ArcaMax

One of the big takeaways from the flood of God winks I am receiving from you, dear readers, is that even spooky God winks are not always scary. Sometimes we receive messages from dead loved ones that violate natural law but those who receive them are not frightened by them at all. They are taken to be what they seem to be: a simple message from the other side that everything is OK. In times of grief, that is really the only message we need to hear…

Q: I have had many God winks but only one that cannot be explained away.

It is Saturday, March 12, 2021. It is early morning, and I am in bed planning my day when there are three knocks on my stairway wall. The wall separates the hall from the garage. I live alone and there is no one in the house with me. The knocks do not frighten me but I wonder who it is. I believe in life after death, and many close family members have passed. Then on Dec. 22, 2021, I am with my 5-year-old grandson while his parents are at work. There are three knocks on the stairway wall. My grandson runs to the door and says”FedEx man”, but no one is there. With a puzzled look he runs down the hall and into the garage. He comes back saying, “no one is there.” I say, “no worries.”

In July 2023, I heard three loud knocks on my hallway wall. The last knocks I heard were on Sept. 3, 2023. That is my Dad’s birthday and the day my sister and uncle passed on.

I was in Tacoma, Washington, sitting inside a second-floor balcony. My 21-year-old grandson was with me. We were having dinner with family. There were three knocks on the sliding glass door. I looked around at my family and no one had heard it, but as my gaze passed to my grandson he gave me a frown. Later that night I asked him “had he noticed anything,” and he said, “there were three knocks on the sliding glass door, but no one could have been there.”

None of this was frightening or disturbing but it was comforting to know someone wanted my attention. Rabbi Gellman, I look forward to reading your column. God winks are an inspiration and your ability to address all religions is so very needed at this time. I believe your words help to heal. Thank you. – (From D)

Q: My son passed away suddenly in July. I was and still am devastated. He was a caretaker, along with me, of my 91-year-old mother. A week after his passing she fell and broke her hip. She was brought to the hospital and admitted for surgery. When I was driving home from the hospital my phone dinged with a message. I had to wait until I stopped to read the message. I was amazed. It was a notification that said, "Rob wants to know your location. Do you want to let Rob know your location?” I have no doubt my son was letting me know he was OK and was supporting me. – (From S)

A: Amazing God wink. I can’t get my GPS to find me while I am alive.

Q: My brother died of stage 4 melanoma earlier this year. His cancer advanced rapidly and he had to be in a nursing home/hospice almost immediately. I live 1,000 miles away so I went to stay for a month with our other brother so I could be close to and reconnect with him. We visited him every day and reminisced over our childhood and current lives. He was a dedicated gardener and, like our father, loved growing tomatoes, especially. I have tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to grow them over the past several years. I picked his brain about it and learned much about raised beds and soil composition. He was passionate not only about gardening but about fishing. As a child he had a favorite "fishing hole" near our childhood farm. Before he died, he specified that his ashes should be spread over that place.

Well, my brother and I and my son and nephews did just that. While we were there, my son and nephews were skipping stones over the water. My son dedicated the stones to him. When I came home I began setting up my tomato bed. When I went out to put the new tomato plants in there on top of the soil (in the correct composition, mind you), I saw a perfect flat stone just like the one my son had skipped into that fishing hole. I saw it as a sign of his approval of my parenting and my gardening. – (From M)

A: An ordinary stone placed in an extraordinary place is a perfect God wink.

(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.)

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