The story I told last month of my granddaughter Sarah wanting to take her sister and friends into San Francisco to distribute lunches to the homeless was a big hit.  As was the story I told in the prior newsletter of my new friend Becky and her amazing work with those in India who are affected by leprosy.  And this month the theme continues.  But first a word from our sponsor--
 

A FEW SPACES LEFT FOR JULY RETREAT IN UTAH HILLS.  Check it out here! Three days with twelve women devoted to fun and enlightenment--featuring me and my irresistible daughter Emily! Don't miss out.
 

GIVE ME A HAND AND I'LL GIVE YOU A HAND.  

Recently I was reading Pilgrim, the biography of William Brewster, the spiritual head of the Pilgrims as they voyaged on the Mayflower and established Plymouth Colony.  I was particularly interested in him as--thanks to the genealogical work of my cousins--I discovered that he is my tenth great-grandfather.  Learning that he was a rebel and was imprisoned for writing and publishing books that were considered dangerous, I definitely wanted to see where these interesting genes of mine came from. 

Taking a break from reading, I checked my email.  There was a note from Marianne, whom I don't know, asking where she can find the sheet music to some songs Lex deAzevedo and I wrote for an "American Heroes" video series for children many years ago, featuring songs about Abraham Lincoln, Florence Nightingale, and William Bradford.  I had totally forgotten about that series.  Wait a minute.  What?...who?...

William Bradford?  Did I not read his name just sixty seconds ago?  I had been relishing my genetic connection to William Brewster, and suddenly I am asked about William Bradford, his close associate in the story of the Pilgrims.   It's an unusual day when I don't experience a synchronicity, but this one really made me smile.  Connection.  Synchronicity (meaningful coincidence), said Carl Jung, is an "acausal connection," meaning a connection between two things that has no evident cause.  

Wanting to remind myself of what I had written about Bradford, I went downstairs to a filing cabinet and readily found the lyric, "Four Hands":

                   Give me a hand
                   And I'll give you a hand.
                   That makes two, then three, then four.
                    Four hands can do
                    So much more than two
                    That's what four hands are for.

                     A hand means a friend
                     To build or to mend.
                     A hand makes a game of a chore.
                     Four hands can be
                     "Us" and not "me."
                     That's what four hands are for...

The image was a welcome one.  I have often felt, and was certainly feeling that day, that I am "single-handedly" holding up so much.  I always take seriously the images that are presented in my synchronicities, and so I spent the rest of the day with the mantra, "Four Hands...there are more hands than mine...four hands..."

But wait--there's more!  That evening as I copied the lyric into my diary and told the story, I found myself writing (and here I lift the exact quote):
 

It's not a great lyric, but it's a good thought.  And it is remarkable that it was brought to my attention at the precise time that it was.  It was probably written about 1992 or a bit later.  It's a song about friends.  And I have many

 

Oh-my-gosh!... Before I could even finish that sentence, there was a knock on my door.  John opened it and said, "Mom, I need an extra pair of hands.  Can you come down for a few minutes?"

 

John is re-doing the kitchen ceiling.  And he needs an "extra pair of hands."  I have chills.

I promise that your own synchronicities will multiply if you watch for them and record them.  See my book Embracing Coincidence (formerly Consider the Butterfly) at http://www.clpearson.com/personal_gifts.htm.