anyone for one on the train.  This frustrated me at the time, but when I look back it was the best thing for me.  It gave me the full four hours on the train to think up all the ideas for the book."

It is not an accident that I have studied Ms. Rowling's writing career closely.  The Magic she writes about runs suspiciously parallel to the same Magic I write about.  The major difference is that while Ms. Rowling claims her far-out "fictional" ideas are the result of vivid imagination, I claim my far-out ideas are based on real-life experience.  As I studied her unusual life story, I learned Ms. Rowling is just as familiar with Failure as she is with astounding Success.  With a nod to Nietzsche ("that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger") and Churchill ("all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial"), Ms. Rowling credits Hardship for making her the person she later became. 

There is an Arabic Proverb known as "Two Days".  I prefer to call it "Brightest Day and Darkest Day".  Here is how it goes:

"Life consists of two days.  One is for you, one is against you.  During your Brightest Day, do not be proud or reckless.  When it is your Darkest Day, be patient and learn lessons.  For both days are a test for you." 

Ms. Rowling is no stranger to the duality of Darkest Day and Brightest Day.  More than likely, her Magic Train Ride was part of her Brightest Day.  But soon after that, her entire world fell to pieces.  Her Darkest Day started when her mother died the same year and her boyfriend broke up with her.  Over the next two years, nothing went right. 

J.K. Rowling said that Failure was the best thing to ever happen to her.

Seriously?  Did J.K. Rowling really say Failure was the best thing to ever happen to her?  Well, sort of.  Joanne Rowling said that Failure was useful because it helped her figure out what she was good at and what she was lousy at. 

Curiously, other famous writers such as Charles Dickens and Mark Twain have said the same thing about their own lives.  Failure helped all three writers focus on what they were good at even though 'Writing' did not seem the practical path to take at the time.  Once Ms. Rowling discovered what she really wanted to do with her life, her Intuition encouraged her to go all in on a writing career (very similar to how my intuition encouraged me to go all in on an impractical dance career).  However, her decision was much braver than mine.  I had another job if worse came to worse.  Rowling had nothing.

Here is what made Joanne Rowling's decision so brave.  Her mother had died and she was estranged from her father.  The combination of dead-end temp jobs and the break-up with her boyfriend led to an impulsive move to Portugal to teach English classes.  Disaster awaited.  A man she met in a bar got her pregnant.  After they married, rumor has it he beat her and left her penniless.  Reeling from a terrible short-term marriage to this abusive man, Rowling used the last of her savings to flee Portugal.  She had her four-month old daughter Jessica in tow.  When she arrived back in England, Rowling had nothing.  Lacking money, parents and any sort of support system, Rowling felt totally abandoned.  She was now at the mercy of Great Britain's welfare system.  Her weekly benefit of 69 pounds gave her barely enough money to pay for a squalid apartment plus food and diapers for Jessica.  Think about it.  No mother to help watch the baby, her sister was away, no savings, no man, no job, no safety net, no Christmas Miracles.  Her "Darkest Day" indeed. 

"Growing up, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds, took the dim view that my overactive imagination was a personal quirk that would never pay a mortgage or secure a pension.  To my astonishment, the day came when their worst fears came true.  An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded.  I was jobless, a lone parent, as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless.  The fears that my parents had for me, and that I had  for myself, had both come to pass.  By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew."

Rowling was able to find part-time secretarial work at a church for 22 pounds per week.  This was a godsend because the minister let Rowling bring her baby daughter along.  However, she was in a terrible bind.  Rowling had entered the Poverty Trap.  If she earned one shilling more, it would be deducted from her current stipend.  Her predicament was Catch-22.  Rowling needed a full-time job to afford childcare, but she could not look for a full-time job until she had enough money for childcare.  Totally broke, Rowling would have no choice but to drag her daughter along for any job interview.  How exactly was that going to help the interview?  Furthermore, where was she going to find a good-paying job?  Her only marketable skill was teaching experience during her stay in Portugal.  However she lacked the necessary degree to qualify in England.  Trapped, Joanne Rowling saw only one door available to her... her writing ability.  Trapped, Rick Archer saw only one door available to him... dance lessons.

