Seeing God at the Grocery Store

This post is for those of you who enjoy my 429 posts (if you haven’t already, check out part I & II); I thank you so much for reading these diary-entry-style posts that allow me to document the ways I find meaning in this life.

As I mentioned the other day on Instagram, I watched an M. Night Shyamalan movie on the plane home from vacation that made me realize the impact our spiritual and emotional state has on our physical health. I’ll make a post analyzing the full movie if you’d like – I believe it has many hidden messages about parasites, self love and repressed anger. Ever since then, I’ve been watching all Night’s movies to look for similar clues.

Tuesday night, I watched his 2010 film titled “Devil.” Five people in the movie who are living in negative ways: stealing, cheating, killing, etc., get stuck in an elevator together. Their choices ultimately let the “devil” in, too. The security guard, who is very spiritual, tries to tell people, “How many times have you seen a child fall and barely miss the edge of the table with their head? Why is it so rare that they hit it?” He is basically explaining to them that there are no coincidences; “good” protective energies (you might call them angels or God) are around us; especially babies, who can often see them. This means that negative energies are just as present in our world of duality – yin and yang. There is always balance. He then says that when the “devil” is around, “everything goes wrong, toast falls jelly side down, children hit tables, and people get hurt.”

Now personally, I have a friend who is a highly talented medium. She has helped countless families including my own. She is very spiritual and is constantly telling me to make sure that I pray, meditate, and journal; she always prays and protects her home before readings. When I feel down or doubt myself she says, “the closer you get to your purpose and doing good for this world, the more that negative energies will try to break you down.”

I have felt that negativity come over me firsthand when I’m releasing an important post that will help people. These heavy energies are what I consider the ‘devil’ to represent. If you have different beliefs/religion you may see it as the literal devil, so always take it as what it means to you.

Anyway, yesterday I was getting out of my car at the grocery store. My coat caught on the door and ripped for the first time ever. I jogged to catch up with Nick at the door, and as soon as I got there a man tripped over the rug. We get into the aisles, and suddenly the ladder that an employee was on fell. I told Nick, “It’s just like what he said in the movie. Things go wrong – that’s how you know something negative is around.” He laughed it off.

I had already filled up my cart with the usual: nut butter, rice, beans, veggies, and fruit… when out of the blue I said, “I’m tired of rice and broccoli, can we have a pizza night?” (Organic of course, I wasn’t feeling that crazy haha!) Pizza is a rare thing for me unless I’m making my gluten-free plantain crust recipe, so this was very out of character. Not that it’s a “bad” food you can never eat… I just personally know that bread and cheese do not make my body, mind, or spirit feel the best. I am still actively detoxifying heavy metals from my body, so this would impede my growth. I’ve learned this lesson time and time again and it was strange for me to go back a step.

I then realized that this was another notch on the list of “everything going wrong.” This was not a choice that I was making for my highest good. It was not in line with the wonderful way I’ve been feeling. It would not serve my true self and goals. I called on my angels to protect me from any negative influences, put the pizza crust back, grabbed some apple cider vinegar for a salad, and we made our way to checkout.

By no coincidence, the line we stepped on was JUST closing – we literally missed it by a second.

We moved to another line and said hi to the familiar cashier parallel to us while we waited our turn. He said, “Hey, Nick! Were you in the convenience store on Palmer Road the other day? I could have sworn I saw you.” Nick said yes, and the cashier was shocked because he didn’t realize we lived in the same town. Most of the people who come to this particular grocery store are from out of town since it’s in a large, fancy mall.

Suddenly a woman on his checkout line said, “Isn’t it crazy how things like that happen? My father went to California and met three people in the same day who knew him from New York. And he doesn’t know a lot of people.”

Another woman on that line chimed in telling a similar story of what happened to her. This was a clear message affirming to me that there are no coincidences. I told them that everything happens for a reason, and that magic is always around if we know how to see it.

Soon it was our turn to checkout on our line, with a cashier who we had never met before. We introduced ourselves and she commented on the lemons we were buying. “I love lemonade,” she said, “but I can’t drink it because of my acid reflux disease.” My eyes widened.

Just ONE DAY before this, I had gone to my local health supplement store and was drawn to their Amish Acid Reflux Remedy that read, “stops acid reflux in 1 minute or less” in big letters on the front. I was planning to make a post about it, and had even taken a picture of the ingredients: apple cider vinegar, garlic, and ginger. I had known for years that ACV stops acid reflux, but how incredible is it that I was reminded so clearly just 24 hours earlier?

I immediately turned my attention to the apple cider vinegar in my cart. I usually never buy ACV in stores, because I find it cheaper online. Just another coincidence, huh?

