Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: coincidences

  • Be the Peace (Piece) of the Puzzle

    Sacred Stories

    My dear friend, Wayne, recently passed away. At the Grief Journey gathering this past Sunday, one of the co-hosts shared his sense of a message from Wayne:

      He is saying there were experiences he didn’t understand why he had to go through them. And he just told me that when he crossed, all of of those questions were answered perfectly and completely, and he would explain it best as viewing his (and our) life experience as a jigsaw puzzle. Every piece of that jigsaw puzzle is a different shape, unique to every other piece of the puzzle, and every life experience that he (and we) have is unique but every one is necessary to complete that puzzle. And that creates the “portrait” (that is the exact word he gave) of our experience in this lifetime. Those experiences that he couldn’t understand when he was in body are absolutely clear to him, and every one of them was perfect in the creation of his experience that he had planned before he came here, as we all do. His message for all of us right now is that the experiences that we face — whatever they are — are by our own design and they are perfect for what we need at that time to complete our life experience.

    Working on Wayne’s upcoming Celebration of Life, thinking about possible pieces of music, I went to my car to get the compilation CD Wayne had made years ago, long before copyright issues. Imagine my awe when I noticed that the title of the CD is “Be the Peace of the Puzzle” and the image on the label is a jigsaw puzzle!

    When I sent this photo of the CD to the guy who shared Wayne’s message, he responded, “Nice confirmation. What struck me most about Wayne’s message was each “piece” of the “puzzle” was neither good nor bad. It carried no label. But, each piece was integral to the completion of the puzzle. Our opportunity to teach doesn’t end at transition’s door.”

    Transmutation: Grapes must be crushed to make wine. Diamonds form under pressure. Olives are pressed to release oil. Seeds grow in darkness. Whenever you feel crushed, under pressure, pressed, or in darkness, you’re in a powerful place of transformation/transmutation. ~ Lalah Delia

  • God Has a Sense of Humor: Speedway

    Sacred Stories

    She lost her job due to a corporate merger. It was a mixed blessing, because the new culture was not at all the same as the one she loved.

    On the first day of her new job, she sent this text and photo,”God has such a great sense of humor! The view from my new office window.”

    Her new office window overlooks one of the stores in the chain of the corporation whose culture she loved at her old job….

    For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

  • Mama Coyote

    Sacred Stories

    So I have a story to tell you about Mama Coyote.

    If you told me this story, I’d probably call you a liar. But I’m telling it, and I swear it’s true.

    I’ve said before that I live in rattlesnake country, and I do.

    Curiously enough, I haven’t seen any this spring or early summer. Maybe the coyotes are keeping the rodent population down, or maybe it’s because it’s been so dry. I don’t know.

    Last evening, Maggie and I were out for our last walk of the day, on the road in front of my place. I’m oohing and ahhing over the clouds and sunset, and Maggie is walking beside me. When you’ve walked with a dog for more than a dozen years, you develop a sort of sixth sense. Even when they don’t make a sound, you know when they stop, when they’re listening. She stopped.

    I looked ahead of us, and there was Mama Coyote, blocking our way forward. Not more than a dozen feet away. Now this is unusual. The coyotes are generally pretty shy, and walk behind us, ready to dart into the sagebrush should we make a noise, or look too long.

    Maggie turned around, to head home. Her hackles weren’t raised, so I knew it wasn’t because she felt danger. I, the ever curious human, however, wanted to figure out what was going on.

    So I stared at the coyote. She stared back. Not aggressive, just self-assured. Stubborn, even. No signs of rabies or other sickness. Just standing there.

    A movement another ten feet behind her caught my attention, but she did not turn to it. Odd. Coyotes are the most situationally aware animals I have ever known. Scent, sound, sights, they inventory it all and act accordingly.

    There, in the middle of the road, coiled up and ready to strike, was a medium-sized rattlesnake. Not rattling yet, but poised, should any disturbance arise.

    I quickly turned around and joined Maggie, already on her way home. I looked to the side of the road, and there was Mama Coyote, walking beside me, back to her normal self, not looking me in the eye. Just escorting me home.

