Touched by Providence
Noun
providence (countable and uncountable, plural providences)
3. A manifestation of divine care or direction; an instance of divine intervention. [from 16th c.]
I have a genetic disease that is slowly destroying my kidneys. My mother died from complications from it, so did my grandmother. A mutation in one gene out of tens of thousands in the human genome causes this disease.
Get Francisco Flores’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
How many things have happened for me to be able to exist in this Universe? The forming and cooling of the Earth, the confluence of the right conditions for life to appear on this planet. How many “correct” gene mutations during billions of years for humans to appear on Earth? And how many more for me to be born with an otherwise highly functioning body and mind?
Am I going to get trapped in self-pity for one mutation?
The “right” mutations that precede me would reach Saturn if piled on top of another. What that tells me is that the genetic mutation that causes my disease is not a defect or a glitch.
Intellectually, I’ve been wronged by a wanton universe. In my heart, though, I understand it to be the act of a Loving Hand.
“You are never alone or helpless. The force that guides the stars guides you too.”— Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
