Encounters --- by Ray Hart 10/05/99

"Every seeming chance meeting is a Holy Encounter"

(A Course In Miracles)

Joy and I love fine cuisine and Thai food is among our favorites. Next door to one of our favorite Thai restaurants is Chen’s Chinese Restaurant. Several friends have been telling us that it’s the best Chinese in Long Beach, and that Mae Chen, the owner, was also a great teacher who gave classes at the restaurant. Marty also told me that Chen’s Won Ton Soup was superb. For the past two weeks or so I have had an urge for Won Ton. Somehow we always were diverted when we went to dine and as always we were rewarded with some of the fantastic cuisines in Long Beach! Finally, last Friday, we decided to walk the two blocks to Chen’s for dinner. We ended up driving there and discovered that they had a parking lot too.

The menu was enticing and the first order was the Won Ton for two. The dinners that followed were perfect and we had to take home the leftovers. Ummm, it’s soooo good! As we savored the tea and considered our fortune cookies Mae Chen stopped by. We had asked if she was there when we arrived as we read the information about her self awareness classes. What we got immediately was that she teaches precisely what we are all about - Self-Awareness and everyone being capable of self-authority. She simply is there to let people realize that they are their own guru!

Mae Chen greeted us with a smile and as we talked her joyful soul touched ours. She is a lovely being and we immediately felt at home with her. And when we parted Joy and I knew that our energy had been renewed. What followed is what I want to share with you.

We had tickets for a Jazz Concert Saturday, but when we got there we discovered that it was outside and that people waiting in line had their own chairs. We weren’t quite prepared for that, and it was hot in the sun. We decided to forgo the event and gave the tickets away. The guy we gave them to was doubtful at first - "How Much?" - until I told him they were free. Funny how some of us feel that people don’t give away valuable items!

We went yard sailing, which is what we usually do on Saturday. And as usual Joy found some wonderful clothes and goodies that we surely don’t need, would never think of buying in a store, but perfectly enjoyed when we got home. Underneath all of our funnin’ stuff I still felt Mae’s energy and thought about attending her classes next week. On the way home Joy mentioned out of the blue that we were near Nissan of Long Beach. We had gotten a flyer with the newspaper that said there would be a sale going on. We decided to check it out just for fun. Well, we did. And when we got home from our yard "sailing" we were driving a new white Nissan Quest!

We were not remotely thinking of buying a car when we started our day Saturday. Yet the energy we were feeling had us open to whatever the Universe offered us! And after we got home and got quiet we discovered that everything that happened was exactly the way it was supposed to happen. (We believe that as true anyway.) Our little Nissan Axxess was on its last legs (errr..wheels!) and we would have had to invest several thousand to get it in shape and still have a ten year old van with over 150,000 miles! WOW! Were we Guided or what?

We never know what giving and receiving will bring out into our lives. It took me years to learn a little about acceptance - receiving the gifts of love that are given to me every moment. As a result of this learning my life has been filled with good stuff - like the Positive News Network!

--- © by Ray Hart

"ONLY LOVE PREVAILS" --- Beverley Waller