—Ecclesiastes 3 : 1

Our lives are more entwined than we imagine. Time, place, and synchronicity are part of God’s mysterious plan. The following story by Ron Elkins only goes to show that God in His time, and in His way, can mend broken lives.

“In a moment of introspection, I decided to avoid my computer altogether. Wasting too much time on the web, I concluded. Better to spend some leisure time at the coffeehouse.

“So, in July 1997, I drove to a coffeehouse. It had four terminals hooked up to America Online. Just my luck, I thought. I had chosen a coffeehouse with four computer terminals. Still, the computer, like a magnet, still beckoned.

“I missed my friend, Dave, who had committed suicide, and I couldn’t get him out of my mind. I longed to find someone online who had known Dave, and understood why he would kill himself. I logged on to one of the computers and went searching for any “buddies online” with whom Dave had chatted in the past. It was a wild chase, I knew, but what the heck! I pulled up a name, poured over the profile, and noted that it read: “Friend of Bill W.” Here I stopped and pondered. “Bill W.” was the founder of “AA” – Alcoholics Anonymous, the recovery organization that my friend, Dave, belonged to. Maybe this anonymous guy, who was online right now, by some slim chance, had known my friend. Using Dave’s user name, I asked, ‘Did you know ‘BIDASK DAVE.’ Swift came the reply: ‘I knew Dave very well.’

“Shocked that, out of millions of people online, I found someone by chance who did indeed know Dave. “May I ask you another question?” I typed. There was no reply. A stranger suddenly appeared behind me and asked: “How did you know Dave?” It was the guy to whom I sent an “instant message” in the same coffeehouse!

“The stranger told me all about Dave, what he went through, and why he took his own life. It was a cathartic moment for me, a moment of healing and reconciliation.

“As we talked about Dave, my newfound friend said: ‘I know you, and I know your wife.’ I was dumbfounded. ‘You know me? You know my wife?’ I repeated. ‘Yes, I know your wife Diane very well.’ He said he was Mark, a childhood friend of Diane. He had been one of the few intimates Diane had invited to our wedding, but he had not shown up. He was busy trying to help Dave and it broke his heart to miss the wedding.

“I had known that my wife, Diane, was devastated by Mark’s ‘insult’ and felt that his absence was inexcusable! She was nursing a grudge over this for years. Now, twenty years later, Mark, who had hurt Diane so badly, was in the coffeehouse, companionably sharing coffee with me.

“The irony of it all was that Dave, our dearly, departed friend, had brought Mark and me together.

“The next morning, I recounted to my wife the odd coincidence in the coffeehouse and explained the circumstances that had kept Mark from attending our wedding.

“Three weeks later, we all met for dinner. When Diane and Mark saw each other after twenty years, they both were, simultaneously, overcome with emotion. Diane burst into tears and into the arms of her long, lost friend who held her fondly. Years of heartache were wiped away by pure joy.

“It was the right time for all of us to meet. The brokenness of our lives was mended, and Dave, our dearly, departed friend, was the catalyst who, in God’s good time, made it all happen.”