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THE
HIDDEN HAND OF GOD
CHAPTER SIX:
PAY IT FORWARD
Written by Rick
Archer
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2009
THE
BENEFACTOR I NEVER KNEW I HAD
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Now that Mrs.
Ballantyne had let the cat out of the bag, I cannot begin to
explain how humiliating it was to discover the greatest
benefactor of my life had gone undetected for 40 years.
How was it possible for me to miss Mr. Salls' role in the
Hopkins scholarship? I thought back to all the clues I had
missed, including the memory of the unpaid
school bill. I surmised that Mr.
Salls had told the bill collector to stand down and allow me to
graduate in peace. Thank goodness I had returned the favor by clearing the debt.
I hope Mr. Salls got the message.
The word 'inscrutable'
described my Headmaster well. Although I believed Mrs.
Ballantyne's assertion that Mr.
Salls liked me, Lord
knows he never showed it. So why all the cloak and
dagger regarding my 'secret' Hopkins scholarship? I can only assume Mr. Salls was a very busy man who did not realize how much
energy I had on the Jones Scholarship. I
doubt seriously he had any idea the despair I felt
when he handed Katina the Jones Scholarship.
Nor did he think it wise to let me know
the strings he pulled behind the scenes. What if I had
said something and word got out that Mr. Salls had arranged a
scholarship for me? The line
out his door from other parents requesting a similar favor would
have circled the school. Better to leave me in the dark.
Why did Mr. Salls
look the other way on my transgressions? My guess is he
felt compassion based on the memory of his own difficult
childhood. Mr. Salls knew how pitiful my home life was.
He also saw a side to me that Mr. Murphy never witnessed.
When I had been his student, I suppose he came to respect how
hard I worked. I was one of his best German students not
because I had the greatest talent, but rather because I tried so
hard to please him. Impressed by my dedication, perhaps
this explains why he gave me the benefit of the doubt.
Poor Mr. Salls.
I felt so guilty. Oh my goodness, he had gone to
all that trouble to arrange my scholarship and here I was making
an enormous fool of myself. I must have tried his patience dearly.
As they say, no good deed goes unpunished. I can only surmise that after Mr. Salls had worked so
hard to obtain this Hopkins scholarship on my behalf, he was determined not to let me
fail. Thank goodness Mr. Salls believed in me.
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There is a concept known as 'Pay it
Forward'. If you cannot repay the
person to whom you owe a great debt, extend
that favor to someone else.
In 2005 I wrote the first draft of
the Maria Ballantyne story.
I
called it The Power of a Simple Act of Kindness.
This title was a reference to the great
kindness she extended to me during my Senior
year crisis.
My story touched a lot of people. That
included the most important person of all,
Maria Ballantyne herself. When she
learned of my story in 2006, Mrs. Ballantyne
wanted to thank me in person over lunch.
During our visit, Mrs. Ballantyne told me
many new stories about St. John's.
When I got home, I made sure to update the
original story.
In 2009 Mrs. Ballantyne opened my eyes to
the role Mr. Salls had played in my life.
Unfortunately Mr. Salls had passed away in 1985.
That made it was impossible to thank him
personally. However, it was not too late.
Recalling how Mrs. Ballantyne had
appreciated the original story, now I wanted to
add my praises of Mr.
Salls. So I took my 2005 story and
expanded it to include my former Headmaster. I am glad I
did. Many people wrote to thank me.
One was Mrs. Ballantyne's son Michael.
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November 2,
2009
Thanks for writing such a
wonderful story about Mr. Salls and my mother. Rick, if you ever
see my mother again, you should ask her
to show you a letter Uncle George
wrote to her one Christmas while she was
in college. They were really struggling
back then. George was
hustling a bunch of different jobs in
college and would send her money as best
he could. In
the letter he was talking about how lucky they were to
have each other and how they would always be a family.
George was trying so hard to keep my mother's spirits up
when she felt so lonely. Many times she has told me
how important her brother was to her.
I am proud
of my mother for how she helped you.
I am sure
that some of my mother's empathy is genetic but in large
measure a lot of it is due to the problems in her youth.
