The Earth Still Moves.

On day, some months ago, I went to the hardware store. The closest hardware store is about two miles away, just far enough for a decent bicycle ride. It was a nice morning and an easy ride, since it's downhill all the way there. Of course that means that it's uphill all the way back, but who cares if I'm sweaty when I get home, right?

Before I went inside I needed to lock up my bike. I have a chain with a key lock that I probably inherited from one of my kids, and I keep the keys on a little ring that's hooked to the lock when I'm not using it. In order to open the lock, I remove one of the keys from the ring, then take the ring off the lock after it's open and put the key back one. I've been doing this for years, no big deal. But this time, in the process of putting the key back on the ring, I somehow got both keys off the ring and I dropped the ring.

Now this place was not busy, there was nobody else nearby. I was standing not too far from the door, on a concrete sidewalk, in good condition, at least six feet on a side. It was a clean, white surface, clean swept. No dirt, leaves or trash, just a big white, empty expanse. Empty is important because the ring was nowhere to be seen. "Ok, so it bounced or rolled somewhere," I thought. So I looked, and looked. I searched for quite a while. I even got down on my hands and knees and scanned the whole area. Nothing. It was hard to give up because there was simply nowhere for the ring to have gone, but as W.C. Fields said, "If at first you don't succeeded try, try, again. If then you don't succeeded, give up. There's no need to be a damm fool about it." I needed to get my shopping done and figured I could look around again when I came out. As I went inside, I had the distinct feel that someone was messing with me...

When I came out of the store, I could see, plain as day, a shinny key ring lying right in the center of the big, empty expanse of concrete. Where I was standing was at least ten feet from the ring, but even at that distance it was obvious and impossible to miss. So why didn't I see it? I think that someone, something didn't want me to see it. To prove a point, and to have a little fun.

I have always had trouble allowing myself to accept all this spiritual stuff. I want to comfortably know where the reality leaves off and the woo woo nut case begins. This was a message for me, a mischievous poke in the ribs to nudge me a little further down the path. For you, you can make it mean anything you want it to.

Lately I have become increasingly amused by the phrase "I don't believe..." as though the universe cares one whit what you believe or don't believe. Facts are people. So, you can be one of the Cardinals who refused to look through Galileo's telescope or you can be Galileo. Either way, the earth still moves.