    Now for the really eerie part. My late Border Collie Angelo used exactly the same behavior when he saw a rattlesnake. He’d put himself between me and the snake, and he’d become an immovable object. Sometimes I couldn’t even see the snake, but I knew enough to trust him.

    Coincidence? Reincarnation? A wild animal watching out for a weak human? I have no idea. But, gentle reader, I broke Maggie’s rule, and I threw the coyote two cookies. And I marvel at the world we live in and how lucky I am to be in it.

    (Published in Sacred Stories by permission. Find “Leland Hermit” on Facebook. He has several books – fiction and nonfiction – available on Amazon. Check out Leland Dirks Books.)

  • At the Grave

    Sacred Stories

    A friend saw Hello, this is Meghan, and was moved to share the following:

      The day after Kathy (my friends sister in law ) passed away, her mother and brother visited the cemetery and this is what they saw watching over them:


    Clouds are full of secrets that are not visible to us.

  • Hello, this is Meghan.

    Sacred Stories

    Her daughter, Meghan, had recently passed. As she was preparing for a trip to one of Meghan’s favorite places, she took time to share a sweet encounter on her social media page.

    Of course, there is always a frenzy prior to leaving the country and this morning nothing was going right as far as uploading travel documents. I finally decided to call the airline for assistance. I was talking to Meg out loud.

    After only a one minute wait the phone was answered and I heard a young woman say, “Hello, this is Meghan. How can I help you?”

    What are the odds?

    It’s easy to take clouds for granted. They are almost always up in the sky and we often don’t notice them. But then there are the moments when they command our attention. (60 Cloud quotes)

  • Five Tiny Crystals

    Sacred Stories

    She has had a Karma chakra chart with the corresponding colors laying on her desk at work for a month or so. She was straightening up and getting ready for an appointment. Everything was normal on her desk. She plugged in a new CD with healing sounds from crystal bowls and that reminded her of her friend, James, so she said, “Hi.”

    Her phone buzzed. She got up from her chair to go to it. It was just a friend checking in.

    She looked at her desk, and noticed five tiny crystals laying in a little pile on the chakra sheet!

    She had JUST been over there and there was nothing there. There were no crystals there when she had picked up the sheet to re-read the Sacral chakra because her tummy was hurting. “Now, I have five baby ones and I don’t know where they came from,” she said in a text message to a friend, “I lined them up on the paper.”

    Her friend sent a text message back, “It seems you do know where the tiny crystals came from! We keep getting better at recognizing and honoring and receiving help from non-physical.”

    Here is the photo, along with her response: “Life can be so fun!”



    ― Thích Nhất Hạnh, No Death, No Fear

    The day my mother died I wrote in my journal, “A serious misfortune of my life has arrived.” I suffered for more than one year after the passing away of my mother. But one night, in the highlands of Vietnam, I was sleeping in the hut in my hermitage. I dreamed of my mother. I saw myself sitting with her, and we were having a wonderful talk. She looked young and beautiful, her hair flowing down. It was so pleasant to sit there and talk to her as if she had never died. When I woke up it was about two in the morning, and I felt very strongly that I had never lost my mother. The impression that my mother was still with me was very clear. I understood then that the idea of having lost my mother was just an idea. It was obvious in that moment that my mother is always alive in me.

    I opened the door and went outside. The entire hillside was bathed in moonlight. It was a hill covered with tea plants, and my hut was set behind the temple halfway up. Walking slowly in the moonlight through the rows of tea plants, I noticed my mother was still with me. She was the moonlight caressing me as she had done so often, very tender, very sweet… wonderful! Each time my feet touched the earth I knew my mother was there with me. I knew this body was not mine but a living continuation of my mother and my father and my grandparents and great-grandparents. Of all my ancestors. Those feet that I saw as “my” feet were actually “our” feet. Together my mother and I were leaving footprints in the damp soil.

    From that moment on, the idea that I had lost my mother no longer existed. All I had to do was look at the palm of my hand, feel the breeze on my face or the earth under my feet to remember that my mother is always with me, available at any time.