My mother struggled so hard to escape the expectations laid
out for her. Recalling her own struggles has to explain why she reached out to you in
such an impressive way.
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They had
so little. Even today my mother buys things to
hoard.
Mom's brother George
would go on to make a vast fortune. However, I heard
him say on more
than one occasion that had he not had some lucky breaks
he would have wound up washing dishes in a Greek
restaurant. I think folks like my mother and
my uncle who had so
little both in terms of money and a home life do
empathize more.
As a kid we used to go to
the Athens Bar and Grill on the ship channel and she
would bring home Greek sailors all the time -- poor
fellows who were working their butts off to supply their
sisters with a dowry so they could get married or send
money home so their family could come to
America. Mom would pour her heart out to these men and encourage
them to continue to follow their dreams.
It sounds
like she did the same thing for you.
Regards, Mike
Ballantyne
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In 2014,
I was contacted by Kim
Salls, Jr., oldest son of my former
Headmaster.
From: Kim
Salls, Jr
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2014 1:41 PM
Subject: St. John's School and my father
Rick,
Please don't get confused,
there are three Elwood Kimball
Salls. One is my father, one
is me, one is my son.
My son, E. K. Salls III, found your article
about my father when
searching for something else on the internet.
After he told me about it, I read your story today.
It is a wonderful, well-told story that brought tears to
my eyes when I was reading about what Dad had done to
help you.
Thank
you so much for your kind words about my father.
I graduated from St. John's in 1961 so I probably did
not know you. My brother Cal was in the class of 1965.
My wife Bettie and I run into Maria Ballantyne once or twice a
month when we are eating dinner out, quite often at Paulie's or Tony Mandola's. She is
indeed a great lady.
Sincerely,
Kim (E. Kimball Salls, Jr
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Pleased to hear from Kim Salls, I contacted
him immediately. When we met for
coffee, Kim shared many fascinating details
about his father. He said one thing
that really caught my attention. Kim
said, "You might be surprised to know my
father was just as secretive with me as he
was with you. I guess that was just
his nature. I am so glad you wrote
that story. I learned things about my
father I never even knew before."
Kim's gratitude touched me in a special way.
Once I realized how important my story about
his father was to him, I understood better
than ever before what it meant to 'Pay it
Forward'. My story had brought
much-deserved credit to a very humble man.
Without my story, no one would have
ever known what he did for me. The same
thing could be said about Maria Ballantyne.
I had a hunch that she and her friend
Charlie Salls had performed many kind deeds over
the years that went unnoticed.
Constantly giving of themselves without any
expectation of reward, it gave me great
pleasure to shine a light on my unsung
heroes.
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In
1973 I saw the 1959 movie Ben-Hur
for the second time. There was one
scene in the movie that went straight
to the very core of my being.
After I saw what took
place, I could not stop crying.
Why? Because it
reminded me of what Maria Ballantyne had
once done for me.
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Judah
Ben-Hur was bound and chained en
route to become a slave in the
Roman galleys. He was
cruelly denied water by the
guards as he crossed the hot
desert sands. Dying of
thirst in the extreme heat, Ben
Hur collapsed. On the
ground near death, Ben Hur
whispered, "God, please help
me..."
Seconds
later, a stranger came up and
gave him water. A nearby
Roman soldier stared in
disbelief at this bold act of
defiance. An instant
later, the guard cowered in
recognition of the divinity of
Jesus. Out of nowhere,
Jesus himself had appeared to offer a bowl
of water to a suffering man full
of despair. This powerful
moment gave Ben Hur the courage
he needed to continue on despite
an absolutely hopeless
situation.
Now the
cynical among us scoff and say
something this preposterous does
not happen in real life.
Guess what?
I am living
proof that it does happen.
An unexpected act of Kindness can make a
profound difference in the life
of a crippled person. Whenever
I think of the day
Mrs. Ballantyne rescued me in
high school, I recall this scene
in the movie.
Looking back,
I believe it was my Fate to be
placed in a very deep hole at
the start of my life.
Then, like
Ben Hur,
people were sent to help me
climb out of that hole.
