{"id":3896,"date":"2023-09-14T03:16:57","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T11:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/?p=3896"},"modified":"2023-09-08T05:35:33","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T13:35:33","slug":"magic-miracles-or-manifestations-gods-economy-of-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/2023\/09\/magic-miracles-or-manifestations-gods-economy-of-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Magic, Miracles, or Manifestations: God’s Economy of Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
When we put the right mental, emotional, and spiritual energy into things, we get to participate in supernatural manifestations of love.<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/a>
Photo of client in new boots by Gregory Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n**
**
\u00a0<\/p>\n
**
For our wedding, Christina and I wanted a bit of country flair.<\/strong> So, we each wore boots to the ceremony. Beneath her white dress, Christina wore a pair of Brown Justins with pointed toes and western hills. I chose a black pair of biker boots with western heels and square toes. They had straps with O-rings at the ankles and made my wedding suit look tough.<\/p>\n
**
I love those boots\u2014but they hurt my feet.<\/strong> They fit well enough in the store, but I only wore them five or six times after the wedding. Afterward, they sat in the bottom of my closet, gathering dust. These are not cheap boots, so I didn\u2019t want to give them to Goodwill for any random bargain hunter.<\/p>\n
**
**\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finding My Boots a Home<\/h2>\n****
**
****I wanted to find someone I knew who would appreciate them. <\/strong>I asked all my friends and family members who lived nearby, but nobody either wanted them or had feet the right size. So, I took them to work. After trying to give them to coworkers without success, I told my fellow case managers, \u201cIf you have any clients who would like these are free for anyone.\u201d Still, for months, there were no takers.<\/p>\n
Then I met my new client, Vincent (not his real name).<\/strong> Vincent is a tough-looking dude, with tattoos everywhere<\/a><\/span>. He tells intriguing stories and has a tender heart beneath his tough exterior. The first time I met my new client, I asked him if there was anything tangible that he needed right now. He said he needed some new clothes, and asked if I could take him shopping. Then he told me he needed a new pair of boots. \u201cWhat kind?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know what I\u2019d really like to have?\u201d he said. \u201cMy dream boots would be kind of that Western-style but with square toes and buckles.\u201d<\/strong> I looked at his feet, which appeared to be about the same size as mine. I told him that I just might have exactly what he\u2019s been looking for.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Boots for Vincent<\/h2>\n******
**
Vincent isn\u2019t the kind of person who likes to keep appointments.<\/strong> Meeting with this client is more a matter of happenstance than anything else. So, for a few days, I kept my boots in my vehicle so they would be ready whenever I happened to see him. The next week, I bumped into him on the sidewalk. \u201cI have those boots for you,\u201d I told him. \u201cLet\u2019s see if they fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
**
Vincent\u2019s eyes grew wide as I presented him with a pair of boots that were exactly what he had imagined.<\/strong> He pulled off his old, ill-fitting footwear that made him walk with a painful limp. As he slipped the new boots onto his feet, he exclaimed, \u201cThey fit perfectly!\u201d He rolled the legs of his pants down over the top of the boots. He stood and paced and squatted to make sure that the boots fit just right, his eyes alight with happiness. \u201cThey fit! They fit!\u201d he repeated. \u201cThank you so much!\u201d The last I saw Vincent, he was walking happily down the sidewalk, carrying his old footwear that he said he was going gear to someone else who needed them.<\/p>\n
**
******\u00a0<\/p>\n
Miracles, Magic, or Manifestations<\/h2>\n********
**
When we put the right mental, emotional, and spiritual energy into things, we get to participate in some remarkable things.<\/strong> I have other stories from my life that would illustrate this same point. Some might call them miracles and others might call them magic. I might call them manifestations. For me, the remarkable thing was not that I found a home for my boots. I would have eventually found someone to take them or given them to a thrift store.<\/p>\n
**
The remarkable thing was that I found just the right person with just the right foot size, who had been imagining this exact pair of boots. The remarkable thing was that Vincent, who had been imagining just such a perfect pair of boots for himself, manifested them into his life through his new case manager. Through the power of spiritual energy, we both entered into a Power that synchronized our focus and coordinated our efforts to make something happen.<\/strong><\/p>\n
**
********\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Spiritual Energy of Synchronicity<\/h2>\n********
**
Nobody worked any spells to call it into being. I\u2019m not saying it was an answered prayer either, because I never prayed about it and I feel certain that he didn\u2019t either. <\/strong>I don\u2019t believe in a Santa Claus in the sky who gives biker boots to good little boys and girls. No, I don\u2019t think it was an act of God if we define God as a heavenly person who grants wishes. However, I do see it as an act of the energetic and loving Source that connects all living beings.<\/p>\n
**
The focused spiritual energy I put into finding the right recipient for my boots was the same energy that Vincent put into imagining the perfect kind of boots for his sore feet. That energy somehow connected the two of us in ways we could not have accomplished on purpose. That energy manifested in just the right circumstance at just the right time. Some call it synchronicity. Not chance or coincidence or happenstance, but a universal principle that makes things happen in just the right way. <\/strong><\/p>\n
**
********\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Spiritual Energy: An Economy of Love<\/h2>\n********
**
Some might say that the stars aligned to make it happen. I would fall short of saying that Vincent and I made it happen ourselves. What we did do was step into the lowing flow of the universe and allow it to carry us down the same stream until we reached a common destination.<\/strong> Love puts people with resources into the lives of those who have need. It also puts those with needs into the lives of people with resources.<\/p>\n
**
Love does this to fulfill a sacred economy\u2014not one of dollars and boots, but an economy of compassion.<\/strong> Through compassionate giving and receiving, God creates an economy of reciprocal love. Whether you are the giver or the receiver, I pray that you will turn yourself toward that vital and generous energy and that you will participate in God\u2019s economy of love today.<\/p>\n
**
********\u00a0<\/p>\n
For related reading, check out my other articles:<\/h3>\n\nDo You Believe in Angels?<\/a><\/span><\/li>\nDo Christians Have a Monopoly on the Holy Spirit?<\/a><\/span><\/li>\nIf People Struggle Anyway, Why Pray?<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"**********
**
**********When we put the right mental, emotional, and spiritual energy into things, we get to participate in supernatural manifestations of love. \u00a0 For our wedding, Christina and I wanted a bit of country flair. So, we each wore boots to the ceremony. Beneath her white dress, Christina wore a pair of Brown Justins with pointed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4628,"featured_media":3899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2813,2810,2807,21,2816,2804],"class_list":["post-3896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spirituality","tag-gods-economy-of-love","tag-magic","tag-manifesting","tag-miracles","tag-spiritual-energy","tag-synchronicity"],"yoast_head":"\nMagic, Miracles, or Manifestations: God's Economy of Love<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When we put the right mental, emotional, and spiritual energy into things, we get to participate in supernatural manifestations of love.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/2023\/09\/magic-miracles-or-manifestations-gods-economy-of-love\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Magic, Miracles, or Manifestations: God's Economy of Love\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When we put the right mental, emotional, and spiritual energy into things, we get to participate in supernatural manifestations of love.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/2023\/09\/magic-miracles-or-manifestations-gods-economy-of-love\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breathing Space\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/revgregsmith\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-14T11:16:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-08T13:35:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1467\/2023\/08\/thumbnail_EA58DB47-6556-4DC3-B6F8-2E271A06AB3F.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"782\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"448\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gregory T. 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