“THIS IS IT,” I screamed, “This is what you need!” I picked up the bottle and handed it to her. I explained that acid reflux is not an overproduction of acid; that’s a lie purported by the pharmaceutical industry. It’s actually a case of having too little stomach acid, because your lower esophageal sphincter needs a certain level of acid present as a signal to make it close. Without sufficient acid to set off the signal, it will not shut, allowing acidic chyme to come back up causing the uncomfortable sensation she feels. I have a post about this here. Taking a shot of apple cider vinegar gives your stomach the acid it needs to close the sphincter.

She was amazed. “I’ve been wanting to get off this medication so badly,” she said. I told her that when the student is ready, the teacher will come. You attract what you are ready for, and we met today for a reason.

I looked down at the clock and it was 4:29 PM. The warmth and fulfillment I felt in my heart was indescribable.

To some, bread and cheese in the grocery store is far from the “devil trying to break you down.” However to me, that would have been betraying my authenticity and would have distracted me from my path. I know the mindset that I get into when I put food in my body that contains difficult-to-digest irritants. My thoughts and emotions become hard to digest as well. My mind becomes clouded. The parasites are fed instead of my soul (ironically, gluten and casein are parasites’ favorite proteins since they are so high in glutamate). In many ways, I believe that parasites are the physical manifestation of our self-destructive thoughts, low self-worth, and repressed anger. There’s a reason garlic, the most effective parasite destroyer in the world, was said to ward off “evil” in ancient times. There is always another meaning – remember the duality.

I know that when I eat meals lacking in fresh produce and nutrition, I do not feel my best, so I cannot serve others from my best and highest self. I’ve learned this lesson before, and this day at the grocery store I was tested on it. When I passed the test, I was rewarded with the eyes to see the magic/synchronicity all around me, just like I told the woman on the other line.

Evil exists in our world so that we can learn how much ability we have to overcome it. The duality of good and evil must exist to have balance, so there’s no need to be afraid of it. Energy can never be created nor destroyed; rather, it transforms from one form to another. YOU have the power to transform it.

We started off our trip in the grocery store with a lot of ‘evil’ around us, one thing going wrong after another. Yet as soon as I took back my power, called on my angels, and made something go RIGHT… as soon as I made the choice to put health promoting foods into my body instead of foods that would give me temporary pleasure… everything changed.

Good is always more powerful than evil, and God (read this in the lens of your beliefs/religion) will always be more powerful than the devil. GOOD / EVIL – GOD / DEVIL. More duality through language. All the energy that was going into creating those “bad” events was transmuted into positive energy that created a bunch of great ones.

Right after I made the “right” choice (that was right for me and my highest self at the time), a) we connected with the people next to us about synchronicity, b) we were reminded of the magic in the world, and c) I was able to use specific lessons from the day before to help someone in need.

Just like it was no coincidence that my coat ripped or the ladder fell, it was no coincidence that the line we were about to get on was closing. It gave us the chance to move on to the cashier who needed help with acid reflux. It was also not by chance that I was reminded of the Amish remedy just a day before. The more things we do that are for our highest good, the more signs or “magic” we can see, and the more chances we’re given to help others reach their own highest potential. You can snowball in either direction, but the choice is yours. There is always a higher force of love protecting you and guiding you if you’re ready to take the right steps. God and the angels, whatever that means to you, will always be there.

The M. Night Shyamalan movie ended with the last “evil” person in the elevator about to lose his life to the devil. He killed a family in a drunk driving hit and run, and never got caught. As the devil was about to kill him, he confessed to the police through a walkie talkie that another one of the victims had left behind. The policeman on the other line of the walkie happened to be the father of the family that was killed. No coincidences, once again. “I’m so sorry,” he said. As soon as he did this, the devil no longer had the power to kill him. “Too bad,” it said, and disappeared.

His action of honesty and honoring the highest good (justice) for both himself and the victims’ family changed his course forever. It got rid of the “devil” and it transmuted the negative energy from one form to another – just like the chain of negative then immediately positive reactions that I experienced in the grocery store. His confession granted closure to the family and taught a lesson about forgiveness and divine timing to all observing characters, including the police officer himself (who did not believe in anything at beginning of the movie and was an alcoholic). He thought that everything happened by chance, and that life had no deeper meaning. He thought there was no such thing as evil, and no such thing as God either. In actuality, the only way to get through a tragedy as grievous as losing your family, is to find meaning in it all. Find the lesson behind the pain; find a way that you can transmute that energy of suffering into wisdom that may one day heal others’ heartache. 

I may be young, but I know for sure that everything happens to us for a reason – that YOU are here for a reason. We are always protected and being given signs when we are on the right track of our life purpose, like the 4:29 on the clock at the time of my conversation with the cashier.

This world may have a lot of evil at the moment, but we also have the power as a collective to transmute it into love. The closer you get to your divine purpose in this lifetime, the more the perceived “evil” will try to get you off that path and test you. But when you act from a place of love and authenticity for yourself and others, you will pass with flying colors and serve the world in ways you never imagined.