Their
unexpected Acts of Kindness
allowed me to overcome my
handicaps.
Why do some
people get up while others stay
down? Based on my own
experience, I contend the answer
might boil down to an unexpected
Helping Hand.
Why were
Helping Hands extended to me and
not to others? I do not
possess the wisdom to know the
answer. All I can say is
that when things were at their
most dire, Maria Ballantyne
shared
her
bowl of water with me. Like
Jesus, her "Simple Act of
Kindness" released
me from a terrible burden.
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In a manner similar to Ben Hur, Mrs.
Ballantyne had given me the hope necessary to carry on.
Try as I might,
I could not shake the
feeling that Mrs. Ballantyne had been
sent to my side that day to put
me out of my suffering. No
other explanation made a bit of
sense.
I loved the
Parking Lot story because it
felt like a religious experience. But
how could I be sure? Deeply disturbed
by the magical aspects of Mrs. Ballantyne's unexpected appearance, I
spent the next two years asking myself whether God had
guided her to my side or if her visit
was just a
fortuitous accident.
I ultimately decided I had witnessed a case
of Divine Intervention.
But what would other people think? Did
I dare say what I truly believed
in my 2005 story
about the event? No.
I deliberately
omitted my religious beliefs for fear of
ridicule. Even
worse, every time I updated my story, I
continued to chicken out. Now after watching Ben-Hur, I felt
ashamed of myself.
Why not tell the truth? I had
undergone an experience that brought up
serious questions about strange
phenomena such as Fate, Unconscious
Telepathy, Spiritual Blindness, and Soul
Mates. Even better, it was a true
story, so why not tell it like it is?
I decided the time had come to retell
the same story from a Supernatural-Spiritual
point of view.
Only one problem. Would Mrs. Ballantyne be willing to be a
part of this revised story? I decided I had to ask her.
Otherwise my conscience would never be clear.
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In January 2015,
I got some very disturbing news. Christie Ballantyne
wrote to warn me his
mother's health was failing.
Considering she had just turned 94, he hinted there
might not be much time left. So I called Mrs.
Ballantyne to ask permission to come see her.
I was very tense as I drove to her
house on Tuesday morning, January 20, 2015. She deserved to know what I was doing. Plus I felt sad to be told my
aging friend
was in poor health. With
a heavy heart,
I feared
this would be the last time I would ever see
her.
I was greeted at the door by a maid.
Ushered in, I found Mrs. Ballantyne sitting at the kitchen table.
I was glad to see her, but
Christie's
warning was
correct. The seemingly indestructible Maria
Mitchell Ballantyne
was human after all.
Fortunately,
her mind was sharp.
Mrs.
Ballantyne recognized me immediately and
gave me a warm
smile.
Her first words were, "Rick
Archer, I know you! You
were in Katina's class at St. John's!"
I was happy to see
her in a good mood.
Mrs. Ballantyne
always had
the knack to make me feel like
the most important person in the world. Determined
to know if she had any objections, it was now or never. After taking a
deep breath, I spoke up.
"Mrs. Ballantyne,
I am not sure what Christie told you, but I came
here today
to ask your permission to
tell the story of your difficult childhood in my
book as well as the circumstances of our
parking lot meeting from a religious point of view. As
you recall, back in 2005 I wrote an Internet story about
the time you came to my rescue.
I am sure you had a million important things to
do on the day you came to my grocery store, but you had the empathy to stay
with me till
you were sure I was past my crisis. I have long
believed that you were guided to my side
that day. I also believe your life and mine are linked in
a special way. I would very much like to tell
the world why you are so important to me."
Mrs.
Ballantyne smiled. Without hesitation, she
replied, "Yes, Rick, I remember your
story very well. It was a very nice story, so o f
course you have my permission."
As she spoke, Mrs. Ballantyne had that familiar twinkle in her eye. But
then
her expression suddenly changed to a frown. Uh oh. Something had just
crossed her mind. Mrs. Ballantyne's brow furrowed as
she said, "But only on one
condition!"
I stopped breathing.