  • Please Wait

    Sacred Stories

    It has been five years since her husband transitioned. Her adult kids were here for the holiday weekend. The conversation got around to, “You know dad wanted you to sell this house.”

    She was about to say that she was not ready, that she would know when it was time, and it was not time yet. She loves living where they lived. She feels closer to him here. But before she could say it all again, the coffee pot let out a belch.

    “I thought you turned the coffee pot off?” her daughter said a bit accusingly.

    “I did,” she responded.

    The printer activated. None of them were near it. When she went over to turn the printer off, the display said: PLEASE WAIT.

  • Beyond Illusion

    Sacred Stories

    They were enjoying a beautiful afternoon, visiting on the porch. Deep, rich sharing, that spontaneously wound itself to the mention of Beyond Illusion, Card 20 in the Osho Zen Tarot deck.

    The butterfly in this card represents the external world, which is constantly moving, which is not real, but just an illusion. Behind the butterfly is the face of consciousness, observing inner, and looking for eternity.

    “Pick a card, any card,” quipped her dear friend, as the deck was handed to her.

    The first cut of the deck revealed Beyond Illusion!

    In a world that lives like a fist,
    mercy is no more than waking with your hands open.

    ~ Mark Nepo

  • ZZZ Sleep Study Scheduled

    Sacred Stories

    A sleep study had been prescribed for him on May 5. He had missed a couple of calls trying to get it scheduled, and the clock was ticking to get the results before he was scheduled to see the cardiologist.

    Not knowing he had missed a couple of voice mail messages, his wife called. She had to leave a message. The scheduler called the wife on Friday at an inopportune time, so they agreed to a return call when the wife got home.

    The wife got voice mail again. No call back on Friday. They knew nothing would happen over the weekend.

    At 8:00 Monday morning his wife left yet another message, even specifically saying they would not be able to take a call from the scheduler between 9:30 and 10:30, they would be at another appointment.

    Shortly after noon, the scheduler called!

    As the wife mentioned her husband having gotten a new patient visit because of a cancellation, the scheduler told them just few minutes earlier a patient had to reschedule. There was an opening for him on Tuesday, May 24 if he could make that.

    To prepare for the study, he needs to keep a one-week sleep diary – today is the start day!

    (Note* The scheduler knows his friend who called to get him the new patient visit!)

    And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? – Matthew 6:27

  • New Patient Visit

    Sacred Stories

    Receiving a text message from their friend informing them a mutual friend was holding an estate sale (the friend’s dad had recently passed), the husband and wife dropped everything and went to the sale. It would be wonderful if they could get a new watering can.

    While at the estate sale, the friend inquired how the husband was doing following his recent hospitalization for a TIA (often called a mini-stroke). The wife expressed frustration that they been seen by the physician’s assistant but had not yet seen the neurologist and were not scheduled to. The husband had an acute low blood pressure event during that visit and the husband had been taken by ambulance from the office to the Emergency Room.

    Their friend said, “Come with me into the house. Let’s call now and see if we can get him in.” As it turns out, their friend is a very close friend of the receptionist at that neurologist’s office.

    Following social pleasantries and dinner plans for next week, the friend filled the receptionist in about the husband. The receptionist recognized the husband’s name — her husband and the patient were business colleagues! The receptionist knows the patient as well. “Small world,” the receptionist said, before continuing, “I am so sorry, but we don’t have a new patient visit with the doctor until August.”

    They agreed to an appointment for the following day with the physician’s assistant they had seen the week prior.

    “Oh, I think I am seeing a miracle occur right before my eyes,” the receptionist exclaimed. “Oh, no, sorry…. so, so, sorry.”

    Then, “Oh, wait, wait… A new patient visit with the doctor at 9:00 am tomorrow just cancelled! Can he make that?”

    They assured the receptionist they could indeed make that new patient visit with the doctor.

    With great gratitude they hugged their friend, and as they got into their car to drive home, the wife said, “Obviously it was not about a sprinkling can.”