There is a fiber that runs through my life that I have recently noticed. Twins come in and it is no coincidence. Every time twins come into my life God is directly impacting my life. He is telling me to listen.
When I need something and pray I always question myself as to whether God is speaking to me. I do not believe in coincidences but at the same time I try and filter out daily life noise. It is the Doubting Thomas (also nicknamed the Twin in the Gospel of John) in me. Is God really speaking to me? How do I know it’s God saying something to me imploring me to listen? Let me relate a story.
When I was 19 I had maybe the worst year of my life. I failed out of college. I never went to church. I blamed God, my parents, me, but I blamed God the most. As a lifelong Catholic, I had reached out, prayed, and got “nothing” for my pleas. I remember thinking “thanks God for nothing.” I can even vividly remember wanting to do the worst thing to my life one could do.
God had not forsaken me. Of course not! I was 19 and felt all alone. I was fortunate that my parents supported me and I was able to go to another college. It was there that I met twin ladies who were a big part of my personal healing and who unequivocally brought me back to the house of God. It was with them that I attended church for the first time and experienced Mass, appreciated Mass for the very first time outside of my family.
I now believe it was by design that that this young man from Long Island encountered these ladies from Ohio. But that was not my first experience with twins. I had met other twins in my past. In my freshmen year of catholic high school, I met twin girls who I really had the fancy for and separately over two years asked both out! Denied – Twice! Hey, I was 15 years old and “stupid”. But in reflecting over meeting them I realized I was having a hard time at this school and they helped me. The best part is we remained friends through that and my time there. My takeaway was to appreciate who they were separately and together. It was a fascinating learning experience for me.
Now in college I meet another pair of ladies and learning from my previous experience the three of us become close. I find out they are Catholic, they invited me to their house over a weekend, I meet their parents and observe the love and faith in the household. I can remember going to mass with them the first time, being invited with their family, and celebrating. Truly it was a celebration for me.
I was home.
Thank you God. My life, my path, turned right there. There is zero doubt in my mind He put them in my path. What I love about them is they use their faith “covertly” to bond with me and their friends. They don’t do this cognitively, it is built in. They showed me a way to follow God, be strong, without shoving Him in my face. They rekindled what was there the whole time and it was Jesus holding my hand through them to bring me out of my dark forest.
I heard a podcast recently with a Navy Seal named Jocko. He stated that the Seals have a saying that one is none and two is one. Reflecting on this in relation to twins and faith it made me realize that is what Christ has been telling me! I will not only bring someone into your life to bring you back to me – I will bring two!
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 talks about two being better than one. Fast forward to this past baseball season and the twin teenagers I had on my team. One of them wears a cross proudly out. Observing these two, they chirp at each other, they support each other, they have complete faith in one another. One day, I sat one of them two innings and the other came over to me and asked me why. I loved that and appreciated that he had his brothers back.
As the season went on I saw how they made the whole team better. They made me better. They supported their teammates, they were first to speak out when things were not right, they challenged me. It wasn’t always easy or right, but their reasons were always sound. Reflecting on these qualities I thought back to my twin friends from college and now can see how they brought a group of us together.
While everybody didn’t go to church with these ladies they brought out the good in the group. Their moral compass was straight and for that time in college they were the embodiment of Christ’s values to me. I know they influenced others positively.
I have come to see twins as a blessing that God puts here for the rest of us. I have been extremely fortunate in my life to have friends and encounters like these. Maybe you don’t have twins in your life but pay attention. God is talking to you through special people and based on my experience He is bringing them in pairs!
Copyright 2016 Peter Serzo
Peter Serzo
Peter Serzo, observer, listener, author, speaker, and blogger. Visit him at Dotirome.com where he shares practical stories on being Catholic and listen to his popular Priest Podcast. The Priest Podcast is an environment where we have an enlightening conversation with those that lead (Not a theology conversation but a conversation on being a Priest/Leader/Human). Peter travels visiting different Catholic Churches satiating his curiosity and desire to spread each parish's uniqueness though his blog and presentations.
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