With
my heart
thumping wildly with anxiety, I asked myself what could it be.
Mrs.
Ballantyne was the star of my book!! I would die if
she said no.
Just then a big
grin came over Mrs. Ballantyne's face.
"Rick,
you have to promise me you will
tell the story of the time I beat my brother George
at tennis when he was captain of the A&M varsity!!!"
Then
she flashed that huge smile of hers. I cracked
up. What a thing to ask for! Even at 94 she
still had her sense of humor. The story of her tennis
rivalry with George had come up during my visit to her
home in 1978. Well aware of how much pleasure
she derived from the memory of her
glorious
triumph, I was happy to comply.
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With a big
smile, I nodded. "Don't
worry, Mrs. Ballantyne. Consider it done."
I could tell she
was getting tired. However, before I
left, I had a very important question to ask.
"Mrs.
Ballantyne, do you believe in Fate?"
Mrs.
Ballantyne grew quiet and
thought for a while. She looked at me carefully, then spoke
up.
"Rick, I will tell you what I do believe in.
I believe in Miracles."
I
nodded. What a wonderful answer. "Yes, Mrs. Ballantyne, so do I."
It was time to
go, but I wanted to add one more thing.
"Mrs.
Ballantyne, before I leave, I want
to tell you again how grateful I am for what you
did for me back in high school. Thank you
from the bottom of my heart for helping me.
That was the day you
taught me the
power of a Simple Act of Kindness. As long as I live,
I will never forget that message."
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After I left her house, I thought
back to the day Mrs. Ballantyne entered my grocery
store 47 years ago. I recalled how astonished
I felt when she walked through the doors.
Considering how far out of the way my store was from
her home, what was she doing here? I got my
answer quickly enough. She came to shop for
groceries. Crestfallen, I was forced to accept
her visit had nothing to do with me.
As I have told, things changed
dramatically an hour later when Mrs. Ballantyne
became curious about me in the parking lot.
After our long talk, her parting words were, "Don't
worry, things will work out." And they
did. Two weeks later a full scholarship to
college more or fell out of the sky and landed in my
lap. I was thrilled, of course, but mystified
as well. Something very strange was going on
in my life.
Over the next two years I
returned to one question in particular. What
brought Mrs. Ballantyne to my store that day?
Alas, I never got a chance to ask her. Don't
laugh, but she was always so excited to tell me
stories that I would not dream of interrupting her.
That forced me to speculate. Let's say Mrs.
Ballantyne was at a meeting somewhere. On her
drive home, she passed by my grocery store. At
the perfect moment, she remembered she needed to
shop for groceries. This store is as good as
any, so she turned and drove into the parking lot.
Simple as that, the stage was set.
What is my point? I have
long believed that my long-time idol was "guided"
to my store for a special purpose. Some say a
Coincidence is a small miracle in which God prefers
to remain anonymous. If this true, a simple
telepathic message about groceries would be a very
inconspicuous way to enact a life-changing event for
Rick Archer. I firmly believe the Hidden Hand
of God was responsible for bringing Maria Ballantyne
to my side that day.
Of course some would scoff.
After all, there is no proof. But what if I
could offer another example? As we recall, Bob
Franklin caught me cheating on a German test.
Where did the stupid idea to cheat on this test come
from to begin with? What caused Bob to forget
his book in the German classroom? How in the
world did Bob manage to barge through a closed door
at the exact moment I opened my book to copy names?
A skeptic would find other explanations, but I have
long wondered if telepathic suggestions were
responsible.
In my Senior year my mother
bought a house using my father's child support check
as proof of income. Imagine her dismay when my
father's child support disappeared the day I turned
18 in October. As we recall, her Blind Spot
was responsible for the creation of Little Mexico, a
situation that turned my Senior year into complete
chaos.
Another example would be my
"Senior
Year Blind Spot" regarding the Hopkins scholarship.
In September, I met with Mr. Salls in his office to
discuss my college choices. Although
Georgetown was my only choice, I intended to apply
the University of Texas as a fall-back option.
