A few weeks ago, I mentioned that the “blog subscription” widget on my site suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. It hasn’t come back and I still don’t know where it went. I have, however, found a replacement for it. The new widget/plugin seems to work OK, but there are some concerns. First, none of my old subscribers were migrated to the new program so, if you had subscribed before, you will have to re-subscribe with the new system. Second, the notifications are going straight to the spam folders – even the notifications to me. I can’t seem to correct that on my end – I’m not great at even simple tech. If you have tried to subscribe, please check your spam folder – also, try to make your own adjustments to allow my notifications to get directly to your in-box. At this time, and for the foreseeable future, the only notices you’ll get from me are announcements of new posts. At some point, I might make other announcements – but nothing too ponderous to read. Third, I have no idea how long this widget will keep working.

If you prefer not to subscribe, perhaps you’ll consider bookmarking my page and checking in now and then. Since the start of the year, I have been consistently posting every week and I hope to continue that practice.

What comes to mind, for me, regarding this situation, is a comment frequently made by spiritual teachers. They often use phrases such as “when one door closes, another door opens” or “losing something makes room to find something better” or “everything that happens to you, happens for a good reason.”

I won’t say these are false teachings; they are, however, naïve and misleading.

Certainly, good things happen to good people: but so, also, do bad things. And good things even happen to bad people.

Really, for the most part, things just happen. God notices every sparrow that falls, but God doesn’t stop every sparrow from falling. Things are going to happen to us in the world – how we react to things happening is the important part for each of us, individually.

Sometimes when a door closes, we find ourselves locked in a room with no way out. There’s nothing wrong with hoping for something good to happen and actively looking for ways to make good things happen. There’s nothing wrong with having faith that whatever happens, we will be able to make the best of it. The problem revolves around the EXPECTATION that somehow a new door will magically appear without any effort on our part. We must each take action to create our own good.

Another popular saying comes to mind: “God helps those who help themselves.” We must open ourselves up to possibility and be ready to seize opportunities as they appear – or appear to appear. And if another door opens, step through it quickly before it shuts again. The real doors we should be seeking are the ones the open up within us.

So, will losing my old widget lead to something better? I don’t know. I’m just going to keep trudging along with these posts and hope people enjoy reading them. Sometime in the future I might invest in some service that handles widgets and upgrades and all that for me.

Maybe.

For now, I’ll continue doing what I do.

I might not be anyone’s open door, but maybe I can be a small crack in the wall that lets a few people peep out at the mystic world.