OBLIVIATE
 

Have you ever heard someone besides me espouse the theory of Cosmic Blindness?   Probably not.  Although Blindness is occasionally hinted at in the Bible, parables are a poor way to draw a firm conclusion.  The only place I have ever found something similar to my Blindness ideas are the Harry Potter books.  I would dearly love to know Joanne Rowling's views on Reality.  To my knowledge, she has never publicly credited Divine Intervention for her uncanny success.  In a 2012 interview, Ms. Rowling stated that while she believes in God, there have been times when she experienced doubt.  Although her struggles with Faith played a part in writing her books, she claims she does not believe in magic or witchcraft.  Oh really?  To be honest, I don't believe she is being candid. 

My guess is Ms. Rowling prefers to sidestep controversy on religious issues  [Hmm. Maybe I should take a hint.]  Considering how gifted Ms. Rowling is, it is easy to assume the woman is so brilliant she does not need God to help write her clever stories.  And yet she is very open about her astounding creative experience on the train, an event that has 'Divine Intervention' written all over it.  In ancient Greece and Rome, there was a belief that Creativity came to human beings from some distant and unknowable source.  Would Joanne Rowling agree with this sentiment? 

I would love so much to meet her.  I say this because I have a hunch she is a kindred spirit.  In a private moment, I would like to ask Ms. Rowling if she believes her amazing Train Ride inspiration was sent from beyond by Fate.  There's an old saying that some people are one stiff drink from telling you what they really think.  If I caught Joanne Rowling in a weak moment and plied her with vodka, would she confess she too wonders if the Universe tampers with our minds? 

In particular, I would like to ask Ms. Rowling how she came up with her Obliviate concept.  What is "Obliviate"?  This is the name Rowling has given to a Forgetfulness Charm used by Wizards to affect people's minds.  "Obliviate" is employed any time it becomes necessary to shield humans from the truth about Reality.  Ms. Rowling divides her Harry Potter fantasy world into Wizards and Muggles.  Muggles are normal humans who have no idea a Magic World exists side by side with what they refer to as 'Reality'.  Wizards deliberately hide their powers from Muggles.  Why?  There is a general understanding in the Wizard World that Ordinary Humans are not strong enough to handle the truth about Reality.  Unfortunately, this secretive approach causes a serious problem.  Apparently Wizards have a bad habit of losing control of their Magic right in the midst of startled Muggles.  After accidentally viewing an action that breaks the Rules of Reality, a Muggle is not only bewildered, he desperately craves an explanation. 

"Oh no!" the Wizard says.  "We cannot have Muggles questioning Reality!  This cannot happen!"

In Goblet of Fire, a Muggle named Mr. Roberts and his family are seized by Death Eaters.  The monsters proceed to levitate the defenseless family into the air and contort the victims into grotesque shapes.  Mercilessly spinning the family till they are dizzy, they drop the frightened Muggles back to earth.  Seeing the victims scream in terror, a Wizard named Mr. Weasley decides it is necessary to Obliviate the horrible memories of the Death Eater attack. 

Mr. Weasley awoke Harry Potter and his friends after only a few hours of sleep.  He used Magic to pack up the tents and they left the campsite as quickly as possible, passing poor Mr. Roberts at the door of his cottage.  Mr. Roberts had a strange, dazed look about him as he waved them off with a vague 'Merry Christmas'. 

"Mr. Roberts will be all right," Mr. Weasley quietly said as they marched off onto the moor.  "Sometimes when a person's memory is modified it makes him a bit disoriented for a while.  That was definitely a big thing I had to make him forget."  
 

Ms. Rowling makes it clear that Wizards will use mind modification whenever necessary.  One day Hagrid lost his temper and gave Harry Potter's obnoxious cousin Dudley a pig's tail.  No, not a pigtail, but rather the tail of a Pig.  A Wizard was dispatched to 'Obliviate' the damage.  

Imagine my delight to find Wizards have the power to affect the minds of Muggles.  Hmm.  Is it my imagination or does 'Obliviate' sound like a carbon copy of 'Cosmic Blindness'?