Mr. Salls ignored both schools. Instead he
spent 20 minutes trying to get me interested in a
men's school I had never even heard of. To be
honest, I was hurt. Why would he completely
dismiss discussing Georgetown, a school I had
dreamed of for years?
Mr. Salls was getting
increasingly frustrated by his inability to even
remotely interest me in Johns Hopkins. So when
it was time to go, Mr. Salls said, "Mr. Archer,
as a favor to me, will you give me your word that
you will apply to Johns Hopkins?"
I was astonished. Why on
earth is this school so darn important to Mr. Salls?
Nevertheless, due to my respect for this man, I
agreed to do as he said. Fast-forward to
April. Ralph O'Connor hands me a scholarship
to Johns Hopkins. Who do I give credit to?
Ralph O'Connor. For some crazy reason, I never
connected the September conversation to the April
award. Indeed, not
once during my Senior year did
I think Mr. Salls had anything to do with arranging
my scholarship to Hopkins. This raises one of those 'Mysteries
of Life' questions.
Was I really
that stupid never to see the obvious connection between
Mr. Salls' insistence in September
and Ralph O'Connor's gift of a Hopkins scholarship
in April? Or was I Spiritually Blinded
because Fate decreed I was to be kept in the dark?
Here is my point. The
story of my Senior year Crisis revolved around
improbable 'right place at the right time'
Coincidences where Mrs. Ballantyne and Bob Franklin
may have been guided to intervene at special
moments. Other Coincidences involved serious
mistakes on that spoke to uncharacteristic
ignorance. My mother knew she could barely
afford that house in the first place. What
kept her from seeing the obvious child support time
bomb ? And why would a so-called smart boy
like me decide to cheat for no good reason?
While it is true that
Realistic explanations can be found for every one of
these weird stories, at some point a person has to
consider a Mystical explanation. I contend
there is a strong possibility that Hidden Hand of
God was present. Or maybe not. That is
for the Reader to decide. Regardless of one's religious
views, there is no denying my Senior year involved a series of very unusual events.
Given that this has been a very complicated story,
here is a timeline to help keep track of the key events.
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TIMELINE FOR EVENTS COVERED IN THIS STORY
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2015 |
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2015 |
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Rick revises his
book
'A Simple Act of
Kindness' to include his mystical interpretation of Mrs.
Ballantyne's Parking Lot Intervention. The new version is
titled 'The Hidden Hand of God'. |
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Sixth Meeting |
2015 |
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Rick visits Mrs.
Ballantyne's house to ask permission to include her in his book.
Before leaving, Rick asked if she believes in Fate.
Mrs. Ballantyne
replied, "I believe in Miracles." |
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2014 |
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2014 |
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Kim
Salls Jr, son of Mr. Salls, contacts Rick to thank him for the
Internet story written about his father |
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2010 |
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Fifth Meeting |
2010 |
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Mrs. Ballantyne
explains more about her relationship with Charlie Salls |
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2009 |
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111 |
Suspicious |
Cosmic Blindness
Fourth Meeting |
2009 |
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Mrs. Ballantyne
offers the clue necessary to solve the Mystery of Rick's Senior
Year Blind Spot. Finally aware that Mr. Salls had been
Rick's Unknown Benefactor, he begins writing a book titled 'A
Simple Act of Kindness' |
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2005 |
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Third Meeting |
2005 |
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Mrs. Ballantyne's
granddaughter Elizabeth runs across Rick's Internet story Rick about the 1968 parking lot conversation.
Flattered, Mrs. Ballantyne calls Rick and invites him to lunch
to thank him personally. |
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1978 |
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061 |
Serious |
Coincidence
Pay it Forward |
1978 |
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It was
fortunate Rick was in a position to help Maria Ballantyne's husband save his
tropical plants from a menacing freeze. In so doing, Rick received an
invaluable lesson in the power of "A Simple Act of Kindness". |
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060 |
Serious |
Coincidence
Second Meeting |
1978 |
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Maria
Ballantyne appears out of nowhere to surprise Rick at his dance studio.
