Someone I was in a prayer group with in Phoenix a number of years ago once said, “Coincidence is the hand of God at work, but wishing to remain anonymous.”
The Tuesday before Christmas, I went to the Handel’s Messiah sing-a-long at The College of St. Scholastica by myself—so I thought. When I got into Mitchell Auditorium and was looking for a place to sit among the altos, someone with whom I am in both choirs at the Monastery noticed me, so we sat together. Neither of us had any idea the other would be there, and this was actually her first time going to this particular concert. Before it started we were visiting, and I was filling her in on who I am, beginning my ministry as a consultant around disability issues. She told me she would love to hire me to give a couple of diversity workshops for her place of employment this coming summer. We agreed to meet the next day, and when we did. I shared my ideas with her, which she loved, and then we brainstormed a little more and talked about some logistics. So it all pretty much came together in less than 24 hours! To think that there have been jobs I’ve spent hours applying for and preparing for interviews, only to have it come to naught. This is just one example of divine intervention. God’s hand was certainly at work here, but that is not coincidence because that is how God works. To prove the point even further, so often in applying and interviewing for jobs, potential employers have seen my disability as a liability, but in this case it was seen as the asset I believed for years that it could be.
Sister Mary Carla
Sister Mary Carla Flood, OSB is a Minnesota state-licensed Master level social worker. She holds a BA in psychology and MSW both from Arizona State University. She moved to Duluth in 2007 from Phoenix while discerning with the Duluth Benedictines. She is originally from upstate New York, and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, moving to Phoenix with her family in 1984 shortly before starting high school. She has diversified ministry experience. See all of Sister Mary Carla’s posts.