Indeed, the concept of Mind Control plays a major role in the Harry Potter series.  While the incidents with Dudley and Mr. Roberts might be fantasy to Harry Potter readers, over time I have come to believe my Cosmic Blindness theory is an actual part of Reality.  I could not help but notice the similarity of Ms. Rowling's fantasy concepts to things I actually believe in.  Take her idea of the Invisible Wizard World for example.  Is this Fantasy or could this also be Reality?  I firmly believe there is a Hidden World that coexists side by side with what I call 'Reality'.  Although a Hidden World has never been revealed to me, I do not find the idea totally far-fetched.  I know dogs can hear things I cannot hear.  Elephants can use their 7-foot trunks to smell things I cannot smell.  Microscopes and telescopes reveal things I cannot see.  What about ghosts?  Although I have never seen a ghost, I have met psychics who claim they have.  They say 'Seeing is Believing', but maybe it is not necessary to actually see the Hidden World to believe it exists.  There is an abundance of Circumstantial Evidence to suggest there are many unexplained things going on in our lives, ESP for example.  All we have to do is pay attention.

2002

THE HOUSTON ARBORETUM

J.K. Rowling once commented, "80% of my life is completely normal."

I laughed out loud when I read that.  That sounded like something I would say.  Wouldn't it be fun to get in a spirited debate with my idol over whose life is weirder?  "Gosh, Joanne, how many coincidences have you had?"

It is important to understand that the majority of my coincidences have had a serious impact on my life.  More often than not, my suspected Supernatural Events have opened the door to the next stage of my life. 

As an example, think of the Mistress Book, the 1974 coincidence which contained the suggestion to take dance lessons.  On the other hand, I would be hard-pressed to think of a more trivial coincidence than the one that took place in the summer of 2002.  And yet I added it to my List anyway.  Why?  Let's find out.   

Prior to meeting Marla, I had observed over 100 significant coincidences.  Most people would answer, "So what?"  That makes sense.  After all, most coincidences are unimportant.  During a 2007 visit to Hawaii, I ran into a married couple who lived a block away in Houston.  Turns out we even knew several Houston people in common.  Big deal.  I never saw them again.  In other words, this had been a meaningless coincidence.

Unless there is some sort of impact, we forget and move on.  Another factor is 'Mundane versus Weird'.  I once saw a dead raccoon two days in a row.   Not the same raccoon, mind you.  Two different raccoons, two different places.  Considering I had never seen a dead raccoon before, it was odd.  However, since there was no impact and no indication that this was some sort of Supernatural omen, I dismissed it as just one of those things.

That said, once in a while there is a coincidence that is so weird I cannot overlook it.  One such coincidence took place shortly after Marla moved in with me in 2002.  In preparation for our upcoming "Same Time Next Year" Cruise, Marla and I got in the habit of taking daily walks at the Arboretum, a nature park nestled in the heart of Houston.  A mere ten minute drive from home, a walk in the Arboretum quickly became one of our favorite activities.

If I have any psychic ability, I am unaware of it.  I don't see auras, I don't see ghosts, I don't read minds, I don't have visions.  However, based on a very strange experience at the Houston Arboretum, Marla and I are both convinced Telepathy is for real.  One morning we were walking side by side in the forest.  Neither of us had said a word for some time.

Suddenly we both began to sing People are Strange in perfect harmony at the exact same time.  "People are strange when you're a stranger..." 

That first line was as far as we got.  Shocked to be singing the same song at the same time for no reason, we stopped in our tracks and stared at each other.  No, this was not the case of one person singing and the other joining in.  We started at the exact same moment singing the same song in perfect harmony.  This wasn't just weird, this was extraordinarily weird. 

Totally befuddled, we wondered what had caused that to happen.  This classic song by the Doors was instantly recognizable.  Since I tend to be on the moody side, I have long been drawn to the dark lyrics of Jim Morrison.  Although I did know it until now, Marla was a big fan of the Doors as well. 

The song had not been on my mind.  Nor Marla's.  So what prompted it?  We drew a blank.  Neither of us are prone to sing in public.  Acutely aware that people cringe when I sing, I do society a favor and refrain.  Nor do I sing at home.  Likewise Marla.  She hums advertising jingles from time to time, but that's the extent of it.  We don't sing in the forest, we don't sing in the shower, we don't sing period.  And yet here we were doing our best Sound of Music imitation like cheerful Alpine teenagers who spontaneously launch into song for no reason at all. 

Bottom line, we were walking along in silence when this song came upon us out of the blue.  Given our lack of conversation, I could not imagine what brought this on.  I was at a total loss to explain the cause and Marla agreed with me.  "I know that song," Marla said, "but it was not on my mind." 