After inviting him to lunch, that afternoon she proceeds to tell Rick her life
story. |
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1968: ST. JOHN'S
AND JOHNS HOPKINS |
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025 |
Ultra-Serious |
Unlucky Break
Coincidence |
1968 |
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Rick has a narrow two minute window to spot Emily and Eric get out of a
taxi at the Baltimore train station |
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024 |
Serious |
Lucky Break
Wish Come True |
1968 |
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The Cinderella appearance of Cheryl as Rick's date for the
Senior Prom |
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023 |
Suspicious |
Lucky Break |
1968 |
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Despite a near-brush with death, Rick walks away unscathed after a close
call car accident |
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022 |
Suspicious |
Cosmic Blindness |
1968 |
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Senior year Blind Spot. Rick fails
to realize that Mr. Salls was responsible for his college scholarship
despite
several obvious clues. Unaware of what Mr. Salls was doing behind
his back,
Rick would remain blind to Mr. Salls' remarkable
intervention for 40 years. |
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021 |
Serious |
Lucky Break
Act of Kindness |
1968 |
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Ralph
O'Connor hands Rick a full scholarship to Johns Hopkins University.
This generous gift demonstrates the power of a Simple Act of
Kindness. A kind gesture on his part gives Rick an enormous break
in life |
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020 |
Ultra-Serious |
Coincidence
Lucky Break
Cosmic Blindness
First Meeting |
1968 |
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Mrs. Ballantyne fails to notice Rick at SJS for 9 years only to
magically appear during the most serious crisis of his life. The
ensuing conversation in the grocery store parking lot gives Rick the
hope to carry on.
Deeply unsettled by her unexpected appearance, Rick begins to question the nature of Reality |
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019 |
Ultra-Serious |
Coincidence
Unlucky Break
Cosmic Blindness |
1968 |
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Caught cheating on German test
due to a very improbable coincidence. The
unacceptable loss of common sense led to the development of Rick's
Cosmic Blindness theory |
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018 |
Suspicious |
Unlucky Break |
1968 |
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The failure of Rick's father to honor his long-standing Pledge to help
pay for college dramatically increases Rick's fear that his college
dream is out of reach |
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017 |
Suspicious |
Cosmic Blindness |
1968 |
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Rick is bewildered as to the real reason why Mr. Salls ordered him to
apply to Johns Hopkins. Another Blind Spot regarding inexpensive
'in-state' tuition puts Rick in a bind regarding his dream of attending
college next Fall. |
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016 |
Serious |
Unlucky Break
Cosmic Blindness |
1967 |
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Rick's Mother forgets about child support, gets blind-sided into buying
a house she cannot afford.
As consequence, Little Mexico drives Rick to the point of madness during
his Senior year of high school |
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003 |
Suspicious |
Lucky Break
Unlucky Break |
1959 |
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Father's affair leads to Rick's
education at St. John's, the most important lucky break of his life.
However, as time goes by, Rick's social isolation at a rich kid's school
turns him into a moody loner. |
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Rick
Archer's Note:
You have
read an excerpt from
The Hidden Hand of God.
In 1968 I encountered six
remarkable coincidences (see
Timeline above).
In
the following chapters of my
book I explain
how these six coincidences
awakened a powerful desire to know if God
was responsible for
orchestrating
these probability-defying
events. By
examining each of the
coincidences, I explain how
I became convinced in the
existence of Fate and, by
extension, the existence of God.
Please do
not take any of my conclusions
as the Gospel truth. I
have told these stories strictly
as a way to arouse your
curiosity. Rather than
tell my Readers what to believe,
I prefer to share the mysteries,
add my theories, then let you
decide for yourself. If
you have enjoyed this excerpt,
more than likely you ask the
same sort of questions as me.
If
you would like to read the
complete book, let me know.
There is no charge.
Thank you
for reading,
Rick
Archer
2025
rick@ssqq.com
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THE HIDDEN HAND OF GOD
This concludes
our six-chapter excerpt.
Thank
you for reading!
If you would like to read
The Hidden Hand of God
in its entirety, please let me know. There is no
charge. All you have to do is send an email,
rick@ssqq.com
May 21, 2025
Rick Archer
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