A Meeting by the Bay
It was a bright and beautiful day as I walked along the
shoreline of the bay. The gentle waves were crashing softly in the
background.
I found a grassy hill and settled down with my lunch,
gazing across to the hills and mountains in the distance.
I was about to lie back on the grass when I felt a tapping
on my shoulder. I quickly turned and saw an elderly woman sitting next to
me. She was also staring into the distance. She then slowly looked in my
direction and began to speak.
"I realize that you don't know me, and I am being a little
forward, but I was wondering if you would you mind listening to a story
about something unusual that happened to me recently."
A little startled at her directness, I nodded in
agreement. She then began to tell her tale.
"One day I was watching a TV program. In the middle of one
particular show, I received a phone call from a friend of mine. While
listening to her, I sensed that there was some connection between the call
and the program I was just watching.
Months passed, and I hadn't spoken to my friend in all
that time. One day I found myself watching a rerun of this very same episode
of the program. And wouldn’t you know it, I received a call from this same
friend at the exact same point in the identical episode as the previous go
around!
But there was even more to it. In our phone conversation,
I learned that my friend was having problems with an individual who had the
very same last name as the person on the show!
And so I wondered what in the world this could all mean."
As the waves gently crashed offshore, I considered this
mystery of this woman’s story. Then new thoughts arose in my mind; something
about an event that occurred long ago, … or was it recently?
I then came out of my reverie, raised my head, and looked
up at this woman with her weather-beaten yet serene face. Haltingly, I began
to speak.
"You know it's strange. Twenty-five years ago, I was in
Athens. When I arrived, I found out that several days before, the country
became a democracy, throwing off the shackles of military dictatorship.
Everywhere I walked in town there was celebration and joy.
On my first full day in town, I hiked up the hill to the
Acropolis. As is my nature, I decided to go up the side, less-crowded path.
After a powerful experience there -- I supposes that everyone had one -- I
walked down the same narrow, stony path. At the bottom was a man in robes
with a long beard peddling Grecian vases. I purchased a pretty blue one with
gold trimming. As he handed me the change, I knew that I had experienced
this same scene before. When I mentioned it to him, he said that my
experience was but one of many types of unusual experiences people had when
walking among the ruins of the Acropolis."
The woman and I then shared a moment of silence, taking in
our own quiet thoughts. After a few moments, she shifted her weight and
abruptly rose to her feet. She then said, "Well, I've got to go!"
Surprised, I also quickly got up,. I then put out my hand
to shake hers. Instead, the woman put her arms around me and gave me a warm
embrace. She then took a card out of her bag and said, "You know, a person I
met recently gave me this. On it is the web address of how to get to Growth
Online. At this site, they talk about the sorts of things. They answer
questions like "what is the source of life," "what does a human being really
consist of," "where is humanity headed," and so forth. You know the usual
sorts of things!" she said with a hearty laugh.
Then this weather-worn, yet handsome woman smiled at me
intently, touched my arm, and then quickly walked off, traversing the grassy
hill in front of us. She then disappeared into the Ferry Building to catch a
boat across the bay.
In a minute, she was out of site. She seemed to have
disappeared forever.
