Quote of the Day: I rarely think in words. – Albert Einstein

Lately my 11-year-old son, Zach, tests my brain with Mental Math. As the name might suggest, it is doing math stories in your head. Zach starts with a number, tells me to add, subtract, multiply, divide, square, and do all sorts of things with this stream of numbers until he’s done thinking them up. I’m very slow. I can blame Mr. D. his 5th grade teacher for this brain exercise. I’m clearly out of shape. He also marveled at Mr. B. who started the whole thing in his class several years ago. Mr. B. can do it so fast that even the sharpest math mind in the class can’t keep up. Way to go teachers! You’ve made math fun, at least for my boy.

Albert Einstein and I are nothing alike. I rarely think in numbers. In fact, when it came to story problems in math, I got distracted by the story.

“If a train leaves New York at 3:00…” I wonder who’s on that train? Where are they going?

“And a train leaves Chicago at 3:45…” Is the person on that train meeting the person on the NY train? What if they crash?

Maybe, their destiny is to meet at this juncture. The trains will collide and they’ll end up helping each other. He’ll rescue her from being crushed under the wreckage, and she’ll comfort him in his time of loss.

What is the probability that two people amidst life’s train wreck could find comfort in each other? You never know who you might run into the next time you leave your house. A new relationship might be an errand stop away. If you believe there are no coincidences, then God, who is the great train conductor of life will lead you off one track and onto another one that is your path.

Journaling/comment prompt: Do you have a story about a moment that seemed to be guided by a higher power? Start watching for them. They happen every day.