Marla paused, then added, "I think that was way beyond a mere Coincidence."  An understatement to be sure.

In my opinion, this quirky event defied any sort of Scientific explanation.  After a considerable... and quite unsuccessful... search for a Realistic explanation, we decided the best alternative was Telepathy.  It was one of two things.  Either Marla and I had read each other's mind or some Invisible Being had whispered the song in our minds and told us to sing.  Either way I considered our Forest Duet to be a Meaningful Coincidence. 

Perhaps the Reader scoffs and assumes I am making this up.  Absolutely not!  I am telling the story exactly as it happened.  Ask Marla any time and she will corroborate our unusual forest duet.  ESP, often referred to as the 'Sixth Sense', implies that information can be perceived without the use of our five physical senses.  Unfortunately, people don't like to believe in things they can't see, hear, taste, touch or smell.  Since laboratory experiments on ESP have failed time after time, experts claim this proves ESP does not exist.  Furthermore, skeptics point out there is no viable theory to explain the mechanism behind ESP.  On the other hand, there is a vast amount of anecdotal evidence such as our Forest Duet which contradicts scientific findings.  Just because we can't explain a phenomenon or capture it in a bottle does not make it go away. 

So where am I going with this?  Was this song planted in our minds??

None of us really know where ideas come from.  The concept of Telepathy goes straight back to J.K. Rowling's Magic Train Ride.  One day for no reason, over a period of four hours the entire Harry Potter Wizard World... all the characters, all the plot lines... came to Ms. Rowling during a train ride.   Of course we would all prefer to take credit for our brilliant ideas.  But maybe there is more to 'Creativity' than we realize.  Recalling how Marla and I began to sing 'People are Strange' in the middle of a forest, if someone can plant a song in our heads, then why can't Harry Potter be placed in the mind of Joanne Rowling?   

Here is what I am getting at.  While adding the Forest Duet to my Supernatural List, I wondered if there was a 'Celestial' purpose to this strange incident.  Let's say Destiny calls for me to write an unusual book about 'Fate'.  If that is the case, I have a big problem.  Although I love to write, I am not the creative type.  I am not Joanne Rowling who can invent an entire fantasy world or Charles Dickens who can invent intricate plots.  My skill is writing about things that happen to me, making sure to periodically add a touch of sarcasm to amuse myself.  Well aware of my limitations, I have long held a hunch that God compensates for my lack of imagination by tossing me strange experiences to use in the book. 

I am quite serious.  When I write, I sometimes wonder if all I am doing is taking dictation.  Who needs an imagination if God is going to hand me a wild assortment of bizarre coincidences?  Many believe God has the power to inspire us, to send us ideas.  Religious doctrine states that God created the Bible through Divine Inspiration sent to the Apostles.  The ancient Romans and Greeks credited their Gods for creative ideas.  The Vikings believed Intuition is the Voice of God. 

So who really wrote this book?  Was it me?  Or was it God?  Just for the heck of it, let's say God wants me to write a book about Fate.  Well aware of my limited imagination, God notices my book could benefit from fresh ideas.  What would He say to Himself?

"Rick will write a book about Fate when he gets older.  Thanks to all those skeptical scientists, he will have a hard time getting people to believe his weird claim that thoughts are placed in human minds by invisible beings.  In that case, I better send him some material.  Why not let Rick and Marla sing the same song together for no reason?  It's a harmless story, but it will serve to illustrate that ideas can be sent from beyond.  That might help persuade his Readers to believe Telepathy really does exist." 

Our bizarre Forest Duet remains the most startling potential ESP incident in my life.  I keep waiting for it to happen again, but so far no luck.  Disappointed, I do the next best thing.  I occasionally play the Doors 'Greatest Hits' in the car.  Marla and I invariably mark the occasion by singing our favorite lyrics to People are Strange with impassioned gusto.  We're not Sonny and Cher, but give us time.

RICK ARCHER'S LIST OF SUSPECTED SUPERNATURAL EVENTS

115

114

113

Suspicious

Coincidence
Telepathy

Suspicious

Coincidence

Ultra Serious

 Coincidence

Suspicious

Love is Blind
Cosmic Blindness

Serious

Suspicious

Love is Blind
Cosmic Blindness

Suspicious

Lucky Break
Coincidence

Suspicious

Soul Mate Concept