A Higher Calling?

I have revealed that I am not a religious person. This is not a secret, by any means. I was raised by a non-practicing Methodist mother and a father who was a Zen Buddhist. (Of course, he is now a Non-Dual Vedanta-ist, but that is for another time.) I have never been involved in any kind of organized religious practice, and I don't think that such practices are in the cards for me. Ever. Additionally, I do not fall under the category of people who find themselves "spiritual" rather than "religious." Perhaps I should have lived in The Netherlands where the churches are empty and the parks are full. That is much more my style.

However, this post is not about my religious views. I am not here to debate the various aspects of religion. To me, it is simply not part of my life and we can still be friends (good friends, even) if it is part of yours. My post today is to talk about a strange and repeated occurrence that may or may not be some kind of divine intervention. And, it has to do with Journey. Yes the 80's band, not the spiritual walk. For the past several years, I have been unable to escape the song "Don't Stop Believin." It haunts me. It plays each and every time I use the shuffle feature on my Ipod and I hear it in the car constantly. I hear it blaring from other cars. I once saw a bumper sticker with that phrase on the car in front of me- while listening to the song in my car (on the radio, not the cd). Last weekend, I heard it at a wedding and someone recently mentioned it in their FB post. It is truly bizarre. Today, when I took two of my children to a library we never go to, there was a teenager with a "Don't Stop Believin" t-shirt in the juvenile fiction area. Is this divine intervention? And, why is Journey involved? Is Steve Perry in on this? Or is that Asian guy who replaced Steve Perry with his silky voice to blame? Is this just a function of living in Indiana? Am I being punk'd? Honestly, one can only ignore the coincidences in one's life so long. Any possible explanations for this dilemma are welcomed.