The Effect of Strangers’ Words

I’m waiting in line at the NW Gainesville Post Office branch, impatient to get on with my errands. Startling me, the woman in front quickly turns and says, “Cuckoo” then, as quickly, turns back. Just as quickly, I smile—amused. The Welshman at my group spiritual training calls us cuckoos—hinting others will find us crazy.

Pune. I’ve been in the hospital ten days for broken femur surgery. Needing an x-ray, I’m waiting in a wheelchair in a small crowd by the elevator. A man walking toward me stops, looks directly at me, smiles, and says, “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” then vanishes. I am—amazed, cheered, and grateful. I have a new “do.” Rather than my high pony tail where my face (in the hospital) looked old, I’ve done my hair like Katharine Hepburn’s—lifted high in front, clipped, and with the rest up.

Two years later, changes easier to process by appropriate thoughts have been less easy emotionally. I’m doing my best and am mostly fine. This one morning, I am leaving the prayer building when a stranger blocks my path. She says, “Everything’s going to be fine.” We speak then part. I feel relieved; her words are from a higher source.

Meher Baba says, “We are not we, but One.”

My realization is, “When we are feeling uneasy within the limits of our conscious thoughts and emotions, the words of strangers (messengers from a higher source) may positively affect us.