Coincidences

A Night-Time Collect
"Visit this place, O Lord, and drive far from it all snares of the enemy; let your holy angels dwell with me to preserve me in peace; and let your blessing be upon me always; through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen"

Phos Hilaron
"Hail Gladdening Light of his Pure Glory Poured,
Who is the immortal Father, Heavenly, Blest,
Holiest of Holies, Jesus Christ Our Lord!

Now we are come to the sun's hour of rest
The lights in the evening 'round us shine
we hymn the Father, Sun, and Holy Spirit Divine

Worthiest art thou, at all times be sung, with undefiled tongue
Son of our God, giver of life, alone!
Therefore, in all the world they glories, Lord, thine own."

These snippets of prayer and poetry were written on the backs of two 3" X 5" cards that I found while checking the Science Building on the Calvin College Campus during my building tour for Campus Safety. I sometimes find things that people have forgotten or left behind as I am walking around at night (I often work third shift), but they are often things that are relatively dull or things that should not be removed, like backpacks, magazines, etc... I also like to stop and read the many posters and bits of newspaper articles posted on the walls of the various academic buildings I walk through. During my relatively unexciting building tours (nighttime is so often more boring than scary when it comes to walking through buildings), I try to keep my mind occupied, which is why I often stop at the various bulletin boards and read whatever happens to catch my interest. It gives me a bit of brain-food to chew on as I walk about. If nothing happens to arouse my curiousity enough for me to stop and read for a bit, I try to think about other things. As a Christian, that takes the form of focusing my thoughts on God and simply contemplating what He has done for me or passages from the Bible. That is why it was a pleasent surprise to find the aforementioned cards. I have no idea who they were written by(although judging by the handwriting I am fairly certain that whoever wrote them must be female), nor do I have any idea how they happened to fall where they did. Perhaps they simply fell out of some young woman's backpack as she hurried off to class. I do believe that there are no coincidences, so I do not suppose it would be too much to say that God worked things in such a way that I should find these encouraging words on a night when I was in sore need of some encouragement to uplift my weary mind and body as was quite tired. Perhaps this served as a small reminder that God is looking out for me, even when I forget that he does.