A Holy Pause to Discover your Purpose
When we are forced to pause in life we can take a moment to discover so much about ourselves, especially finding our purpose in life. The only way to find meaning to your life is to pause to discover your purpose. It’s in the silence of the pause that we can be awakened to many different aspects of our purpose. It is in the silence between the notes, that we find a treasure of wealth. Remember, the meaning of life is to find your gift. This true story is a testimony to a holy pause, which brings so much clarity.
It was a rainy morning in New York City. The rain was pounding against my apartment window, as I was rushing around to get ready for work. I glanced out the window to see the water from the rain had flooded the parking area, including my car. The water was past the exhaust pipe. I gasped as I went to find my knee-high boots. When I went downstairs it looked impossible for me to move my car, since the area was flooded all around the parked cars. I went back upstairs, took the boots off and summoned an uber car. The uber would be downstairs in 6 minutes.
I made my way down to wait for the uber car. I called work to tell them I was delayed. I kept glancing down at the uber app and it kept saying, 1 min for the arrival. Finally, several minutes had gone by when I saw a message on the uber app that said, “I am here.” I glanced towards the circle of my building and there was the uber driver. I was in the front of the building and he was in the circle. I motioned to him and he drove over to where I was standing. The driver said, “I was waiting around 8 minutes, I was going to leave.” I responded, “Thank you so much for waiting for me.” The app kept saying 1 min, even though you were here.” He replied, “These apps are not always reliable.” As he pulled out, I told him to take the Cross Island Parkway, it was about a 20 minute ride according to my app. He wanted to take the Clearview Expressway. The uber driver reluctantly got onto the Cross Island Parkway. He drove for approximately ½ a mile when there was a dead stop on all cars going both ways. There must have been an accident up ahead. I apologized for urging the driver to get on the parkway and he said it was fine, he just wanted to get me to my destination. I felt like he probably wanted to kill me for the delay. I was so distraught over forcing him onto the Cross Island Parkway, which felt like a big mistake. I sat there telling myself I should never direct an uber driver, especially when they have a navigator.
We sat in silence and I texted a friend, Barbara, to pray for me because my car got flooded and I was hoping it was not permanently damaged. She texted me back that she would dedicate her rosary to me this morning. I was so grateful for her prayers. At that point I sat in the uber car feeling responsible for the delay we were in and quite miserable. The traffic was at a dead standstill. As I sat there feeling bad that I persuaded him onto the parkway, I searched my phone to see what happened. I found information that there was a bad accident right before the Northern Boulevard exit and one person was killed. I couldn’t help thinking that texting and driving can cause these types of accidents. There was a helicopter hovering overhead. The rain was beating on the window as the windshield wipers were going on overdrive. I sat there thinking to myself, here I was so upset about my car getting flooded and someone just died on the parkway. I found myself blurting that out loud and the uber driver, Mo, said, “If we weren’t delayed the 8 minutes for this ride, we could have been right in the middle of the accident. I am convinced we were delayed for a reason.”
I suddenly was thrust into a, holy pause. Everything stopped in the real world and I was thrust into a spiritual realm outside of this world. It was like a cloud had cleared and the almighty sunlight was shining into the uber car like a hallow of love from God. I could see, in my mind’s eye, a metaphoric bright light shinning through the miserable rainy day. The silence was welcoming. My thoughts stopped tormenting me about the direction we were going in. I started to realize that Mo was right. We were delayed for a reason and had I seen the uber driver by my house, we would have headed out 8 minutes earlier than we did. I sat there in this sudden holy pause where life seemed to standstill for quite sometime and what appeared so important earlier was trivial in this holy moment. I suddenly felt safe and the 90-minute delay didn’t seem annoying anymore, rather, it felt like holy time allotted by God for reflection. All I knew was that we were safe and not in the midst of that horrible accident. I felt incredibly grateful. We were safe, sitting in this uber cab in traffic on a rainy Monday morning. I took a moment to pray for the person who was killed that morning and thanked God for protecting Mo and I.
I initially thought Mo would be so angry at my insistence of going on the Cross Island Parkway and now we were talking like old friends. Mo was a man very much connected to God. He told me he felt a supernatural protection with the 8-minute delay this morning and I agreed with him. I told him I have seen these synchronized God-moments in my life in the past. It was God’s way, at times, of getting our attention. We were both having a spiritual God-given moment, that only we could both fully understand. We continued talking and he told me he lost his business due to covid. He had a textile business that went under because the China company he was affiliated with closed. He was grateful he was able to support his family by driving an uber cab. He was genuinely happy and grateful. We discussed the impact of covid on businesses. He had a daughter in college, although he looked too young to have a daughter in college. Mo was originally from Egypt. However, he lived in the US for 25 years. We talked about covid closures on businesses. I told him our power was at the voting polls and he semi-agreed and said, “I do my part.”
After a 90-minute delay the traffic cleared and we were on our way. When we reached my destination, I handed him $20. He actually said, “no that isn’t necessary it was nice just to meet you.” Wow, that was incredibly kind. That holy pause was at its very high point and I said to him, “This is the right thing to do. God bless you and stay safe.” I excited the cab as the $20 bill laid by the cup holder of the car.
Two strangers met under what seemed liked regular circumstances, however, God created what I call the, holy pause, in bringing light and love to what appeared to be a dreadful morning. God reminded us both of the power of gratitude and being thankful for the blessings all around us and the protection of God. Our lives touched one another and we would never be the same. I was also fortunate when I got home later on to know my car was okay, just needed to be dried and cleaned out. Another reason to be so grateful.
That is the end of the story.
So, what are the lessons we can take-away from this story? I think the main thing is that, God is in charge, and that life can change on a dime. Why we were spared and the other person was killed is a mystery that no one can determine. Sure we can speculate, but the reason why things happen as they do will always be just that, a mystery of life.
So where does our purpose come into play. Our purpose comes into play with the holy pause. This incident changed my day and my life in a profound way and gave me another reason to be grateful. Pausing is the most important thing one can do to determine their purpose in life. In our everyday frenzy of life, when our lives seem to be on a rollarcoaster ride in a fast-paced world, taking time for a holy pause is crucial to contemplate our journey in life. Some of us do find purpose in tragic circumstances. For instance, if a family member is killed by a drunk driver, a loved one may opt to start an organization against drunk drivers. Or if someone died of a drug overdoes, a loved one may want to rally to change drug laws in their state. And on a positive note, when we are so moved by a holy pause in life, it could jolt us into our purpose or at the very least give us time to think about the meaning to life as it relates to each one individually.
Life is a beautiful, amazing, mystical experience and only you can determine what you were created to be. Take a little time to contemplate your life and what you would like to do to make it purposeful and a way to give to society. Your purpose is something you love doing that will benefit humanity in some way.
It could be singing in a nursing home, or doing art classes with children in hospice. It can be volunteering at dog kennel or perhaps writing a book. You might want to coach little league or read stories in a library to children. For younger people, you may even want to join the military or find a job in a non-profit helping the homeless. There are so many opportunities in life to do what you love doing and in the process help others. Remember, your purpose is something you love doing that helps society is some way. Take a holy pause to contemplate what direction you want your life to go in.
Rachel Devine is the author of The Third Road, Your Secret Journey Home & Lessons from the Needle in a Haystack, Become a Magnet for True Love.
My website has resources for finding your purpose in life, as well as events, books and online courses.