It was nearly two years ago when I sat in a D.C. hotel lobby with a handful of my dearest childhood friends. We sat chatting, laughing and reminiscing. But one among us, my cousin Damon, was future focused.
In the next couple of years, I’m ready to find my “good thing”[1], he told us, more seriously than normal. I rolled my eyes thinking to myself: “It’s not that easy.”
Within the past two years, he’s done exactly what he said he would. Yesterday, in the company of those same friends, he married his “good thing”, and my beautiful new cousin, Kristin, as we witnessed a sweet, outdoor ceremony in Marion, Indiana.
I was reminded of that moment a few weeks ago as the excitement for their upcoming nuptials bubbled over onto their Facebook pages.
For me, there was a lesson to be learned here.
I am quite intrigued by the power of intention. I find it similar to prayer; a public expression of hope and faith. And this is why so many of us shy away, keeping our intentions and hopes to ourselves. Because what if it doesn’t work? What if we fail? Then we’re left to face the embarrassment of public failure.
But, what if it does? What if we dare to tell the world that we’re reaching with all our might toward something we may never grab hold of?
I’ve just started reading Eat. Pray. Love. I’m late, I know. I tend to rebel a bit against overly popular things as such, but after falling in love with the movie, I decided to pick up the book at last.
I don’t want to spoil the story for those of you who haven’t read it, because you should. But in the midst of a nasty divorce, Liz decides to petition God to see its end. She writes out a prayer, or statement of intent, if you will, explaining to God just why her divorce should end quickly. She signs it, and begins to call out the names of her friends and family that she believes would sign it on her behalf. After an hour of calling out names from her parents to Ghandi, she falls asleep. She awakens to her ringing cell phone, on the other end is her lawyer telling her that her husband has just signed the divorce papers that he’d refused for the past several months.
Was it coincidence, or is it that easy? I guess that is something that can only by tested by your own statements of intent.
This passage pierced right through me because Liz’s petition to God, though she was unaware, is scripturally sound[2] and something I was taught to do in my early and eager years as a young Christian.
It seems, though, that Liz and my cousin Damon, may have tapped into a universal law and moved beyond the silencing fear of the many “what if’s” and entertained just one.
What if it works?
So wherever and whenever this blog post finds you, may you raise your glasses, for the newlyweds and for you my friends: To the power of intention.
[1] “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.” Proverbs 18:22, NIV
[2] Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Phillipians 4:6, NIV
