Signs from the universe are like whiskers—they keep coming back

“Consciousness is the ultimate magic show.”–Deepak Chopra

I got this tweet this morning:

“Was thinking ‘not so sure I see the signs.’ Then FLOWER PETALS appeared floating in the sky through my studio window.”

Not bad, universe. Way to make a point. Floating flower petals certainly work.

And so I felt inspired to share a couple stories about signs from the universe, one of four gifts promised in the new book.

A week or so ago, I was interviewed by Jenniffer Weigel. She’s an Emmy-award winning reporter from Chicago and does a podcast called “I’m Spiritual, Dammit!”

We hit it off so she sent me a copy of her book, Stay Tuned: Conversations with Dad from the Other Side. It’s a great read and includes a story about one of the clearest signs I’ve heard yet.  She was feeling stifled in her job in the newsroom. But you know how it is? There’s the financial security to think about and she’d been doing it for a long time and well, she just wasn’t sure: should she quit or shouldn’t she?

She walked into the newsroom one day and said, “Okay, Dad (he had recently passed), I need a sign. I want to quit this job, but I’m scared. I need you to give me some sort of sign. Make it right when I walk in the door.”

The security guard at the front desk stopped her when she walked in. “Hey, Jen,” he asked. “Are you quitting today or something? Your picture is missing from the wall.”

Her news station features what they call a ‘wall of fame” with portraits of each reporter. Sure enough, there was a space where her portrait used to be.

“I’ve asked the other security guards and nobody seems to know what happened to it,” he went on.

Jen also turned me onto this orthopedic surgeon–Mary Neal–who died in a kayaking accident in Chile and then came back after going to the other side. Dr. Neal, like me, is a huge proponent of miracles. In her book, To Heaven and Back, she says a guiding presence is always with us, always trying to communicate with us.

Although she relates one miracle after another in the book, I’d like to share the following story about a sign, that like the missing wall of fame portrait and like floating flower petals, is anything but subtle. I like that in a miracle.

Neal’s stepfather George planted a Bradford pear tree at his home many years ago. He placed it right outside the window by the breakfast table, but had become dismayed because, unlike the other Bradford pear trees in the neighborhood, this one never blossomed. It got bigger and healthier every year, but it never bloomed. In fact, he was so dismayed after years of waiting that he told his wife, Dr. Neal’s mother, that he was going to cut it down in the spring and plant a new one.

Unfortunately, he died before he got around to it. The day after Dr. Neal and her mother had to remove his feeding tube, they sat down at the breakfast table for morning coffee and gasped. The Bradford pear tree that had 24 hours earlier been completely barren was bursting with huge perfect pink blossoms.

Pam Grout is the author of 18 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the about to be released, Thank and Grow Rich: a 30-day Experiment in Shameless Gratitude and Unabashed Joy.