Are You Ready to be Surprised
by Steve Goodier
Are you ready to be surprised? Life is full of surprises - to
those who are aware.
History records amazing coincidences in the lives of two of
America's founders - Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. You are aware that
Jefferson labored for two weeks writing the Declaration of Independence. He
showed his drafts to Adams and Benjamin Franklin, who edited it, honed
Jefferson's ideas and refined the document. When it was finally finished, he
brought it before the Continental Congress for approval. And America remembers
her birth date, of course, as July 4, 1776.
Jefferson and Adams spent the next 50 years debating ideas about
how this new nation should govern itself and what it should eventually become.
Their administrations argued philosophies and legislation. Sometimes the two men
were contentious, but later in life they seemed to develop more of an
appreciation for each other. Though they lived far apart, they kept up through
correspondence.
Surprisingly (and coincidentally), they both died the same day!
Adams is said to have uttered, just before he died, "Jefferson still lives." He
couldn't have known that Thomas Jefferson was also drawing his last breath.
Do you know what that day was? July 4 - Independence Day. Do you
know what year? It was 1826, exactly 50 years from the signing of the
Declaration of Independence. And the coincidences don't end there.
Couriers were dispatched with the news of the great men's
deaths. From Braintree, the messenger with news about Adams traveled south.
Jefferson's messenger came north from Virginia. Do you know where they met? In
Philadelphia...under the shadow of the great hall where both men's lives were so
dramatically shaped, and where they labored to give birth to a nation.
Coincidence? Perhaps. But historians of the day often attributed
these coincidences to providence - as a good omen for a new nation.
Our lives are full of surprises and amazing coincidences.
Someone said, "Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous." It's a
beautiful way of making sense of the inexplicable.
But whether or not you see the hand of providence in
coincidence, life teems with the remarkable. Learn to notice what others do not
see, and you'll never cease to be amazed!
Steve Goodier's books &
newsletter:
http://LifeSupportSystem.com.